goes on. In his writing, whistleblower Chemist
Alemdarzade Hakkı alternates between 'just the facts'
and facetiousness, making translation bit tricky at times -
TNT begs readers' indulgence. //
At one time, the mint's worn-out coins were used by Hakkı Halid Bey's
father Halid Bey, who was both the Finance Ministry's head cashier and
the head of Bank-ı Osmani. If one considers the low cost of the raw
silver used at the factory, without any supervision and done totally by
their own men, and even though it is impossible to estimate their greed
and the degree of fraud they committed, by Halid Bey introducing these
worn-out coins into the Finance Ministry cashbox and paying workers'
salaries with them a number of times, not to mention the fire-damaged
silverware of Izzet Paşa that was turned into coins, it can be estimated
that their embezzlement was quite significant, even more than the
investigating committee has estimated.
But we have not relied on such estimates, even though they may be
close to accurate. Rather, we have confırmed the amount through
official records and with logic and mathematics, vis-a-vis the corruption
in question.
Next in importance we come to the medals. We have disregarded the
gold medals, which are few in number. But with regard to silver medals
of merit, the investigating committee, accompanied by Celal Bey who
had been forced to retire from the mint because of his seriousness and
uprightness, determined that the purity and weight of the silver medals
of merit had been significantly diminished. The related files concerning
this material are quite noteworthy.
In this regard, every patriot must recognize Director Hakkı Halid Bey's
part in this, both in word and in deed. When he heard that these medals,
amounting to about 300,000 in number, would be distributed to soldiers
in some connection with the bomb thrown at the Sultan's Yıldız Palace
(1905), he became imbued with patriotism and rage against these
inauspicious medals that brought to mind a national disaster. And with
an eye toward the future Meşrutiyet administration, he nimbly thought
of a way to appease the future rulers by adulterating the medals both in
relation to the drachma and purity and thereby he succeeded in tamping
down the rage and wrath directed toward the despotic regime at that time.
In regard to matters of profit and preference, Hakkı Halid Bey wasn't
as resolute as he was concerning other issues. On the contrary, he was
quite modest. Even the smallest details at the mint could not escape his
notice and he proved this by diverting many of the mint's 'excess' iron
tools and gear to the beloved mansion he was building for himself at
Ayastefanos (Yeşilköy-Florya in western Istanbul), embelleshing it
with famously 'economical' decorative additions.
When it came to purchases for the mint and, in particular, coloring and
repairs, Hakkı Halid Bey couldn't help himself and surrendered to his
love of nice things, spending lavishly. Using the mint's copper, he had
the mint's craftsmen make a quite lavish and large sign board as a gift
to former Finance Minister Reşad Paşa, who had a mosque built in
his daughter's memory in Suadiye (on the Anatolian side of Istanbul.)
In this way, the craftsmen were allowed to prove their skill, not just in
the world of chemistry, but also in terms of sensory attractiveness.
//END of PART V//
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