New-York tribune., 1894-04-29
TURKEY HAS ANARCHISTS.
HUNCHAGIsT REvOLUTIONIsTS WOULD
FREE ARMENIA BY ASSASSINATION.
ATTEMPT on THE LIFE OF THE ARMENIAN
PATRIARCH -PLUNDERED by KURDs-EU-
ROPE LOOKS oN-THE TURK LEARNS RE-
spECT FOR AMERICAN PASSPORTS.


Cons,antnople April ;.
The Armenian Patriarch Of Constantinople has
had a narrow escape from being added 10 the
growing list Of the victims Of the Armenian
Uunchagist revolutionary committeeman. one
OF these Armenian patriots had come from
abroad with the express purpose Of shooting him.
He was a slim. gentle-looking young man with
black hair and mustache. and provided with a
fine revolver and conviction of the right Of
any individual to remove from the earth any OBJ
noxious person lie waited his opportunity In the
courtyard Of the Armenian church at KOumka-
pou In Stamboul. As the Patriarch came from
the church after preaching. the patriot" stepped
forward and raised his revolver. But he had
never studied De Quincy. The nervousness or
the amateur in murder was upon him. When
he pulled the trigger he failed 10 press the re-
lease Of the self-actinG mechanism. and the
Patriarch's life was saved. The next instant a
hand had clutched the revolver. and its owher
was a prisoner in the hands Of the Turkish
police An hour later the young man stood In
the presence Of the Minister of Police boldly ad-
hitting his crime. Yes" he said. 81 came 10
this country expressly 10 Kill that man. You
Yourself should commend not condemn my pur-
pose for the Patriarch is running his people"
The cause Of this attempted assassination was
the lIunchaglst movement. and especially his re-
cent encyccal on the subject In this paper the
Patriarch directs the bishops everywhere to de-
nounce to the police the agitators from abroad
who are seeking to stir up strife. For this, and
for stating the self-evident fact that these agi-
tators are engaged In an enterprise which Is
without issue and which IS against the interests
Of the Armenians as a whole. the old priest must
die forsooth!
No one can fail to be moved by the pains to
which the Armcnians Of Asiatc Turkey are sub
iectcd through the Incompetence and iniquity Of
the mass Of Turkish officials. While the quality
Of the higher Turkish officials is slowly improv-
ing the horde Of smaller officials has not been
touched by amehoratve influences The worst
Of the ancient tyranny. greed and brutality sun
nourishcs among them. while the courts have
made scarcely step toward the idea Of deliver
ing judgments on any other basis than respect
20 the purse Of the person Of the applicant.
Besides these grievances. which affect all the
population of the interior provinces. the
eastern provinces whore the Armcnians are
most numerous. are ovcrrun by the wild
and lawlcss Kurds. These Kurds have re-
Gently been organized as cavalry ~ the TURK
ish Army being armed and equipped from Inc
military stores. but being oiiicerci by their own
much after tho usagcs Of the Russian Cossacks.
The result is about what would occur II the
Apache Indians. after being armed by the United
States as par, of the army. were 20 be- left under
their own chiefs. and without other supervision
free - range over Arizona and New Mexico.
Tho Kurds ravage the fields q the Armenian
peasants. seize their nocks. plundcr their VII
lagos and carry on their women. Meanwhile
tho officials ~ those remote regions are guilty
~ the most unheard ~ infamlcs In the colloc-
ton Of taxes They not only take amounts largely
In excess IL the sums due. but IN collecting they
quarter themselves and their horses upon inc
peasants: they beat the people. hang them up 70
rafters by their hands stun their mouths with
manure and in some cases collect the women III
stables and use the threat of outrage on the
women as an additional means - pressure /"
secure payment % taxes from men whom the
famine has left without means. In snort the
NOR. remote provinces of Turkey blaze win the
splcndor of Mahometan culture as 1t ~ when
unmodincd by contact with the ethics o' chris
tcndom From this point ~ view they might
perhaps offer TO Max Muller materials for some
revision of his articles in A recent "Cohtempo-
rary' on the graccs 81 Islam In Turkey
This state OF affairs IS now aggravated by those
so-caled friends Of the Armcnians ~ Turkey
mIt,ecs into the western provinces Of Turkey to
create disturbances. whereby ArInenians may be
killed as a basis FOR a hue and cry There has
he.n thing Ike open revolt In any part Of Tur-
key and apparently no general participation oi
the Armenian population In the secret ins'lrrec-
tlonary activity. All that has been apparent mas
been a series OF cowardly secret assasslnations'
like that attempted upon the Patriarch. whlch
have reached, perhaps. a couple OF score in num-
bcr and which have been perpetraied upon At
Inenians by the Hunchagists for the GOOD OF
the cause, and upon Musms wherever they
have seen opportunity OF killing without Ilsh 10
their own precious lives There have been oc-
casional highway rObbcrics. and frequent eX-
tortion Of money from Armenian merchants TOT
the rcplenishment Of the Hunchagist purse, anu
In one instance at Marsovan. there has been
sharp fight between seven or eight or these com
mitteemcn and the Turkish police sent 10 arrest
them at the request Of the ArmenianS whon they
had been terroriZing. In this case one ot the
Russian leaders OF the party was killed. anu
papers found upon him showed the plans ana
methods OF this secret organization. Their aim
has been to create. not revolution. but anarchy,
I'm order to force Il foreign Intervention In the
name Of humanity. This explains their choice
OF a region for their operations where the Ar
menians constitute only "A small proportion OF the
population instead OF selecting the remote nlsh-
lands Of old Armenia, where almost one-haf OF
the people are Armenans. BY this choice or
scene for their labors also they nave Obliged
their friends I'm England and America 10 culogfze
brigands executed for murder as martyrs. and To
represent men imprisoned seditious conspira-
tors as being prosecuted for their religion-easily
refuted claims which much please the Turkish
authorities. The only present result OF n years
activity by the Hunchagist committee In Turkey
has been to double the mseries OF the ArmenlanS
in the disturbed districts. and TO place the whole
Armenian people under n most CALLING and unjust
police surveillance. II Turkey had the least
ability I'm government. the whole business could
be ended In three weeks by arranging simple and
sure means of furnishing officials who abuse the
Armenians But Turkey always bunders In
thinking to defend its honor by concealing and
defending the dongs OF It's officials IL is proba-
BILE therefore. that we are at the beginning OF a
series Of agonies which are 10 lead up 10 Russian
intervention, at least in the eastern provinces
along her frontier. England would Ike to lead
the Turks to wiser courses. But the fierce dec
lamations OF the Hunchagists in England and
America against punishment Of revolutIonists