the field. At the time I left Washington, May 4th, the Greeks on the western frontier were holding their own, but in the east the Turks had driven them back and occupied Larissa. The latest information from the Levant seemed to indicate not only that Greece and Turkey would be engaged, but that some of the Balkan states and possibly one or more of the great powers of Europe might be involved. The unexpected frequently happens, and as no one can foretell when a war will occur, so no one can say what the phases will be or how it will terminate. At the moment, no one anticipated that, instead of any one of the great powers becoming involved, they would all stand aloof and witness the tragedy until it reached a critical point, and then combine to check its progress and dictate the terms of peace.
Such was the situation when I left Washington. On reaching Paris, I found that several engagements had taken place while I was on the sea, but that the result was still indefinite. I also learned that my best way to reach the Turkish army was to take the Oriental Express to Constantinople. This I did, arriving there on May 19th.
THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION IN TURKEY.
I could not have gone to a better place to observe the Turkish army than Constantinople itself. Not only is the city the headquarters of the complex military establishment which governs the army, but it is also headquarters for the first of the seven military territories into which the empire is divided. When I arrived in Constantinople, there were fully 30,000 men stationed in and about the city, giving me ample opportunity to observe the methods and condition of the Turkish troops. There was a mistaken impression, when the late war broke out, that the Turkish army was antiquated in its methods. Military men knew better. The Turkish army is at present completely organized in accordance with modern methods. This organization is not new; it was undertaken as long ago as seventy years by Mahmud II. When, about 1827, he decided to begin the reconstruction of his army, he was obliged to turn his cannon on the Janizaries, and not to stop until the last one of that body was dead, so hostile were they to any change in the methods of the Turkish army. After the Janizaries were out of the way, Mahmud II. began to remodel his force. Ten years after this he had Von Moltke and other Prussian officers aiding him. This work has gone on steadily ever since, until now the Turkish military forces are completely modernized. A monument erected on the site where he formerly lived on the Bosphorus, reminds alike Turk and stranger of the high esteem with which Von Moltke's services in this work of reorganization are regarded.
The army is completely Moslem, no Christians or non-Moslems being admitted. Although exempted from duty, the latter are not exempted from military taxes. All young Moslems who have reached twenty-one years of age are expected to enter the army for twenty years of service, unless they can show some good reason why they should not be called upon, such as physical unfitness or family obligations. The registration list shows that about 120,000 men are liable to service each year; but, as a matter of fact, only about 65,000 are incorporated into the army.
According to the latest figures, the army numbers in time of peace 244,000 men, 24,000 of these being officers. It's war footing mounts to fully 800,000. It will be remembered that, when the war with Greece broke out in the spring of 1897, the Sultan mobilized 600,000 men without any great effort. New laws and reforms are in operation in the army, which it is expected will add enormously to this strength. The Sultan believes that at no distant day he will be able to call out, in case of necessity, an army of a million and a half men. Of course, fully a third of this body will be utterly untrained.
These troops are drawn from all parts of the empire. What is known as the territorial system is in vogue in Turkey; that is, the empire is divided into seven military districts. Each of these districts furnishes a corps, recruited in the main from within its own limits. If one runs over the list of cities which are the headquarters of these corps, he gets some idea of the distant points from which the Sultan draws his troops:—Constantinople, Adrianople, Salonika, Erzinjan (northeastern Asia Minor), Damascus, Bagdad, and Sana (southwestern Arabia). Not all the portions of the empire yield soldiers in equal numbers. Thus the division having its headquarters at Sana furnishes few soldiers, its recruits coming from Syria and Asia Minor. Those portions of the country occupied by nomad tribes, such as Tripoli and Turkestan, have never until within a few years furnished troops. A few years ago, however, an effort was made to utilize the nomads in an irregular cavalry
