The sun., 1901-08-11

9x>o E81voos - t0o fuoo Wnsuu 49, e1A
MAKES colossal circuit By ths norshsrn
shore Of Lake ssvan. where II meess the
main avenue OF trafiic between This and
Erivan. In Erivan itself. tho chief town OF
. district wherS capital might be turned to
the greatest advantage, IL In impossible
or difhcult to find foreign Newspaper,
while tho industrial ssill OF tho advanced
races Of Europe Is not represented by
single foreign enterprise. or. " far - our
author could learn. by . single foreign man
OF business or industrial employee. Persons
who knew the country well assured MI
Lynch that. from the viewpoint OF irrtga-
ton. an important requirement In a
land which suffers from want OF rain,
Russian Armenia had gonc beck since the
time Of the Persians. who are experts In
the art. Our author IA inclined TO think
that much OF the bAckwardness OF the
provinces Waited by him should be as
cribed TO excessive Capitalization In the
Russian capital. a centralization exemp-
lfed In the fact that At the present day
tho smallest projects are referred to st.
Petersburg. and considered with reference
to the economic policy which governs the
empir6 ~ a WhOle.
In our authors judgment people
whose commercial activity has brought
them into contact with the most pro-
gressive races Of Europe. and whose natural
instinct renders them eager 70 assinilate
Western thought, can scarcely be blamed
II they chafe under system which assumes
to formulate the opinions they shall hold,
and to select the books which they shall
reed and which subjects every action Of their
daily life to an inquistorial control. Such
methods are the Manifestations OF . settled
and uniform plan. Little BY little. as all
danger on tho side Of tho Musulman States
has disappeared, the Russian Government
has deemed 1t opportune 10 apply more
drastic processes, and to impose upon the
newest Of their adopted children q fuller
measure Of the disciplinary regime. On
their aide the Annenians have shown no
disposition TO adopt Russian ways Of thought
The moro severe the pressure the moro have
they writhed and twisted; at tho present
moment. indeed they are lying quietly with
broken wings. According to Mr.. Lynch.
their situation is cruel in the extreme.
From the Turkish provinces they are beaten
up toward the Russian frontier BY bands
Of predatory Kurds. Should they manage to
reach the coveted asylum, they are caught
In the meshes OF an impervious network;
they arc sorted and sifted by a swarm Of
active petty officials, the police Of the
districts. the police Of the towns. the political
police. Camps are instituted whore the
great majority Of emigrants are detained
at pleasure. to be returned on the first
opportunity to their riied homes. The
repetition Of this process Is more effective
In decimating the Armenian people than
are any massacres. It is pointed out,
however, that the amelioration. II not the
removal OF such harsh conditions lies to
some oxtent In their own hands. Accept
our system,' the Armenians are told
follow the Georgians. and seek spiritual
and political salvation within the bosom Of
the Russian Church-State.' Our author
has no doubt that In that event the whole
weight OF the great Russian Empire would
be thrown into the scale for the ArTnenians.
will not people so sorey tried soon submit
TO the prescribed conditional Mr. Lynch
says that he has put the question to all
the Armenians with whom he has had op-
portunities Of intercourse, but the answer
has been invariably In the negative. Many
Armenians, II seems. 60 so far a. to profess
openly a preference for the Turkish Gov
ernment. They put the matter In the form
OF an antithesis They have simply choice
they say between two oppressions, one
physical and spasmodc. the other
moral and systematic. II is not the first
time In their history that to Armenians
has been offered the alternative Of slavery
In body or slavery In mind. A remnant
may be absorbed; but the majority will
follow their destiny, will wander forth, and.
perhaps, disappear.
v.
Mr.. Lynch suggests that tho reader
who knows the Armenians only from his
unpleasant experience Of an Armenian
dragoman picked up In the Levant, may
not be disposed to view the threatened
ruin Of that people with feelings Of keen
regret. For himself. however. coming to
the subject free from any prepossessions
but with the lessons Of extensive travel
In the other countries west Of India freshly
imprinted on his mind, he confesses to
exactly contrary sentiments. The fact Is
recalled that We are living In a time Of
startling changes In Asia. we are witnesses
OF one OF those great waves dashing from
Europe upon Asia. the antecedent tide
marks Of which have all but vanished.
We are further reminded that the Asiatic
with all his debility Is not the African;
he Is our father, from whose lips we received
our first lesson; and his old age, become
almost childlke, contains the germs Of
rcjuvenescence. Mr., Lynch sees In the
Armcnians a people peculiarly adapted to
be the Intermediates OF the now dispensation
between Europe and Asia. They profess
the Christian religion, they are familiar
with some OF the best Western ideals, and
they assimilate each new product Of Euro
pean culture with an ability and thorough
ness which no other race between India
and the Mediterranean has given any evi-
dence Of being able TO rival. These ca
pacities they have made manifest under
the greatest disadvantage. to wit: as a
subject race ministering to the needs Of
Mussulman masters. They know well that
with every advance Of true civilization,
they are sure to rise as they will certainly
fall at each relapse. II would. indeed,
be folly 10 expect that they should not
have suffered in character by the menial
pursuits which during a thousand years
Of subjection they have been constrained
~. L.