New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-05
THE ARMENIAN PROBLEM

Day by day the news from Armenia grows
more dstrcssful The first reports of the re-
cent massacrcs were So shocking That many
believed and all hoped they had been much
exaggerated They are now. however. not only
confirmed, but actually enlarged and intensified,
and there Is. unhappily. too good reason To con
cludc that wholesale ouragcs and murders have
been committed comparable In magnitude ana
horror with the historic bulgarian atrocities
Of nearly twenty years ago. The civilized world
cannot afford 10 let such deeds pass unnoticcd.
or without cxacting both sternest punishment
for their doors and strongest guarantees against
their recurrence. Some vigorous measures are
needed: more than mere investigation and prom
Use OF reform We all remember how Moussa
Bcy once bought Il Bible, and what came OF IT,
Radical treatment was applied 10 the case Of
bulgaria. With equal provocation 1t may have
To be repeated In Armenia.
II is common usage 10 call any political or
Diplomatic trouble "problem' There Is nj
ways an Eastern problem meaning whole
congeries Of Russian, Scrvian. Bulgarian, Turk
lsh and other interests. We have likewise Chi
ncse. Egyptian Brazilian. Hawaiian. Samoan
and other problems" But none, by virtue of II
complex and puzzling character, deserves the
title better than that Of Armenia. 1t Is a prob
lem that Is quite distinct from all others from
that Of the Balkans the one hand, and that
Of Egypt on the other And on the score OF
simple humanity II is perhaps most urgent Of
them all.
The first impulse Is To hold the Sultan re-
sponsiblc for what has taken place. That, how
ever. would not be just. Personally Abdul
! Uamid Is one of the most amiablc and humane
Of men, He would no sooner order or sanction
such massacrcs than would the Queen of Eng
land or the President Of the United States.
But his will Is by no means supreme. lie Is
| nominally an autocrat. But he Is autocrat or
an Empire founded on a religious creed, and
he Is really subject not only to that creed. but
! 10 its official expoundcrs. The Shclk-ul Islam
and the members Of the Uema. whom we might
! term the Spiritual Peers, are the actual rulers
Of the Ottoman Empire. And they are about rs
bigotcd, blind and savage set of fanatics rs
can be found in all the world. II Is all very
well to say that the Sultan should h. I'm prac-
tee as he Is In theory. their superior. AS
matter Of fact II he attempted to assert his au
thory against their will In any important mat
ter, neither his throne nor his life would be
secure for a single day AT Constantinople
I therefore, we see this state OF affairs: nom
inal ruler who Is benevolent but powcrless, and
who must yet be held technically responsible
and an actual ruling body which Is malevolenl
and powerful, and yet which cannot be called
to account
Nor Is the aspect less perplexing II we turn
10 foreign Powers. England Is nomlnally
charged with seeing that Armenia Is well gov
crned by the Porte. Yet English influence In
that country. locally, Is practically nil Russia
has, in theory. no responsibilities there Yet
Russian influence Is paramount, and Russian
agents are TO be found almost everywhere
England has no domain near Armenia and car
send no force thither without travcrsng tho
territory Of another Power; while Hussla u