Modern Turkey-James Lewis Farley

After the conclusion of the Crimean war and the signing of the peace of Paris in 1856, the Ottoman Bank was formed through the efforts of English capitalists. Farley accepted the post of chief accountant of the branch at Beirut, which he assisted in successfully establishing.

In 1860 Farley was appointed accountant-general of the state bank of Turkey at Constantinople, which subsequently became merged in the Imperial Ottoman Bank. From this time forward he was a close student of the Turkish empire, and gained a wide knowledge of its people and rulers, as well as of its trade and financial condition.

Farley issued ‘Modern Turkey’ in 1872, which was followed in 1875 by a brochure on ‘The Decline of Turkey Financially and Politically,’ in which he warned Turkish bondholders of their impending dangers.