The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1911-09-08

the machinery chiefly used in organ
izing the massacres. The one great
weapon left in Abdul Hands hands
was his office as Caliph, 1.-The Com
mander of the Faithful" So, to con-
found the plans of the Young Turks,
and to invoke foreign Intervention. he
gave the command to strike. Only
the power of the Young Turks pre-
vented similar massacres in many
places. This is chapter mostly un-
written Sometimes it was a force
full governor who prevented the full
pie. In one case it was Young Turk
military officer, who, upon receiving
news Of the plan, went into the pres
ence of the Governor and said: I
want you to understand that if there
is to be a massacre here, it will begin
with you"
In Adana, strangely enough, most of
the Christians still blame the Young
Turks for at least a measure of re-
sponsibility. They say that the Young
Turks wanted to give a lesson to the
turbulent Armenians and Macedo-
mans. They point out that the worst
massacre occurred nine days after the
first, the Christians having been dis
armed in the interval. The Salonica
soldiers they charge with participant
ing in the Staying of the Christians.
There are some things that cannot
easily be explained about the massa-
ere, if the New Regime is to be &C.
quilted Of all responsibility, yet there
is no doubt. whatever agencies con-
tributed, the real power of the mas
sacre lay in the ineradicable hatred
for Christians on the part of the fol-
lowers of the Prophet
Will There Be Another?
When l asked the Minister of the
Interior in Constantinople, Talaat
Bey, if there could be another massa-
ere, he lifted up his hands and cried
God forbid" The Sheikh ul Islam
assured me positively, and he was
speaking as the religious head of
Islam in the Turkish government,
that such a thing could not occur
again. The enlightened and strong
handed governor of this province,
Djemal Bey, gave me his word that
there would be no more massacres
in the region of which he has since
taken charge. No assurance could be
more positive than these l have had
from the highest quarters.
None the less, in the interior of the
country the people feel otherwise.
The Christian community, which rep
resents many denominations of the
older churches, stand solidly together
in a conviction of a possible repeti-
ton of the massacres. At Adana I
had an interview with the leaders of
the orthodox Greek church, the Greek
Catholic church, the Armenian Cath
olic church, the &Gregorian Armenian
church and the old Syriac church, and
they wereNa unit in declaring that the
attitude of Islam toward Christians
has not changed. and that the worst
is still possible, although they have
confidence in the good intentions of
the present Governor. Even the Rev.
w. N. Chambers, the American Board
missionary, who has been the fore
most figure in events subsequent to
the massacres. and is easily the lead
er of the community, is under the
same cloud of depression. Small Won
der, when he recalls the murdered
{~l s1 + r.
bodies which he rescued from mutila-
ton.
The argument for the possibility
of another massacre lies in the fact
that there has been no change in the
minds Of the people. The Moslems
have not been made over by the pun
ishment Of an inconspicuous few OF