St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-03-02

| should De entirely subject to the synod or st.
| petersburg, ana the laws OF Russia, as on the
| statute books, are most severe and prosecuting
| against all forms OF Christianity which recog
nized the synod of st Petersburg as the chief
government of the church.
The Turks have in this past century given
| a good deal Of liberty to Christians, and in
Constantinople there Is today good share of
| liberty to all religions But this has to be
confessed that the Turkish religious creed, or
| the Mohammedan creed in all its teachings,
| beget an absolute hatred Of what II terms the
| tnhdel and the unbeliever, and the Christian
| is to be the infdel and the unbeliever. They
speak OF the Christian dog, calling Christians
| by that contemptuous name Besides, as
] race, they not highly elevated in the
scale of humanity Naturally yet savage and
Darbarous, when they become ferocious they
surpass almost everything that We can inn
| aglne For INSTANCE, the scenes that we
are witnessing today The outbreak in Ar
menia, and the blood-curdling reports which we
hear from that country are not exaggerated,
but they fail to tell the facts. Over sixty thou
SAND have already been massacred. All viii
Iages ana provi9cesg have been devastated.
Certainly without any provocation. Turks
take arms, rush into the houses and stores OF
! the Christians, rob them of all their possess
slons and shoot them down as mere animals.
The turkish government seems to be entirely
without power to enforce it's laws, or to SYM
| pathlZe with the murderers. In certain in
stances, Turkish soldiers were sent to quiet
the riots, but inc many cases when they ar
rived they joined jim with the murderers. Ere
! quentiy Armenians have been summoned to
| embrace Mohammedarism, and refusing to
do so were put to death. Those who were MUIR
dered were treated with comparative mercy,
While others who were gathered in were cast
into prison, made to suffer from famine and all
sorts of prosecutions. and, what is really more
horrible yet, these Turks in Asia Minor, once
| excited, have no respect whatever for the
! weak. for child or woman and the most horrid
! cruelties, which are not to be named in
Christian assembly. have been practiced to-
! wards the Christian women in Armenia.
Now, what is to be done? We are not
here to dictate to governments. DEGREES. We
have not the power If we would wish What
| can we do? great deal. First we can
send out from this entire country of America,
| across oceans and seas, protest against
prosecutions of men because of their religion.
we enjoy that great boon of liberty Of con-
science. Let us form public opinion so strong
in the world that even great and strong ma
lions shall be brought to accede to these
practices of true Christian liberty. Public
opinion rules today the entire world. More
even than. strong armies. more even than
ships of war, and the most despotic ruler
on his throne is obliged to listen to the
| public opinion Of the world, especially so
in this case. when the public opinion repre-
of civilization and of Christianity. Let us
form public opinion, and then neither Tur-
key nor Russia. or any people in those dis
Let them ali know that the victim of perse-
cution awakens the sympathy Of the world,
and we Americans. in the formation of public
than we imagine. Thank God that when
America unitedly makes a protest, distant
nations are at once alarmed. And If all
that we desire is not accomplished in a day,
we go very far towards preventing a repeti-
ton of the cruelties which we condemn. This
Armenian massacre is a great misfortune.
| Though yet 1t may be blessing in disguise.
1t may be that, owing to the protest which
1t has awakened in the world, it may be the
last massacre of Christians. So we can do
much in that protest. We can do much at
present by our loud and continued protest
to compel the government OF Turkey to use
all due diligence to stop these prosecutions.
rrnfN 1nrk% h. kf,11A
cry message that comes to us from Armenia
brings to us the news Of new attack on
some distant and unprotected village; Of
some new prosecutions and the government
Of Turkey seems to interfere, but as mat
ter of fact, acconplishes nothing. We all
know that If the government of Constantine
could pour in such enormous armies In the
provinces Of Asia Minor that all persecu-
tons would cease at once.
AT least we have this advantage IN America
that we do not leave. everything to the gov
eminent, as in Turkey. That where the
government does mot and cannot interfere,
do our share as individuals and Christians,
and we can do much. Were there a meeting
Of this kind in every city, in every village,
in every hamlet of America, and the tidings
OF those meetings were sent Immediately
across to the sultan of Turkey, something
would be done. Silence on the part Of the
| Christian people is fatal. 1t gives the Turks
! the opinion that we have no interest in those
who suffer. There is another way by which
We can come to the aid and the rescue Of
those poor Armenians we can send them
tribute of our. generosity. The Red Cross
society is represented there. Men and wom-
en- are today in provinces of Asia Minor
so far as the means put at the disposal of
the society permit. The question will not
Yes If today there be Turks themselves,
! Turkish families, starving, I am very sure
our American Red Cross society will not
ask whether this people are Jews or Samari-
| question thew
suffering? We can rely absolutely on the
disnterestedness and impartialty of the
Americans. Let us give something Of what
we have. Let it go abroad before all
the nations of the world. that when
the people of Armenia were hungry and
messengers from that distant land. the Unit
ed States, bearing gifts in the name Of lib
erty, civilization and Christianity came.
countries of Asia and Africa, that wherever
men suffer the synpathies of America will
/ CO. And in no better way than in this dis
interested charity can we restore our nation
and make it plain to the entire world that
America is worthy of her fame as country
of civilization, generosity and Christianity"
Capt. Henry A Castle was then in
troduced as the next speaker. Mr..
Castle said: This country Of Ar
menia, about which we are talking
here has, 1t seems to me, q special
claim upon us aside from the general
claim which all suffering children of
| men everywhere always have upon our
help and sympathy. Armenia itself Is
the birthplace Of the human race, the
cradle of humanity. Either within or
Immediately adjoining its borders was
the Garden Of Eden, and Mount Ar
| arat where the ark rested. The Tower
Of Babel was built within it's borders. ="
The speaker then gave bit of an
cient history, directing the attention of
| the audience to the courses taken by
Shem, Ham and Japhet.
"Shem,' continued Mr.. Castle, went
east and populated Asia Minor; the
sons of Ham went southwesterly and
colonized Afrioas but the sons Of Japhet
remained in that land where they were
born, and afterwards set out those col
onies In Northwestern Europe from
which we descended. When Christi
anity came, they were among the first
Of the nations to accept it's teachings
from the handsIof some Of the apostles
themselves, and from that day to this
they have kept the light burning, and
they are today on ajhigher plane, con-
sidering what they Have gone through
and entitled in double sense to our
sympathy and our aid. They are ten
or twelve millions Of people, divided
into various sects!h In some respects
they differ greatly from us in the ac-
ceptance of divine truth, but all are
Christians, and what civilization they
possess is Christian civilization, even
though imperfect, no doubt, compared
to ours.
Now this people are suffering be-
cause Of their Christianity and their
Christian civilization. The barbarous
Turks, the Mohammedans, who have
overrun their country, are not ruled by
the same motives that the Christian
nations of America and Europe are