Again, the Deutsche Orientbank has made many extensions, and is already
financing cotton and wool trade for after the war. The establishment of
this provoked much applause in German financial circles, who find it to
be an instance of the 'far-reaching and powerful Germano-Austrian unity,
which replaces the disunion of Turkish finance.' This is profoundly
true, especially if we omit the word 'Austrian' inserted for diplomatic
reasons. Again we find Germany advancing L3,000,000 of German paper to
the Turkish Government in January 1917, for the payment of supplies they
have received from Krupp's works and (vaguely) for interest to the
German Financial Minister. This, too, we may conjecture, is to be
redeemed after the war in gold.

In March of this year we find in the report of the Ottoman Bank a German
loan of L1,000,000 for the purchase of agricultural implements by
Turkey, and this is guaranteed by house-taxes. In all up to that month,
as was announced in the Chamber of Deputies at Constantinople, Germany
had advanced to Turkey the sum of L142,000,000, entirely, it would seem,
in German paper, to be repaid at various dates in gold. The grip, in
fact, is a strangle-hold, all for Turkey's good, as no doubt will prove
the 'New Conventions' announced by Zimmermann in May 1917, to take the
place of the abolished Capitulations, 'which left Turkey at the mercy of
predatory Powers who looked for the disruption of the Ottoman Empire.'
Herr Zimmermann does not look for that: he looks for its absorption. And
sees it.

The industrial development of Turkey by this benevolent and
disinterested Power has been equally thorough and far-reaching, though
Germany here has had a certain amount of competition by Hungary to
contend against, for Hungary considered that Germany was trespassing on
her sphere of interest. But she has been able to make no appreciable
headway against her more acute partner, and her application for a
monopoly of sugar-production was not favourably received, for Germany
already had taken the beet industry well in hand. In Asia Minor the
acreage of cultivation early in 1917 had fallen more than 50 per cent.
from that under crops before the war, but owing to the importation of
machinery from the Central Powers, backed up by a compulsory
Agricultural Service Law, which has just been passed, it is hoped that
the acreage will be increased this year by something like 30 per cent.
The yield per acre also will be greatl