The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-16
CRUSHING OUT CHRISTIANITY.
THE WORK OF ANNIHILATION STILL
IN PROGRESS IN ARMENIA.

TO DcspotA Ihem-Atl the Leading
Men of the villages Who Have SUR
Nived the Massacres Thrown Into
Prison.
ConstantinOple, March 15.-Later news
from Harpoot shows that in that villa yet,
at least some sort Of orders have gone out
TO discountenance the forced conversions.
When the authorities from Harpoot tele-
graphed to Constantinople for instruc-
tions the reply was: do not use force
to convert"
The local government interpreted the
orders literally and even announced that
every one was to return. In one quarter
of Harpoot all the Christians had been
converted and circumcised, so that they
feared to open their church. But the
| Ulema or religious leaders of the Moslems
! came i'm a body and begged them to renew
| their services in the church. This change
however. is only in the cities and large
towns; in the villages and hamlet such
orders will have no effect The Mollahs
and petty Mukhters can easily see TO It
that no one returns. only If some one Of
/ them is punished will these Mollahs un-
derstand that It is dangerous to intimi-
date. 1t seems hopeless almost to talk Of
/ punishment for religious oppressors,
]
In Itschmeh, a certain well-known sheik
ten days after the heat Of the outbreak,
murdered forty persons in cold blood at
! the door Of the church. Surely some rec
/ ogniton should be made of such crime.
/ In regard to other murders the excuse of
! the government has been that II was inn
/ possible to bring home any single act
to any one person. This sheik, now
! ever, ten days after quiet was restored
! invited all the leading Christians TO con-
| ference. Some feared and hid; about six
| ty, however, assembled In the church,
| when the door was locked upon them
| and then, under the lead of this sheik
| the Moslems brought out these men one
/ at time Forty refused to accept Islam
! and were killed. Here is certainly one
clear case that ought to be taken up
In January Turkish officials in the coun-
| try districts OF iarpoot ana Diarberklr
| occupied themselves with visiting the VII
| lagos recently Converted instrucung
| the people on no account to admit, even
! II they were asked, that they had been
| forced to accept Islam. The people were
informed that death would be the PEN
used to convert them. There are 1900
| of these forced converts in the province
of Harpoot alone, and 10000 in the whole
| dispatch from the consuls of the powers
would easily verify the facts reported,
! and would also reveal the piteous plead
ings of these people for deliverance from
| servitude from a hated religion.
| Information from various points in the
| Bitlis and Van, shows that the process Of
forcing Christians to become Moslems is
still in active progress
In twenty-eight villages in the district
of Harpoot, at last accounts Dan. 3Ol
there had been no Christian worship held
since the first week In November. This
abolition of Christian worship among a
Christian people is al least conniVed at
by the imperial authorities, for they do
nothing to protect the worshippers from
the attacks of the Mohammedans, who de-
clare that il shall no more be allowed.
This abolition of worship IS simply part
of the scheme to abolish Christianity.
The name of Rev. Hagop Ahoubgatian,
pastor of the Protestant church at OOrfa,
i'm the province of Aleppo, must be added
to the long list of Protestant clergymen
who have died as martyrs during the
recent massacres. He was an able and
devoted man, graduate Of German uni
versity Neipsig). He was murdered on
| Dec 29 when the second horrible massa-
ere, this time of over 1000 Christians, took
place at Oorfa.
pressed forward by the whole force OF
the government by the indirect means OF
depriVing the Christian communities or
their men Of influence who have survived
the massacres In every town or city
where the dnaSsacfeS have occurred ar
rests of such men are now in progress.
| No charges are preferred against the men
arrested. They are arrested simply at the
will of the government. The communities
are thus deprived of Their natural advisers
and remain a prey to amy enterprise which
the petty officials of the government, or
the Imams of the Moslem hierarchy choose
to inaugurate. At Aintab, one of the
| Protestant pastors, and at MaraSh, two or
the pastors are held in prison against all
Another Indirect method of destroying
the Christians communities in these de-
Vastated provinces, is the degradation of
womanhood, among the Christian commu-
mites. systematic debauchery Of
Christian women Is carried on in nearly
AN the deVasted districts 1t Is If
the Turks wish to make sure that the
women always conservative in matters OF
religion shall lose their self-respeet, and
the grounds of their religious hope. They,
therefore, seize the Christian women, day
after day and week after week, and out
rage them with impunity. For instance,
at Tamzara, in the province OF Sivas, all
the men were killed in the massacres early
in November. From a well-to-do Arme-
nian population of 800 all that now remain
in this village are about 800 starving and
half naked women and children. Trust
worthy information from this place, dated
jan "a says that the most horrible fea-
ture of the situation of these Armenian
orphaned girls, IS that passing Turkish
soldiers and Turkish travellers attack and
outr age them in their homes without re-
straint. During all the three months since
the massacre, this license has been OBJ
served towards these defenseless and
wretched women
From Megere, the seat of the govern
ment OF the province OF Harpoot infor-
same license exists in that province also.
Within earshot of the governor generals
pdltce hohdllHneudh youHS men nave
broken into Christian houses by night
and have worked their Internal pleasure
on the women of the house and the Off
cials refused to take notice of the abomi-
nation. The women who are punished In
this way are made the sport of every Tur-
kish fiend who chooses TO lay hands upon
them because they are Christians and are
sure to become Mohammedans.
Alas, it seems that the Christian gov
ernments are powerless in the presence of
the beggared nation Of nine millions Of
Turks, or they are unwilling TO take any
peremprory measures to prevent Chris
tianity from being crushed out Of certain
parts of the Turkish empire. Surely they
might take so simple measure as to ap-
point cOnsuls to reside in the principal
cities of the provinces. The mere resi-
dence Of consul will stop host of infa-
mics which the Turks ordinarily dare to
commit only when they think they can
deny them with impunity.