The Washington times., 1894-12-24
MAKE CHRISTIANS
SAFE In TURKEY
The Call of the Evangelical Alli-
ance on Our Government.
MISSIONARIES ARE IN DANGER
DR.. Strong's Stirring Address on Re-
cent Massaeres in Armenia.
Senator Frye Introduces the Speaker and
Says the Powers Should Act Promptly
Be Trusted to the Malls-Afraid for His
Daughters Lives if All Were to Be Told

Very direct, earnest, and sinewy was the
discussion by DR.. Josiah Strong at the Church
OF the Covenant last night OF the massacres
of Christians by Turks recently reported from
Armenia
The meeting was under the auspices of the
Evangelical Alliance of which DR.. Strong,
best known as author of ''Our Country" is
secretary, and Christians of all denomina-
tions were present. Rev. Dr. Mcknight in
the invocation asked a blessing upon 'the
Turk, the ruler of these people" that he
might have wisdom. grace, and justice. Rev.
Tennis Hamiin read letters OF sympathy from
Reys. Mackaye, Smith, Pitzer. Butler, McKim;
Presidents Green, of Columbian. and Rankin.
OF Howard, and Presiding Elder L. 2. Wilson.
Senator Frye, in short address introdue-
ing Dr. Strong. said the historic massacre OF
Giencor, for which England bowed her face
in the dust, paled into insigniiicance beside
the atrocities which hal called this meeting
together.
1.-The great powers ought 10 demand" he
exclaimed, THAT these outrages stop now and
forever and our republic should join with
them"
Dr. Strong had called the attention of the
church of Christ 10 its responsibilities here:
be need not broaden his view much to ask it
to notice the call from Asia Minor, for in
Turkey are fifty American churches with
$500 COMMITMENTS and sixty-Dine Ameri-
can Sunday-schoos with 5000 pills.
DIR. Strong faced the audIelca, slender
figure trinity clad in black. with white bow
at his throat features indicating refinement
and energy, clear eye, iron-gray hair and
beard. His voice is pleasant and his words
distinct. BE said:
"One of the greatest principles for which
the Evangelical Alliance stands is religious
liberty. and 1t is now called upon to vindicate
that principle for the
PROSECUTED CHRISTIANS IN TURKEY
There are three sources, he continued,
from which we gain information regarding
the Turks. Two, the Turkish government on
the one side and the Armenian revolutionary
party, with headquarters at Athens. on the
other, may be excluded as unreliable. The
world, remembering the Bulgarian outrages
in 1870, will make allowance for the efforts
the Turkish government is making to min
imiZe the atrocities now reported.
The full truth never reaches us except in
the third way, the report OF a returned mis-
sionary or of a traveller who let's IN the light
upon those regions. A friend who dare not
write it because letters are constantly opened.
/ told him the following:
.'Four Armenian couples, just married wen I
| upon the hills to gather herbs. They were
! wholly unarmed band of Kurds set upon
them. killed the men and tore them TO pieces
and dishonored the women. When the peo-
] pie of the village in fury forced the governor
! TO arrest the murderers, their dismissal was
secured because the only witnesses against
them were the women and a woman's testi-
/ monyis discredited by Turkish law. The gov
ernor retaliated for being forced to try the
men by suppressing an Armenian monastery
| DR.. Cyrus Hamln, when called upon to
speak in a meeting last Tuesday, said he
dared not tell all he knew, for fear Of the
lives of his daughters, still in Turkey, might
| pay for it. He cited the massacres of Lebanon
and Damascus in which 10000 Christians
perished and Of Bulgaria, when 900 were
| slain. two-thirdsl of them women and chill
| dren, as evidence that there may be no ex
1 aggeration In the reports now received. The
Turk, he declared,
CAN ONLY BE REACHED BY FORCE.
There is little hope to deter him from slay
| ing unbelieyers, as enioined by the Koran
except by arms. In 1861 when the American
consul general demanded the arrest of tn,
| murderers of Mr.. Coffin, no attention wa
| paid at first. But there lay in the harbor O
Constantnople a French iron clad, and be
4 Sido uo IfcnCu COuSu
pointed to his flag and said: ''There is nt
| American ship in these waters, but that flag
of ours shall be the stars and stripes. Yol
| must accede to the American demand.'' Anl
the British minister said: "Your town is un
| der our guns. You must do justice OF !. . bat
| ter it in pieces" Mr.. Collins murderer:
were promptly arrested and punished.
Washington must be heard from again il
| Constantinople. II Saida Pasba is to receive
4 a decoration and the Kurdish chiefs slker
tanners in honor of the massacres; if the
! Turkish government boldly admits that {
| thousand were slain. and says they met theil
| just deserts and nothing is done, the 40C
| American missionaries in Turkey are M
| longer safe. Our government if it cannot ac
directly must bring the force of public opin
ion to bear upon Great Britain. As one o
i the signatory powers she has the right ant
/ power to demand investigation and justice.
Ii religious liberty is with US as a prin
ciple, and not merely luxury, we must pro
/ tect it.
The Elbc on a Rampage.
i HAMBURG, Dee. 23.-The River Elbe ha
| oyerfowed its banks and inundated III,