The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-04-18
HAVE HIDDEN WEAPONS.
Leaders Promise an Attack
Upon ConstantinopIe as
the Chief Event.
BUTOHERY rs LOOKED FOR.
Their Plans Are Being Kept Secret,
but the People Are Aroused
to a High Pitch.

LONDON, ENG, April 1.-THE CORE
spondent of the Associated Press writing
from Armenia, under date of March II,
says:
81 have travelled many hundreds of miles
in Russia and Persia and have visited Ar
menian colonies as far east as the Caspians
and as far south as the city of Teheran,
and have learned after the most careful
investigation and veriication of the facts,
that the Armenian question will soon reach
an acute and painful crisis. In fact Ar
menia is preparing for war. The revolu-
tionary party has now both money and
guns. During the past eight weeks money
has poured into the revolutionary treasury
in a steady stream from the Armenian
colonies in Batoum, Tif1is, Baku, Erivan,
Etchmiadzin and other places in Russia,
and from Resent, Kazvin, Teheran, Tebriz,
Khoia and other cities in Persia. The
central idea of the plan of campaign is
general uprising of Armenians through
out the Turkish empire some time during
the month of May. The leaders promised
the people in the eastern part OF Armenia
that the chief attack will be made in the
city of Constantinople itself, and that the
brunt of the fighting will be done by the
Armenian residents therein, but this may
only be subterfuge to encourage the faint
hearted at Van, Bitlis and Moush.
The Armenians have at least 1000 Martini
Henry rifles hidden in secret places in the
mountains not a great distance from Lake
Van. For a handful of unframed Ar
menians to deliberately begin fight with
the 300000 regular troops of the Turkish
empire would seem to be folly too colossal
for human conception; yet the purpose is
not to bring Turkey to terms in fair
fight but to settle the quarrel by interven-
ton of the European powers. Before the
revolution is three months old the powers
it is believed, will be compelled to take a
hand in the conflict, for the cruelty,
atrocity, the outrage, the blood and
butchery of the struggle will be so I'M
thinkably horrible that Christian hui
mainly will interfere. Armenia, it is then
hoped, may get her freedom.
For the most part the revolutionary lead
ers are of the younger generation of Ar
menians, who argue it is no worse that a
few thousand Armenians should be killed
separately during period OF a few months
or years.
To what extent the plans of the revolu-
tionary leaders are approved by the Ar
menian people at large it is difficult to
tell. [ seriously doubt If those plans are
known in detail to more than five per cent
of the Armenians. Still there are genuine
patriots who believe that to free Armenia
from the dreadful depth to which she is
sunk they must surrender some of their
fellow-countrymen to torture, outrage and
death.
There is belief in Europe that Russia
desires to make the Armenians Russian
subjects by annexing the eastern end of
Turkey. Curiously enough, this belief is
not shared by the Russians of the eau
casian region. The Georgians certainly
would resent any further increase in the
Armenian population. The business
methods of the Armenians are not gene
rally approved by Georgians and Rus
SLAMS 1t is therefore believed it is likely
that Russia wants the Armenians, but
whether or not she wants the Turkish
territory which the Armenians inhabit is
quite another matter. For the most part,
the average Armenian is anxious to have
some other man fight his battles, and he
is willing to believe England and Russia
are only waiting for chance to come IN
and dismember the Turkish empire.
The Armenian newspapers in Russia and
Persia contain no hint, however remote,
of their preparations, but contain only de-
nunciations of Turkish tyranny, and de-
mands for the enforcement of the sixty
first article of the Berlin treaty. The lower
classes are less discreet. In Tifiis especially
they fill themselves up with vodka and go
about the streets clamoring for an Ar
menian king. AS the time for the revo-
lutionary uprising approaches, the words
of the Armenian Catholic, Monsignor
Ghrimiran, have an added significance
Armenia is in sore distress, but her
sufferings will soon be at an end"