The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-04
The Armenians to Blame.


The Armenians to Blame.
Mr.. F. Hopkinson Smith. who is well
known In this city, in an interview in last
Sundays New York Herald, gave a very
interesting talk about the Armenian out
RACES, which are the cause of so much ex-
element in England and this country Mr..
Smith does not sympathize with the Ar
menians, and he thinks they are to blame
for all the outrages on their people which
have been committed in Turkey
Mr.. Smith knows whereof he speaks He
recently spent considerable time in Tur-
key, and while In that country he made
study Of the Armenian question. He was
in constantinople last summer when Ar
menians took possession of the Ottoman
bank and brought on the riot in which a
great many Armenians were killed.
Mr.. Smith says that in every instance,
as far as he could discover, in which Ar
menians have been massacred by Turks,
the Armenians were the aggressors, just
as they were in the Constantinople affair.
His opinion of the Armenians is summed
up in the following paragraph:
tinople alone and every one of them is an
anarchist and a plotter at heart. We are
the only people who open our doors to
them. We do not know them. They should
either be kept out, or sent back as fast as
they arrive. Few of them deserve our
sympathy. l do not speak lightly. l know
for fact that they themselves have been
responsible for every so-called outrage
committed against them in Turkey. For
years they have plotted and schemed and
sent out false reports against the Turk
ish government. The Roumanians, their
nearest neighbors. know them and will
have nothing to do with them. They are
not allowed to land in that country"
The Armenians, according to Mr.. Smith,
have a revolutionary committee, whose
business it is to stir up strife. Their OBJ
ject is to get the governments of Europe
to interfere in the affairs of Turkey, thing
ing that in case of interference the sultan
would be deposed and that Armenians
would be given control of the country
This revolutionary committee encourag es
the throwing of bombs into Turkish hous-
es and into crowds OF Turkish people for
the purpose of stirring up the Turks to
commit, outrages. Reports of the outrages
are sent by this committee to the English
newspapers, and in every instance the i'm
preston is given that the Armenans are
inoffensive. and that they are the victims
Of Turkish brutality and fanaticism.
Mr.. Smith denies the stories that the
Turks attack the Armenians without pro-
vocation and that the Armenians. men,
women and children, are the victims Of
horrible outrages. The Armenians begin
the troubles and generally get the worst
Of them.
The English and American missionaries
are in hearty sympathy with the Armen-
ians and encourage them in the course
they are pursuing. If 1t were not for them
Mr.. Smith thinks, the number of the out
RACES would be far less, The missionarie
detest the religion of the Turks and that
is one of the chief reasons why they can
see no good in the Turks.
The sultan has not encouraged attacks
on the Armenians. On the contrary he has
done and is still doing all he can to pre-
vent them. He has no prejudice against
the Armenians as a race or as Christians
The fact that fully half of the Office hold
ers of the empire are Christians, shows he
hasn'tAil that he asks Of them Is that they
will be loyal and attend TO their various
occupations. If they would do that they
would not be molested and would have r ,
cause to complain.
Mr.. Smith believes the outrages will con-
tinue as long as the Armenian leaders
think there Is chance OF inducing Europe
and this conntry to interfere in Turkish
affairs and depose the sultan. They don't
seem to care how many riots may result
from their lawless acts nor how many Of
their people may become the victims of
Turkish wrath so long as they think they
see a chance of accomplishing their pur-
pose.
II the people OF this country and Eng
land could see the Armenian situation as
Mr. Smith sees It they would have much
less sympathy for the Armenians and
would cease their efforts to involve their
respective governments in a war with rur-
key.