The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1877-05-17
THE TURKS.
That They fire, What They Hare Done, and
HHat Ought to be Done tcith Them.
From the Chicago Tribunel

That They fire, What They Hare Done, and
Hhat Ought to be Done tcith Them.
[From the Chicago Tribune]
One of the most admirable essays ever
written upon the Turk is that by Edward
Freeman, entitled "The Turks i'll Eu-
rope" He divides his essay into three
parts "Who and What Are the Turks p
'sWhat Have the Turks Done ?" and
What Is to Be Done with the Turks ?'
In answer to the first question, Mr..
Freeman finds not only that the Turks
are aliens in Europe, but they are alien
in manner in which the nations of Eu-
rope are not alien from one another.
Nearly all the European nations belong
to one family and speak languages de-
rived from a common root nearly all of
them once formed part of the Roman
empire, and thus have q common his
tory; they have a common religion ;
they have certain common civilization,
growing out of their common Chris
tianity; they live under nation Govern
ments, and for the most part under good
Governments, characterized by an adj
ministration of justice. On the other
hand, the Turk belongs to another fami-
ly of man from that to which the great
mass of Europeans belong, and has no
share in their language. He has never,
like the Bulgarian and Magyar who
preceded him, become Europeanized.
a hoe 81. in, bn CT nf
rope, because he has never been affected
by Roman influences. His civilization,
SO far as he has any, is Arabian and Per-
sian. He has never embraced the re-
igion of Europe, as his forerunners, the
Bulgerians and Magyars, have done.
His Government, like all the Eastern
Governments, has been purely despotic,
except so far as the will of the Sultan has
been regulated by the rules of Mohanl-
medan law. From all this it follows that
the Turk can never have national Gov
eminent in any country where all til
people are not Mohammedan. AS Mr.
Freeman says: "The rule Of the Turk
is something which is not only evil in
itself, but which, as long as it is the rule
of the Turk, can never be made much
better. The Turk cannot reform, be-
cause the principles of his religion for
bid him to reform. AS long as he re-
mains Mohammedan he cannot be any,
thing but a foreign ruler over subject
nations in their own land !; and such a
foreign ruler can hardly fail to be a for
e1gn oppressor.
What hcCs the Turks done Mo-
manned taught his followers to spread
his religion by the sword, and to fight
the infdel until either he embraced
Islam or became a tribute-paying sub
ject-a bondsman in his own land. This
policy was carried out from the time
they seized Gallipoli, and made their
first settlement iii Europe in 1856, under
Orchan Amurath, Bajazet, Amurath the
Second, and Mohammed the Conqueror,
who overthrow Constantinople, and con-
sohdated Turkish dominion on this basis
of complete bondage. Then followed the
tribute of children, who were subse-
quently organized into the Ganizaries,
and developed a special oppression.
Bajazet organized expeditions of havoc
and plumber, in which human prey was
sought for the baeest of purposes, and
the murder of Sultan's brothers at his
accession became law of the empire.
Thus, by the time of Mohammed the
Conqueror, the character of the Ottoman
power, as a system OF oppression, cruelty
and brutal lust, became fully established,
and from that day to this the promise of
a Turk has never been made but to be
broken From that day to this, also,
bloodthirsty massacres, like those of
Ch1as, Cyprus, Kassandra, and the re-
cent Bulgarian butcheries, have charac-
terized the Turkish reigns.
What IS to be done a0tth the Turk i?
Mr. Freeman claims that the power of
the Turk is something purely evil, which
cannot be reformed, and should there
fore be dealt with like any other evil
past remedy. His rule is not govern
AAASAio VI WIN 1h1oSoOfCIHluSuU, DuU
force and mere brigandage. "He came
IN as a robber and he remains as a rob-
Der. He has no rights except such as
may be held to belong to a man who has
broken into the house of another, who
has carried off his goods, laid waste his
fields, and enslaved or murdered his
children" The direct rule of the Turk
in Europe should cease. Southeastern
Europe must be put under the rule of
law. The Turk must have no voice in
the choice of rulers of the Sclavic states.
and no spot in these lands should be gar
risoned by Turkish soldiers. The last
words of this admirable essay, sJustice,
reason, humanity, demand that the rule
of the Turk in Europe should be got rid
of, and the time for getting rid of it has
now come" will strike a responsive
chord IN the breast of every lover of hui
manity and good government It is the
only remedy that can relieve the situa-
ton or bring permanent peace in South
ern Europe.
THE TURK IN EUROPE
The Turks would not have remained
so long in Europe but for the jealousies
of the great powers among themselves,