New-York tribune., 1895-08-08
MR.. GLADSTONE on ARMENIA.

The "Grand Old Man" has lost none OF his
grandeur. Cataracts have yelled his eyes, but
his moral vision Is undlmmed The burden OF
wears has weakened his vocal chords, but his
voice still rings clear and true upon the ears of
the world Nearly twenty years have passed
since the civilized world was thrilled by the
tremendous stress Of his dcnuncations Of Turk
ish dcviltries in Bulgaria; twenty years OF such
arduous labor as falls to the lot OF few To-day
he arrajCns the same Government for It's Ar
menian crimes, with equal passion and with
equal eloquence. At an age when most VINO
reach 1t are sans everything" in second child
ishness and mere oblivion he Is still the i'm
perious. matchess voice of England's better self,
CRYING aloud for Righteousness in the wilderness
of sordid gain. Opinions may differ as to the
nolitical discretion Of his fiery utterances. and
as 70 the proper course to be pursued In dealing
with the great and urgent case in hand. There
can be but one as to the justice Of his wrath. the
truthfulness OF his bood-chilling characteriza-
tions. and the fidelity with which he expresses
the utter abhorrcnc, every right-minded man
must feel for the awful deeds Of the last year in
Armenia.
In their bearing upon practical politics his
words were intended to be non-parsan. They
were nvoluntarily. however. stern Indictment
of the last rather than Of the present Govern
ment. When the atrocities he has denounced
occurred and when they were made known, the
party Of which he was once the leader was III
mower at Westminster. What ii did, or did not
do. TO check them. to avenge them. and to make
the repetition Of them impossible. the world
knows and not with pride It's conduct was
weak hestating. vacillating. 1t dared not act,
nor even speak, alone, but feebly protested, as
some Of its mouthpieces still do, that nothing
could be done without concert OF the Powers
The Porte appreciated this and took advantage
OF it, There is no diplomat who understands
the policy of procrastination better than the
Oriental The order of the day was. therefore,
to wait to temporiZe, to make excuses. The
Rosebery Government was topping to its fall;
therefore wait. 1t fell, and stopgap Ministry
came in until a general election could be held;
therefore keep on waiting and temporizing. Had
the Radicals carried the day, there Is little doubt
that the same old policy would have been
maintained at Constantinople. The Porte would
have known 1t had nothing to fear from Eng
land. For, although the traditional Gladstonan
policy was ito turn the Turks out, bag and bag
gage" there never was the slightest probability
that Mr.. Gadstone's successors would attempt
to enforce it.
The Unonists came in with big majority,
however, with Lord Salisbury at their head.
Immediately the temper Of Constantinople I'M
dcrwent change and it was announced that
the Porte would at once make great reforms,
both in Armenia and throughout the Empire.
If that was not case Of cause and effect. it
looked amazingly like it, True, the Conservative
Jnionists are supposed to be friends Of Turkey.
They are, however, the party Of vigorous and
aggressive foreign policy. The Porte remem-
bers we'll that It was a Conservative Govern
ment with Lord Salisbury as one OF its leaders
that negotiated the Treaty Of Berlin, and thus
gave England, individually and alone, authority
to enforce reforms in Asia Minor 1t has every
reason to believe that the present Government,
with that same leader, will not shrink from the
duty then imposed. 1t is true, as we have hither-
to explained. that the task will be most deli
cate and difficult one, especially for the Union
lists. The Radicals might have undertaken it
without hesitation; for their creed is that Eng
land would be better off if she were rid of all
her Asian Empire But the Unionist party is
essentially Imperial, and must have regard to
the welfare Of India and the perpeinaton Of
British rule there.
That is the crCX or the SITUATION IOr tne bTll-
ish Government. 1t must do something for Ar
menia, or the whole moral force of England will
revolt against It; and Russia will come in and do
the job and take Armenia for payment Yet 1t
must interfere in behalf Of the Armenian Chris
tans without the least appearance Of racial or
religious discrimination; and 1t must coerce the
Head Of Islam in the capital Of the Mahometan
world, without seeming to be a foe to Islam and
without giving offence TO the sixty million Ma
hometans of India. That Is a task that might
well have taxed the ability Of the most asute
statesman that ever sat in Downing Street. 1t
Is task in which Lord Salisbury will need the
aid and sympathy of every Englishman who
loves the Empire and who loves humanity; and
there Is little doubt that the words of his
venerable and illustrious rival are welcome to
his ear, declaring that the matter is one that far
transcends all party lines, and that in securing
to Armenia the reforms which honor and JUS
tice demand. the Government will have the sup
port Of the entire British nation.
ONE OF THE PROPHETS.