The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-02-11
Mr.. James Bryce on Armenia.

January 81 said:
There is still more painful subject on
which must speak freely to you. For
many years IN succession have described
to you the sufferings of the Armenian
Christians. have pointed out England's
responsibilities, and have repeated to you
the predictions Of persons who knew the
East thoroughly. that before long some
massacre would ensue sufficient to en-
danger the peace of the whole East and
to compel the Intervention of the Euro
pean powers. Those predictions have
been only too completely fulfilled. The
massacre of Sassun, an unprovoked mas
| sacre, and part Of deliberate scheme for
the determination of the Christian popu-
alton, as perpetrated on a community of
simple mountaineers the flower of what
remained OF the Armenian race. Lord
Rosebery's government spoke to the Sui
tan in the very strongest terms, pressing
the need for prompt and sweeping re-
forms, and for the punishment Of the
guilty; and they endeavored to get Rus
STA and France to join with them. The
Turks of course resisted, never expressing
the slightest regret or remorse for the
slaughter, while Russia and France gave
somewhat qualified support, hes;tating
to adopt what we thought even the ir-
reducible minimum of reforms.
We were still arguing with them and
office last June. The time had not yet
arrived fol proceeding to coerce the Turks
Though it was plain that it must soon
have arrived-because it was deemed
| proper first to exhaust the resources of
remonstrance and warning, and if posi-
BILE to carry Russia and Francs along
with us. When Parliament opened last
August, Lord Salisbury addressed to
the Turks grave words, which were taken
by the country as a pledge that England
would do everything she could to secure
protection tor the Eastern Christians.
He repeated this pledge in still stronger
and clearer terms in his Guildhall speech.
By that time fresh massacres had begun.
Massacres have gone on ever since. They
have been secretly planned or publicly
organized by the Turkish government,
aid either permitted or actually carried
out by Turkish trOOps-tenS of thous-
ands-some accounts seem to put the
number above $50, 000-of Christians have
been slain. Probably as many more have
been made homeless. and are dying of
fam Inc. Some have sought to escape
death by renounoing their religion. Last
week we heard of massacre at Orfah in
| which 1900 were killed. At this moment
| the hardy mountainous of Zeitunare are
| in danger of a similar fate unless-so the
| intelligence runs-they surrender their
leaders to the mercy Of the Turks. With
the experience they have of Turkish
mercy, and the recollection of the slaugh-
| ter at Sassun, when the men, women,
and children who surrendered were
masssacred in cold blood, how can they
be expected to give up their arms? We
| may hear any day of a Zeitun massacre
| SURPRISING those Of the last few months.
| And while these things go on, Britain
does nothing, Sir M. Hicks Beach says
we have no special responsibility, forget
ting the Anglo Turkish con vention, for
getting that it was England that.set aside
| the treaty of San Stefano, by which Rus
STA had undertaken to protect the Arme-
mans, and Britain that substituted for
that treaty the treaty of Berlin, in whose
61st article our obligation stands plainly
written; and Mr.. Arthur Balfour, while
deploring the position, offers no consoIa-
tion except that "the concert of Euorpe
| has been maintained" Six powers. any
ne Of which could, by moving few
ironolads. bring the Turk to his knees
and stop the massacres, stand helpless
while massacres go on far worse than
those which desolated Armenia in the
twelfth century, OF those later days when
the Turk, now SO feeble except for mas
sacre, was the terror,of all Christsndom.
The concert Of Europe is maintained |!
Six strong men stand by while rufflan
fortunes and dispatches the victim they
have pledged themselves to protect. And
it is owing to Britain more than to any
other power that the Turkish government
has lived on to do it's hideous work for it
was Britain that saved that government
in the days of the Crimean war, Britain
that in 1878 deprived the Armenians of
the protection which Russia had then
promised.
So now Britain is bound above ali the
other powers to come to the rescne of
these victims of ferocity and fanaticism.
You may ask whether for the sake of this
rescue we ought to run the risk of a
European war. Certainly no such risk
ought to be or need be incurred. I speak
under the disadvantage of not knowing
what communications have passed since
June. But everything seems to indicate
that Russia and France are reluctant to
support 80 drastic a scheme of reform as
our government deem needed and reluc-
tant also to resort to thet coercion by
which alone the acceptance and practi-
cal application of any reforms can be se-
cured. What then ought our course to
be? To ask Russia and France whether
they will resist the application to the
Turks of British coercion, whether in fact
they will consider such application to be
casus belli. That they will refuse to
allow us to apply coercion can scarcely be
expected. elf they do refuse, that is to
say. If they will neither help as to stop
the massacres nor suffer us to stop them
alone, they will make themselves respon-
sible for the present horrors and our
hands will henceforth be clean. II they
do not refuse there are several ways and
places in which we can soon bring the
Turk to reason-Smyrna is one and the
Red Sea is onother- without danger of
| further complications. Should the minis
try however reject this course-and of
course there are facts within their knowl-
edge which they have not disclosed to ne
then only one other course seems to ra-
main, that of inviting Russia herself to
restore peace in the Armenian provinces
as the mandatory of Eurona london
Daily News,