Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1895-06-10
INDEPENDENT TRIBES
Likely to Re Exterminated by Order
Of the Sultan.
A Demand For Taxes Usei
as q Pretext.
HISTORIAN Christians, Already Nall Starved
Worse Oa Than Ever.

LONDON, juno 10.-A special correspond
ent, writing from Djulea, Russia, undc,
date Of May 2, says that the Turkish gov
crnment Is preparing for what looks like
massacre Of HISTORIAN Christians In thu
mountains Of Kurdistan. It Is asserted
that the government has given orders Il
starve the independent tribes of HISTORIANS
in the mountain region Immediately west
of Caviar.
The orders, IL is stated, are that no fooo
supplies Of any kind shall be allowed Il
enter tho territory OF tho independent
tribes, and measures arc said to have been
taken to enforce these orders to tho letter
This action is apparently taken ss
means Of compelling the independent
tribes to submit to the Turkish authority
and to pay the taxes demanded by the
Turkish government, and Is regarded as
the first serious attempt that the Turks
have made to extort taxes from the inde
pendent tribes.
From the earliest times In the history OF
the Ottoman empire these tribes have been
independent Of Turkish rule. They have
paid no taxes, and they have acknowledged
no allegiance to the Turkish government
All Turkish officials have been excluded
from the territory Of tho tribes, and tax
gatherers having regard for their own
lives have let the independent people alone
In Their Mountain Businesses.
The presence of these Independents has
always been thorn IN the side Of the
Turkish government; but, as It was prac
tically impossible to subdue the hall
savage mountaineers by force Of arms, no
attempt has been made to discipline them
The present course of the government is
taken as an indication that the sultan has
set on foot q systematic persecution OF
Christians In all parts Of the empire. Thu
fact that the Independents pay no taxes is
looked upon by the opponents Of the porte
as merely plausible excuse for the gov.
ernment's action.
But why the sultan should come upon
these half wild people for taxes now, after
an Independence since the Babylonian
era, is not easily explained. The sultan
has plenty of opportunity of knowing that
the independent HISTORIANS arc too poor to
pay taxes, and that many Of them make q
living by going down into the villages OF
their wretchcdly poor fellow cOuntrymen
and begging. There Is one large village
inhabited entirely by beggars. These pool
creatures are to be starved because they
will not share with the Sultan of Turkey
the scraps of bread, the refuse bits of meat
and the odds and ends which they obtain
by begging.
1t is not difficult to forecast the probable
result Of the starvation Qk this race Of beg
gars should the report turn out to be cor
rect. Driven desperate by hunger, the
people will endeavor to obtain food from
Caviar and other outside districts, and
there will be fights with the Turkish
troops, the villages will possibly be at
tackled, and some of the wretched people
naturally, will be killed, and no man can
prophesy
Where the Persecution Will End.
However, the whole story may turn out to
be an invention of the enemies of the
Turkish rule, but / think it but right tC
record the fact that this startling report
is in circulation, and, apparently, is be
lieved by many people to be true.
The Western Christian should bear ir
mind that in Asia Minor governor re
ceives no salary, but, on the contrary, pays
large sum for the privilege Of holding
his office. He gets rich very rapidly by
the exercise of methods, the ingenuity o.
which can be appreciated and understood
only by n visit to the Orient.
/ regret to say that Mr. Patton Of tht
British consulate general in Tebriz, Per
sia, is very much in disfavor with the gen
tlemen who are conducting the Armenian
revolutionary movements. In spite Of tn,
fact that Mr. Patton has been collecting
evidence Of the Sassoun and Moosh mas
sacres for the use of the British govern
ment, the Armenians look upon him as
spy. They may go to the length of doinl
him bodily harm.
The closing Of the caravan routes to Val
has rendered more acute the suffering
from famine in the devastated districts
near Van. The only hope of relief is nov
cut off.