Defense Committee Corners Supplies

The New York Times (September 14, 1915)

LONDON, Sept. 13.-Conditions in Constantinople are described as chaotic by Reuter's correspondent in Athens, who bases his dispatch on statements made by persons arriving in Athens today from the Turkish capital. The correspondent telegraphs:

"The inhabitants of Constantinople are suffering greater hardships than is necessary, because the Committee of National Defense, run by Enver Pasha, Minister of War, and Taalat Bey, Minister of the Interior, has cornered all commodities and is selling them at high prices.

"The resignation from the Cabinet of the Sheik ul Islam, representative of the Sultan in religious affairs, is confirmed. He disapproved of the extermination of the Christian elements, against which he protested to the Cabinet. The Greek-Armenian Patriarch has been deprived of all powers.

"The Black Sea end of the Bosporus has been closed by a chain of wire nettings and by mines."

Image of article Index of Press Reports