The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-27
TEE TAVSHANyIAN TRAGEDY,
Conditions I'm the Armenian Colony Which
Throw I1Kht Upon n.

Throw Light Upon II.
To THB EDITOR or THE SUNS. The
tragic and Lamentable death Of Mr.. ra,thsn.
Jlan and the deplorable circumstance attend.
ing II must have come Ms a surprise ~ our
American friends. The impression that Ar.
menlans have hitherto made upon the com.
munities among whom they have taken heir
trious people. with whom nc idea Of crime
could ever be associated. unless 1t were the
crimes hat have been committed against
them by q cruel Government bent Oh thor
determination and by a Christian Europ,
which stands by and ooks on the heIl!sL work
with Indifference equally cruel.
Much genuine admiration is expressed by
travellers ~ note. both American and Eng.
lish, who have seen the Armenian In his coln-
try and his home. They have testified to the
high order Of his intelligence. to the sondity
Of his character: they have praised the pa-
thence and Oh istian fortltude with which Ee
has borne the trials and tribulathos~ AZ cee-
turtles under which any other nation might
have been crushed 10 death long ago. The
events Of the last few days. however. may
have had a tendency to disturb these favor
able Impressions. No one would regret this
more than the Armenisns themselves. Iron
them more than upon the general public has
this ruthless deed Of the murder OF Mr.. 1av.
shanjian cast Its shame and horror. No out.
slider can form an adequate idea Of the grief
and humiliation which has overtaken them.
Every self-respecting Armenian has felt in
his own heart the sting OF the bullet that cut
short the life Of Mr.. Tavshsnjian.
The conditions that led up to the dcplora.
BILE event OF last Monday present a racial
problem with, the solution OF which. in us
broader aspect, the Armenians will have
more to do than the police authorities. II is
the opinion Of the writer that II they had
addressed themselves to II as earnestly "a
the seriousness of the situation warranted we
might have been spared this calamity.
Every year there come to these shores
great number OF Armenians. By the circum-
stances Of their migration. by their mental
and psychological makeup, they are unlike
any other people wAo find their WAY here
Almost all OF them come not by choice. but
are driven by persecution. Most of them
have left behind their wives and children.
mothers and sisters. who become victims OF
brutal massacre or live at the mercy Of
bloodthirsty Kurds and Turks. Many Of
them come from the interior Of Armenia and
are not educated. The faith in which they
were brought up and for which their loved
ones sacrificed their lives they have aban-
doned. with a pathetic inability to reconcile
the idea OF q good Providence with the terrible
fate that has befallen their people. The
measure OF their sullen faithlessness is the
measure of their low OF their country, which
is very intense.
The conditions under which these people
live In America are not such as 10 he con-
ducive to any beneficial change In their moral
and mental attitude. They exc out an FL
istenoe In the employ OF their more fortunate
countrymen or In factories at scant wages,
hardly enough for their support and for the
help that they must send to their relatives in
the old country. or the personal taxes they
must pay to the old Government which pur.
sues them even to the end OF the seas. Not
being suf1ciently acquainted with the Ian.
guage Of their adopted country. all the adj
.vantages such a free country affords have
little meaning for them. 1t is among such
that the doctrines Of revolution and violence
take root and thrive. Having lost faith In
God and In those to whom they looked in
vain for deliverance. they have constituted
the savfors OF their country.
They are impatient of sober and proper
means such as their more experienced COM
patriots would employ for the furtherance
OF ends just as dear to their hearts. They are
misguided and delude into false ideas as 10
what constitutes the highest good for their
unfortunate land. These people. with these
dan gerous proclivities. have been practically
II not despised, by the very class
who have most to fear from their delusion
and ignorance. Nothing is being done to
the evil as it should be eombated.
by the diffusion of knowledge to eniighten
their minds and c~onsciences. so that the very
which are driving the weak and the
inexperienced into violent activities can be
made to serve better means for the real good
Of their common country.
A campaign Of education to this end, as
measure OF, self-defence II for nothing else,
IL imperative. and no one Is more fitted for
the task than the Armenians themselves.
NEW YORK. July IS. II. MICHAELYAN.