CHAPTER XIV

_THE COMMITTEE’S ULTIMATUM_

On the night of July 22, so soon as Osman Pasha had been made a prisoner, the members of the Monastir Centre of the Committee of Union and Progress proceeded to take over the government of the city and to secure the position that had been gained by Niazi’s _coup_. In the first place, the Committee sent a telegram to the Sultan himself (to the Presence of His Sacred Majesty, the Caliph), beseeching him to command the practical application of the Fundamental Law (the Constitution of 1876) in order that the loyalty and devotion of his subjects might remain unimpaired; and informing him that, unless an _Iradé_ ordering the opening of the Chamber of Deputies was issued by the following Sunday—July 26—events would “occur contrary to your Royal will and pleasure.” The telegram concluded with the words: “The civil authorities, the officers of the army, the soldiers, the _ulema_, and _sheikhs_, the people great and small, of various creeds, within the Vilayet of Monastir, all united to work for one cause by an oath made upon the Unity of God, await your commands.” Another telegram was despatched to inform the head-quarters of the Committee in Salonica that the _coup_ had been made with success, and during that night young officers posted manifestos on the walls in that city calling upon the people to co-operate with the Committee and overthrow the Despotism.

On the morning of July 23 the citizens of Monastir woke up to find that all signs of the Government’s authority had vanished, and that the Committee had become the undisputed master of the Vilayet. It was a day of frenzied rejoicings. The fifty thousand inhabitants of this city and thousands of people from the surrounding country packed the streets to cheer and sing the songs of liberty. Sometimes a narrow way would be opened through the dense crowd to allow the passing of companies of Anatolian troops joyfully marching to some appointed spot where they were to be sworn in on the Unity of God as adherents of the Committee; or of a body of citizens carrying aloft on their shoulders the _fedais_, the members of the Moslem bands that had saved Turkey, the heroes of the hour.

And ever and again there rose a roar of “Long live the Committee!” and the people went about seeking the members of the Committee, eager to do them honour and give them an ovation as they had done with the _fedais_. But the mysterious and invisible Committee was nowhere to be found. An absorbing curiosity got hold of the people. Who were the men, they asked themselves, who had acted on the executive of the Committee, the secret leaders who had issued the manifestos and orders, who had organised the movement with such skill and daring? But it was impossible to obtain any answer to this question. It was not until some days after the Sultan had granted the Constitution that Niazi himself was given the names of those who composed the Monastir Executive, and then he found that among them were some of his most intimate friends.

But on this wonderful day, July 23, the executive body of the Committee was too busily engaged on most important work to come forward and receive the congratulations that were its due; for much had yet to be done. The Committee decided not to await the Sultan’s reply to its demand, but to proclaim the Constitution that very day in Monastir, and it was held that the most fitting person to make this announcement to the people would be the Governor of the Monastir Vilayet himself, the Vali, Hifzi Pasha. The Vali, as we have seen, had been bold enough, a few days earlier, to tell the Palace the exact truth concerning the state of affairs in Macedonia. In reply to this the Grand Vizier had telegraphed to rebuke him for lack of zeal and to give him certain instructions. On this the Vali had sent in his resignation to the Grand Vizier on the ground that he would not be responsible for the bloodshed and outrages which must follow the execution of such orders. It was well known to the Committee that the Vali was a just and upright man whose sympathies were rather with the friends of liberty than with the Despotism which he served.

On the morning of the twenty-third the Vali openly joined the revolutionary party. He sent telegrams to the Sultan and the Grand Vizier informing them of the capture of Osman Pasha, and stating that the entire military force in Monastir and 3500 armed men from among the inhabitants were now the sworn adherents of the Committee. In the afternoon the Vali read out the Committee’s proclamation of the Constitution in the presence of tens of thousands of enthusiastic Moslems and Christians, and the garrison of Monastir; and then the cannon thundered out a salute that told the surrounding country that Turkey was to be made free at last.

On this same day the Central Committee in Salonica and the branch Committees in other towns came forward to give clear proof to the people that the domination of the Palace was over. The Constitution was proclaimed in Resna, Dibra, and other towns in Macedonia and Albania at the same hour that it was proclaimed in Monastir. In Salonica the Central Committee, which here, too, had the garrison on its side and the Government at its mercy, decided that it would be to the interest of the revolutionary cause to make as short as possible the period of uncertainty as to whether it was to be civil war or peace; the enemies of liberty must be allowed no time for preparation or intrigue. Accordingly, at an early hour on June 23, the Committee telegraphed its ultimatum to the Sultan, informing His Majesty that unless he granted the Constitution within twenty-four hours the Second and Third Army Corps would march upon Constantinople.

The Committee’s next step was to approach the Inspector-General, Hilmi Pasha (who was made Grand Vizier in February last), and to call upon him, as the highest Government official in Macedonia, to proclaim the Constitution to the people. Hilmi had been a good servant of the Sultan, but at heart he hated the corrupt Palace and its ways, and recognised the justice of the Young Turkey cause which he had been instructed to persecute, but had persecuted so half-heartedly that he had drawn upon himself the rebukes of the Grand Vizier, Ferid Pasha. Hilmi’s attitude was now correct and courageous. He told the Committee that though his sympathies were with the Young Turkey party, he was still the servant of the Sultan, and consequently could not proclaim the Constitution unless ordered to do so by his sovereign. Upon this the Committee informed him that unless he proclaimed the Constitution within twenty-four hours he would have to suffer the penalty—that is, to be put to death—that the telegraph lines were at his disposal and it behooved him, within the given time, to persuade the Sultan that resistance to the will of the people would be of no avail, and that His Majesty could only retain his position on the throne by the immediate restoration of the Constitution.

So Hilmi Pasha now sent telegram after telegram to the Palace to explain the exact state of affairs. He exposed the absolute hopelessness of the cause of the old _régime_—the two Pashas on whom the Sultan had relied to destroy the Committee of Union and Progress, Hilmi and Osman, were the prisoners of the Committee; the Anatolian troops that were to have stamped out the rebellion had become the sworn adherents of the Committee; the Second and Third Army Corps now formed the army of the Committee; of the First Army Corps in Constantinople itself the Palace Guards alone were above suspicion; there was no time to arouse the fanaticism of the Arabs and other Asiatics against the Young Turks; the action of the Anatolian regiments that had been brought to Salonica had proved that the Army Corps in Asia Minor had also been brought round to the side of the reformers; and lastly, from all over the Empire the news was coming in that Valis of provinces and other high officials had deserted the Palace Camarilla for the constitutional party.

That day the people of Turkey were rejoicing in their newly found liberty; but it was a twenty-four hours of suspense and anxiety for the men who knew that it rested on the decision of one old man as to whether it was to be peace or civil war. The ultimatum of the Committee and the telegrams of Hilmi Pasha were submitted to the Sultan by his terrified courtiers; but in the council chambers of the Yildiz, almost up to the last moment, there was hesitation and a conflict of opinions as to the course that should be adopted by the Government. There were, of course, members of the Camarilla, Izzet Pasha among them, who advocated resistance at any cost to the demands of the Committee, for these men, conscious of the evil they had wrought, knew that the Constitution would mean for them ruin and exile, and perhaps death.

But, in the meanwhile, the Sultan had dismissed his Grand Vizier, Ferid Pasha, and had summoned to his Palace Said Pasha and Kiamil Pasha, the two oldest, most experienced, and upright statesmen of his reign, both of whom, though no admirers of Palace methods, had been Grand Viziers, and both of whom had been in disgrace and danger of their lives through the monarch’s caprice and the jealousy of corrupt courtiers. The Sultan now appointed Said Pasha Grand Vizier in the place of Ferid Pasha. Throughout the day there had been fear and wrath and hesitation in the Yildiz, but on the evening of the twenty-third all the ministers were summoned to the Palace, and there was held the famous last State Council under the old _régime_. There was a long and anxious discussion, and to and fro between the Council and the Sultan went the Chief Chamberlain and other messengers, keeping His Majesty informed of the progress of the debate—a mere matter of form as laid down by the etiquette of the Palace, for, as every one there knew, the Sultan was in the adjoining chamber sitting on the other side of the curtain which alone divided him from his consulting ministers, and could hear every word that was spoken.

The night passed by, the morning was near, and the ministers were still debating. Said and Kiamil urged the necessity of yielding, and there were others who agreed with them; but Abdul Hamid inspired as much fear as ever in his advisers, and each of these, knowing of what things that listening man was capable when in a fit of anger, was afraid to be the first to utter the long-forbidden name “Constitution”; and the question was discussed in that ambiguous and circuitous fashion that Orientals understand so well how to employ. At last there was brought in to the Council Chamber on a litter the bedridden old Arab Court Astrologer, Abdul Houda, a favourite of the Sultan, who has recently died. He boldly put into plain words what was in the minds of all. Then Said Pasha asked the ministers whether it was their decision that the Sultan should be advised to grant the Constitution. To this they made no reply, and averted their eyes when he looked from one to another. Then, after a pause, Said quoted a Turkish proverb which is the equivalent of our own “Silence gives consent.” The Sultan was forthwith informed of the decision of his ministers, and to the relief of all he agreed without any demur to restore the Constitution; for the shrewd monarch had by now fully realised the position and had made up his mind.

So on the morning of July 24 the great news was telegraphed to every corner of the Ottoman Empire, and everywhere there were the same extraordinary demonstrations of popular joy. In Constantinople huge crowds, composed of Moslems, Christians, and Jews, flocked to the Yildiz to cheer the Sultan. On the broad quay of Salonica, Hilmi Pasha, to whom the Sultan’s decision had meant the withdrawal of his death warrant, read out the proclamation of the Constitution to tens of thousands of exulting citizens.

The Sultan had promised the Constitution, and all that remained to be done now was for him to issue the _Iradé_ that should confirm that promise and to take the oath of allegiance to the Constitution. Some days passed, and his Majesty had taken no steps to perform these necessary formalities. The ever-vigilant Committee of Union and Progress therefore saw to it that there should be no further delay, and issued its orders. Some Macedonian troops were hurriedly brought up to the capital and were placed outside the Yildiz, while a man-of-war was stationed in the Bosphorus immediately below the Palace, with its guns directed on it. Then some young officers belonging to the Committee demanded an audience of the Sultan and explained to him that he must sign the _Iradé_ there and then, else the Macedonian troops would overpower the Palace Guard and seize his Majesty’s person. The Sultan yielded, the _Iradé_ was signed, and shortly afterwards the Sheikh-ul-Islam administered to Abdul Hamid the oath by which he bound himself to restore, and to observe faithfully, the Constitution which he had violated thirty years before.