The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-05-01
THE ARMENIANS.
Little Reason to Hope That They VIII
Ever Become an Independent People.

Little reason TO nope Bhat Ihey VIII
Ever Become an Independent People.
\ They form scarcely an eighth of the
population of the Turkish empire, in
me midst of a military people, having
sanding army well equipped and
Trained, and capable of displaying sol
derly qualities unsurpassed by any
troops in Europe. The world has not
whole of Russia at bay at Plevna, and
vas only forced to yield at last when
Russian gold insinuated itself into the
pockets of certain officials who man
ICED to withhold reinforcements. What,
we ask. can the Armenians expect to
accomplish, unaided, against the strong
arm of the Osmanlis? They would be
totally demolished, and the Turks would
be justified in crushing them so that
they would never revolt again, because
every established government has a
right to protect its2lf in the interests of
all concerned. 1t is, moreover, a crime
for any people or faction to create re-
bellion and attack the public peace I'M
less there is some reasonable hope of
success. In this case there is absolutely
not the slightest basis for such a hope,
and the only result would be great
bloodshed and increased acerbity of
feeling.
There remains, however, another re-
source. The European powers might be
appealed to for intervention, since they
have already recognized the rights in
equity, if not in law, of the Armenian
people in the treaty of Berlin. But it is
not likely, for obvious reasons, that any
of them but Russia would do more than
that at present. England, were Mr..
Gladstone in power, might offer more
positive Intervention; but the influence
of that statesman in foreign affairs has
been greatly weakened by the loss of
prestige to England during his last adj
ministratiOn. 1t would also be an act
of the grossest injustice to force Turkey
to liberate her part of Armenia unless
Persia and Russia also coded back to the
Armenians their shares of that country.
Turkeys right to possess third of Ar
menia is equal to that of those two gov
ernments, while her rule is, to say the
least, as benign as that of Russia.
The recourse which the Armenians
might have to Europe for aid is reduced,
then, to the simple fact that it would be
from Russia, and Russia alone, that
such aid could be reasonably expected.
Russia only waits the word and the
hour. Her agents are found everywhere
instigating the Arnenians to agitate
and revolt. She yearns, she burns for
the day when, her intrigues having ma
tured, the Armenians shall rise against
the Turks. BY asserting their rights
and causing the suppression of riots and
revolts with unavoidable bloodshed, the
latter will then furnish Russia with the
casus beN which she has plotted, and for
which her pious legions are camping on
the border.
The first result might be the liberia
ton of the Armenians, and the tempo
rary Establishment of a small Armenian
state, of course under the tender pro-
lection of holy Russia. But the end
would be the rapid absorption of that
state by Russia, who would need only
the fiimsiest preteXt. The position of
Servia and Bulgaria, adjacent to powers
watchful of Russia, and able to ma
neuver on her flank much to her disad
vantage, has prevented that power from
swallowing up those two countries, as
she intended to do when hypocritically
fighting for their liberation from Tur-
key. By the perpetual intrigues she
has maintained in those states, she has
Enthusiastically shown her hand to all
but those who are determined not to
see. But such reasons would have lit
tie or no weight in Asia, and the Ar.
menians would soon learn, to their
eternal sorrow, that their hopes OF
again enjoying the privilege of becom-
ing an independent nation must be post.
poned until the fall of the Russian En-
pire.-Hon. S. G. w. Benjamin, in At.
lantip