The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-11-27
CAN DO NOTHING.
America Is Simply Powerless to Ai's
the Armenians.

Washington, Nov 26.-The edict per-
manently excluding all American news
papers from Turkey, as announced by
the Associated Press cable from Con-
stantinople, has not yet been officially
communicated to the Turkish legalloh
here. .
Secretary Norighian Effendi is IN
charge of the legation during the alb
sence of Mr.. Mavroyenni Bey- MI.
Norighian expressed surprise that the
edict should have such scope as TO ne
a permanent exclusion TO the AHleri-
can press, and he thinks the report
may be oyerdraWn in this respect.
There is a press censorship in Turkey,
he saws. similar to that conducted IN
most European countries. a press bu-
reau is maintained by the government
for the purpose of reading all papers
and seeing that the press laws are OBJ
served There are daily papers at Con
stantinople and elsewhere throughout
Turkey conducted in accordance with
the press laws. which are designed to
give the government proper protection
against Internal assaults. Mr. Norig-
hian says such laws and censorship
are common throughout Europe and
are in marked contrast with the lack
of. supervision and censorship in the
United States.
SUPERINTENDENT Brooks, of the for
eign mail service, says that it is an
agreement by all nations in the uni
versal postal union that any nation
can exclude any mail which the gov
eminent deems detrimental to- its in
terests. < sSaA-i@t ~az's - RI ~
At the state department, no question
is raised as to the authority of the
Turkish government taking the action
indicated Nearly every European
power has asserted and exercised this
authority in the past France has
freely awaited of it, and it is a we'll
known fact that the Russian govern
ment exercises a most rigid censorship
over the admission into Russia, not
only of foreign newspapers, but OF
magazines and books.
In the case of Turkey. the reason for
the order of exclusion is doubtless to
be found in the fact that the American
papers at present abound with long ar
ticles descriptive of the outrages al
legged to have been perpetrated on the
Armenians and reports of mass meet
ings held by the active Armenian
agents in the United States to protest
against these atrocities. The Turkish
government is properly apprehensive
that the free circula ton of such litera-
ture in the disaffected provinces may
stir up an open rebellion, the outcome
of which in the present temper of Eu-
rope it would be difficult to forecast.
So far as the Armenians themselves
are concerned our government can do
nothing for them, no matter now much
disposed it may be to alleviate the for
tunes of these native Christians.
The great European powers are
bound by treaty TO protect them, and
they will unquestionably strongly re-
! sent any interference by the United
| States in the line of suggestions as to
their duty in the matter.
| So the resolutions which are being
| directed to the president by sympa-
thetic mass meetings held in various
cities are likely to be of no avail, save
perhaps TO direct the attention of the
civilized world to the miserable state
of the Armenians, though it is just
! possible that Congress, as it did in the
case of the Russian Jew, may pass a
| resolution requesting the president TIC
appeal to the treaty powers to inter
vene in Armenia