Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-23

Master of Himself were heard echoing
down the hall, Philadelphiaward.
Written for The Evening Star.
TURKS AND ARMENIANS.
The Horrors of the Ottoman Rule Over
Christian People.
The Armenians at present are suffering
dreadfully under the brutalizing yoke OF
the Turks. Every day poor and innocent
Armenians are being arrested on the ground
that they belong to secret societies ana are
revolutionary conspirators. Turkey Is now
prosecuting her Armenian subjects on this
pretext. SO as not to arouse the Indignation
of Christian nations. But as in former
years, these unfortunate people are now
prosecuted and oppressed solely for their
Christian religion. Turkeys complaint tina.
her Armenian subjects obtain citizenship
in this country, not TO identify themselves
in good faith with the American people. but
with the intention of returning to Armenia
and there engage in sedition. is another
Turkish fabrication. Educated men and
women, through the false and absurd accu-
sations Of INSCRIPTIONS spies. and in de-
fiance of all justice, morality and civiliza-
ton, are thrown into dungeons Of the vilest
description and tortured most cruelty; live
Goals are put in the palms or their HANDS,
! ice cold water poured upon their body.
The New York Press published the fol-
lowing horrifying news on the nth or DC
| tober, 1898:
"The captain Of Russian merchantmen
| makes a startling discovery in the harbor
| of Constantinople. They were about to
start home with return cargoes. Something
! very heavy caught the anchor. The cap
/ tain at once thought he had discovered
new smuggling scheme. After considerable
work the anchor was pulled oft. 1t brought
with it number of large bags tied to-
Oat har oS hu kish rho re
| for shipping goods They were filled with
murdered human bodies. Further investiga-
! ton proved that they were the bodies of
nearly three hundred Armenian political
! prisoners. Another horrible discovery SINH
| lar to this was made a year ago, In the
harbor Of Salonica."
When will this iamentable state Of Der
| secution cease?
| Such a terrible state of affairs should at
once arouse the Christian powers and in
duce them to address severe remonstrances
! to the Ottoman government for the anchor
alton of the conditions Of our oppressed
people.
We are a civilized people. Many Of our
countrymen are highly educated and long
for education. A civilized people ought to
| be governed in a civilized manner; for such
government the Turkish administration
machinery is totally unfit. as all the world
| knows. We therefore hold that in Justice
we are entitled to home rule. but for the
present We propose to bend our efforts
| merely to the attainment of that to which
we are entitled in law, namely. the enforce
ment of article 81 OF the treaty of Berlin:
| THE sublime porte undertakes to carry
| out, without further delay, the improve
| ments and reforms demanded by local re-
quirements In the provinces inhabited by
the Americans and to guarantee their Sc
| curity against the Circassians and Kurds
| 1t will periodically make known the steps
taken to this effect TO the powers who SUI
perintend their application"
| The fulfillment of this treaty has been
| shamefully neglected by the sublime porte
| at Constantinople.
Tiridates the Great the heroic king of
| with Constantine the honor Of being the
| first sovereign who embraced the Christian
religion. About A. d. 276 the king
Tiridates. Of the race Of Arsacidse.
| luminator, like himself of the race
| Of Arsacidae. but descended from a COL
| lateral branch Of that family, which had
long occupied the throne of Persia. In the
year 81 A. D. Tiridates had to sustain a
war against the Roman emperor Maxi
minus, in consequence Of the hatred OF the
latter against Christianity.
| Armenia, by it's industry, resources and
genius. once supported a population of near
ly $4,000. 600 souls; embraced a vast space Of
| fertile and mountainous land In western
Asia, bounded by the Black sea. the eau
/ casus, the Caspian sea, the Persian gulf.
| Syria, the Mediterranean on the northeast
and south sides, while Byxantium has
twice in history formed the western limits
|
brought under Turkish rule its natural re-
| sources have remained undeveloped, pasture
| and arabic lands have been abandoned and
are fast falling out Of cultivation; rivers
| choked up, roads are brok en-, so that the
| country is now but sparsely inhabited and
become almost dreary waste.
| Armenia today is the helpless victim of
| oppression and robbery. There is neither
protection for life nor security for property
| nor respect for honor. The Turks, Kurds
| and Circassians of the fiercest passion are
free to roam about unbridled and uncheck-
| ed. The fortunes of the Christian Armen-
fans are in the hands of these ferocious
| brutes, who are perfectly free to carry
arms while Christians are forbidden to do
so. Fraud. trickery. gun and yatagan are
all permitted to them by the Turkish gov
eminent for the furtherance of lustful and
| corrupt ends.
| The Mahommedan dynasty has lived on
to give an example Of corruption and evil
of every kind for which il would be hard to
| find a parallel among the worst of earlier
dynasties. The Ottoman Turks have never
been in any strict sense a nation. They be-
gan a band of robbers and such they
have remained ever since. To a great part
of their history. especially to their position
in the present time. that description would
apply in it's fullness. The settled and self
styled civilized Turk is really more Of a
robber than the wandering barbarian.
Others among the great empires Of the
world have done much wrong and caused
much suffering, but they have for the most
part done something else besides doing wrons
and causing suffering.
The rule of the Turk, by whatever euphe-
misms it may be called, means bondage and
degradation 1t is not an incidental evil
which should be reformed. ii is the essence
of the whole system, the groundwork on
which the Turkish power is built
| d. X. VARZHABEDIAN
| Christmas Chimes.
The following will be played upon the
bells of the Metropolitan NJ. E. Church, cor
ner of IL and c streets northwest, on
Christmas day morning. commencing at 8 &c