The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-24
President and sultan,

Evangelical missionary societies, now
| gathered in ecumenical council in New
York. there is reason for fearing that the
Administration has committed a grave
mistake. In seizing upon the occasion OF
| the meeting to engage in diplomatic war
| with Turkey over the Armenian mission
| claims, Mr.. Mckinley apparently has lost
| sight. for the moment, of his position. du-
ties and responsibilities as a Mohammedan
ruler exercising imperial and Oriental
| sway over millions of subject Mussulmans,
through his vice-gerent, the Sultan of Sulu.
Neither the President nor his able Secre-
tary of State should have forgotten that,
when a potentate is at once a simple citi-
zen Chief Magistrate for home consump-
| ton, and an Eastern despot for colonial
purposes it is sometimes difficult to strike
an attitude consistent with both stations in
life.
No doubt Mr.. Mckinley expects much In
November at the hands of those whose
hearts will be warmed to him by his eff
forts to make Abdul Hamid pay up. But
he cannot be unaware of the debt he as
well as the country owes to His Majesty
the Sultan of Turkey. for that enlightened
monarch's friendly and graceful interposi-
ton which was necessary to and did ac-
complish the acceptance of our flag and
sovereignty by the brave and religious
Sultan of the Sulu Archipelago W. have
the story of this gracious mediation in the
Washington correspondence of the st.
Louis Globe Democrat" high class Re
publican journal justly enjoying the conf
dence of the Administration.
According to the authority mentioned,
when 1t became apparent that the United
States was about to absorb the Philip
pines, by a process which the greatest in
our midst describes as one of benevolent
mastication, deglutition, and assimilation,
the Commander of the Faithful at Constan-
tinople caused his brother Sultan to be
notified that he might accept the new order
of things with complete satisfaction and
contentment. His Highness of the Sulus
religious freedom. pure and absolute;
while, II the Tagal insurrectionists were to
succeed, he might expect no mercy.
We are greatly interested in gathering
from the history of this shrewd and ami
able bit of diplomacy, as detailed in the
''Globe- Democrat" the idea that the Sui
tan of Turkey must be a close student Of
Far Western theological standards and de-
yelopments. 1t appears that, in the argu-
ment which he addressed to his eminent
co-religionist, he stated that the Ameri- |
cans were not Christians, because Chris |
tlans forced their faith and practices upon |
subject peoples. This the Americans never |
did. Far from being Christians, the |
Americans were Presbyterians," adherents |
of a creed which, inasmuch as it pre-
sumed the REORGANIZATION of damnation |
for all men, was tolerant of them in the
mean time. Lest it be suspected that We
could stoop to endorse the error into which |
our separated brethren, the two Sultans, |
have been lee, let US hasten to say that |
somebody, in a spirit Of ungodliness, must |
have given Abdul Hamid copy of the |
Confession to read. In this
we know that Presbyterians are
among our most earnest Christian men and |
women; beca Use here they are not judged |
by a declaration to which all subscribe
but few, II any, believe. The Sultan of
Turkey may be excused for considering
the doctrine of infant damnation an IN
Christian one; hence 1t is not hard to see
that he might regard those who profess it
though only in Pickwickian sense-as
rather than Christians.
For the purposes of diplomacy. his mis-
In boz !
Providence. and to have resulted in our
the Sulu Islands without a fight
They are rich possessions, Astounding in
gold and precious stones, in pearls and
camphor and ephor wood and ebony, in
spices and frsnkincense and myrrh. That
they are ours is plainly due to the good
Offices OF the kindly sister Mohammedan
Of Constantine. Would it be right or
for us to forget such debt
Of gratitude for a paltry ten times ten
thousand Armenian missionary sequins?
Plainly not; for the same influence that
brought US the Sulus might. If properly
render them very hot for US to
hold. Were the Sultan-P President TO break
off diplomatic relations with the Sublime
Porte, or to send the fierce Sampson TO
Smyrna, thereby threatening the life of
he Cadis favorite mule. he would quickly
De brought TO feel the claws under the soft
glove Of his good cousin Abdul Hamid. 1t
would not take the latter many weeks to
convince our Mohammedan vassal prince
hat the former had been mistaken, and
hat, on receipt of later returns. he had
discovered the Americans to be not Pres
,yterians, but Christians of most fanat-
cal and prosecuting type. who would sure {
y suppress the Sulu faith and families at
he first convenient opportr.iIy. What
would follow need hardly be matter for
onjecture. We should have to raise an
ther army. another Otis. and. if not an
ther, perhaps the same DENLY. 1t would
e necessary TO engage the whole product
the Western slaughterhouse refuse tanks :
o feed them, and Mr. Hoar and Aladdin d
atkinson would be in their glory again =
UGH eventualities are not to be thought | /
T. Hence. as We have more than once !
cultured to predict. after the mission 4