The evening times., 1899-09-30


A report of absorbing interest has been
made by General Secretary G. d. Mathews,
of the Pan Presbyterian Council, now in
session in this city The interest manifest
ed during the meetings of the council held
in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1896, in the con-
dition of the Russian Stundists and the
Armenians, led the council to instruct the
general secretary to gather information in
reference to these communities, to be re-
ported to the council in Washington. He
accordingly visited these countries during
the last two years, and as part OF his
commission he gives graphic account OF
the Armenians, of whom the world has
heard so much in connection with the mas
sacres by the Turks. Mr.. Mathews says:
Il put myself much into the society of
Armenians and their friends, visiting their
Catholics in EtchmiadZin and remaining
in the monastery as a guest OF one OF the
monks for several days, and then travelling
for a fortnight along the -borderland of
Persia and Turkey. mingling and convers-
ing freely with Armenians, Huntchists,
anu hOSitlno i1NSiy
form Of what is known as the Armenian
question is so affected by the history and
geographical conditions Of that country
that some outline of the former must be
kept in mind in order to form an inteli-
gent judgment regarding the matter.
1.-THE Armenians claim to be descended
from Haik, the grandson of Noah. AT an
early date Armenia was triangular in
shape. extending from AleXandretta on the
Mediterranean. to Trebizond, on the Black
Sea, and from there eastward to the south
ern shore of the Caspian. Its people at
times oyerfiowed alike into Persia proper
and into Asia Minor"
After briefly reviewing the history of
Armenia from 32S b. c., down to 1904 A
D., when Shah Abbas removed some 80, 900
of the people TO found the city of Julia,
near Ispahan and divided the country once
more between Persia and Constantinople,
Mr.. Matthews comes down to the present
century and calls attention to Russia push
ing her way southward, coming in con-
flict on several occasions with Turkey and
Persia and gaining portions of the Old Ar
menian territory hitherto in the possession
of both of these powers.
Highway for Hosts.
Armenia has simply been highway by
which contending nations OF the Eastern
world, in remote and recent times reached
each other in war and not infrequently
was the battle-ground on which kingdoms
were lost and won. When any of their
neighbors swooped down upon them, its
people were not sufficiently strong to repel
such abuse of their territory nor to main
I tain their independence. The country
formed border region between two pow
erful and ever r-contending empires. and
while il was too large TO be Insignificant it
was too samll to be independent, and so its
dismemberment was inevitable.
The Turkish portion of Armenia occu-
pies position that is very peculiar. 1t is
remote from the capital Of the Turkish
Empire and is hardly defensible. II is a
| broken, mountainous region, over whose
I heights the Kurd, wearing today the Ini-
| form of the Sultan, though untamed as
were his ancestors, the Carduchi in the
! days of Xenophen, ranges as he pleases
! His ancestors acted for several centuries
I as governors over the Armenians, and he
was master of the soil. He is so no longer
I but his memories OF that period lead him
/ to regard the Armenian with in
I tensest scorn and to treat him only as
person fit TO be robbed and murdered. The
! scorn is repaid with hate and thus the
! two races are as hostile TO one another as
/ ever. The enmity is not lessened in mod
ern times by the Armenian calling himself
/ Christian. nor by the Kurd calling him
! self a Moslem, for the practical religion
! of both parties is very much an unknown
! quantity Neither is it lessened by the
fact that the nomad, illiterate, tent-occu-
pying Kurd is often borrower of money
| from the trading, housekeeping Arme-
| llian. who is able, according to native
! proyerb, to carve money out of stone
While the Turks are soldiers and un-
skilled in commerce, the Armenians devel-
oped a surprising skill in finance. Conse-
! quendy after they obtained the right to
hold real estate, they grew rapidly rich
at the expense of the Turks lending them
money, taking mortgages, and in many
cases seizing their lands This gave rise
to a feeling of hatred on the part of the
Turks. 1t was not a religious hatred, so
much as an economic rivalry, and il was
out of this rivalry and the cruelty of the
Kurds that the massacre grew.
Political Conditions.
Here is terrible background for his
tory. which calls for the most careful study.
Before US is Russia, great and unscrupu-
lous power, accustomed TO use money and
other underhand agencies even more than
the sword. and having a perfect genius for
misleading and deceiying friend and foe
alike, bent on a forward movement and
ready at a moments notice to spring for
ward and occupy certain territory lest an
other power should gain it. Across her
path lies Armenia, a country of little impor-
tance furnishing her a roadway to the
south. Over this she proposes one day to
march. and in view of this she has con-
structed at an enormous expense railroad
through southern Caucasus and connecting
Tifiis and Kars. The opening of this rail-
way has just taken place. The Sultan, the
legal monarch of this land, is dependent on
all knowledge of information given him by
others. He governs his people by the
roughtest of all agencies, sparing neither
man. woman, nor child should their death
seem required. His religion deprives him
n Hhrirtian cvnnafhY while he saaS tho