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The value of Treasury notes is inferior in the territory of the Fourth Army to that applied in all other regions of the Ottoman Empire. As this area is composed of regions of crucial importance, this depreciation has also been felt in Iraq and Anatolia, and has become a plague for the inhabitants of Syria, Palestine, and for the Army itself. The constant depreciation of paper money is a consequence of speculation, since, our Treasury notes enjoy an extraordinary prestige in Switzerland, in Germany, and even in France, and since the military position of Turkey and its allies is favourable on all counts. It is my wish and my command that an end be brought to this speculation by eliminating all difference between paper and gold currency. I had hoped that this situation would stabilise naturally and had avoided taking any severe action; however, my experience in the last two years has demonstrated the urgent and sacred need for an indispensable measure for the protection of the army, the people, and the country. Nevertheless, before resorting to this extreme, and as a last solution, I declare the following: 1- Mayors and autonomous governors shall summon in an assembly all persons whose financial and social status may influence the present economic situation; i.e. managers of banking institutions, particularly those of the Ottoman Bank and of German banks, capitalists, important traders, sarrafs, and influential persons selected from among the nobility and the bourgeoisie. During this meeting, these persons will decide on the measures to be taken in order to eliminate any difference between gold and paper currency, and pledge to put them into execution by May 15. 2- I expect that these notables, who constitute the superior class of the state, will put into application the wisest and most useful measures to attain this goal, and I do not doubt of their success in this matter. 3- If I am disappointed in my expectations, and if by May 15, the difference between the value of paper money and gold have not been disposed of, that is to say, if any good or commodity is not sold at exactly the same price in paper money as it would in gold, we shall proceed by deporting 10 percent of the aforementioned notables, including the managers of the Ottoman and German banks, by lottery,to the vilayets of Anatolia and Rumelia. 4- The governors shall, for this purpose, submit to me a list in two copies with the names of these notables in alphabetical order, together with the number of persons in their families. 5- Six weeks after the deportation of the first group, a second group will be subject to the same treatment, followed by a third, and so on, until the reestablishment of the real value of paper currency. 6- The prejudice caused to Syria and Palestine by the present situation of Treasury notes is of the most disastrous nature, and I consider even the most drastic measures to amend this evil, as a real benefit for the poor and for the country in general.