The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1895-01-10
ANOTHER STATEMENT.
In Reference to the State of
Affairs in Armenia.
1T EMBODIES EIGHT DISTRICTS

Ohicial Utterances Of tho American
Board Of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions-Turkey Trying to Assume
Authority Over Foreigners' Mail.
BosToN. January 1.-The following
statement with reference to the condi-
ton of affairs in eight districts of Ar
menia in which Christian missionaries
are stationed was to-day issued by the
American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions:
"Official letters sent recently from the
rooms of the American Board of Com
missioners for Foreign Missions, contain
ing accounts relating to the European
Turkish missions, were opened by the
Turkish officials. The letters were SUBJ
sequently delivered, but with the Turk
ish word examined written on the en-
velope. This indicated that the Turkish
government is attempting to assume all
authority over the mail of foreigners.
"When the reports of the massacre of
Christians in the Sassoun district of
Eastern Turkey became public after
more than two months of suppression
on the part of the Turkish officials, the
Ottoman government was alarmed at
widespread publications in the American
and English press. Under pressure from
foreign powers the Sultan agreed to send
q commissioner to investigate and report
upon the outrages. In view of this
promise of the government the repre-
sentatives of the European powers at
Constantinople decided to wait for the
report before taking any positive action.
But after this decision by the powers,
and while they were waiting for the de-
parture of the Sultan's commission,
which had been appointed, and which
was to make full and impartial investi-
cations of all the affairs reported by the
English Consul, as well as by many in
dividuals from the Sassoun district, the
Turkish government gave out the ap-
pended official statement of the case,
which statement was printed in the pa
pers of Constantinople. All papers
printed in Turkey are under close CEN
sorship, and no paper could refuse to
print the statement under penalty of i'm
ian periodicals were compelled to print
what they knew to be false. The state
ment is as follows:
stated, contrary to the truth, that few
Armenian villages have been destroyed,
and in the meantime persons have been
massacred by the Turkish soldiers in the
district of Sassoun. Others, in order to
magnify these reports, have asserted
that the news of the outrage was pre-
vented from leaking out by the obsta-
cles the government put in the way of
travellers from that district. The sub
jects of the Empire of SassOun district
are quietly engaged with their business,
and the people travel wherever they
wish in perfect safety. Some Armenian
bandits, being induced by agitators, be-
gan lately in and about Sassoun to dis
turb the peace and comfort of the peo-
pie by numbering, plundering and block
ing the highways. In order to put an
end to such disasters the government
employed the necessary means, and con-
sequently ordered out sufficient body
of imperial soldiers of the Fourth Army
Corps. Thus the extension of the re-
volt being checked, the troops were with
drawn to their headquarters. There was
no interference by the Kurds; but, as
stated above, some Armenian bandits
having ventured to disorderly actions,
the Sublime Porte, having been notified
by the reports of the authorities of the
Fourth Imperial Army Corps and also
by the Governor of Bitlis, undertook to
investigate as to the facts, and subse-
uuentlv a commission of inquiry was ap-
painted, composed of Abdallah Pasha,
Eomer Bey, Medjid Effendi and Hafez
Tevfix Pasha. The commission will
start this week by steamer to the scene
of the trouble. In general the Sublime
Porte will never allow such outrages to
be perpetrated as published in foreign
papers upon her subjects
CHAUNCEY DEPEw's PROTEST.
NEW YORK, January 1.-Chauncey NJ.
Depew tonight delivered an address on
the Armenian atrocities. He began by
saying that the year 1894 has been a pc.
culiarly unhappy one. The world had
been visited during the year by revolu-
tions both social and financial. But the
browning cause of unhappiness and the
one which left bloody stain upon the
history of the year was the murder OF
the helpless Armenians by the Turks.
He continued:
at behoves us as public-spirited citi-
zens to begin the new year with protest
against the outrages at Sassoun. The
peace of Europe is only maintained by
an ever-increasing armament. At Wash
inton all may be silent, but America
with 65, OOO, 600 voices in q language Of
her own-the universal language of the
globe-will protest in tones that cannot
be mistaken against the slaughter of our
fo1lou. Ghristians -