Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1912-01-11

~ u tlls-heTteu. luey are SSh''S
u their ordinary life. Many
Americans fearing these Mcts Tor
the first lime find 1t hard TO reconcile
this view of the Turk with the istO
ries they hare heard OF his cruel and
bloodt 'irsty nature. How can the
Turks be kind and gentle they ask,
when they CONT such 'barbaric
deeds"
II il just ut this point that the Turk
is 80 hard TO understand He Is kind
and gentle and of winning personality
yet he is capable of the utmost
cruelty. When his religious fanati'
cism is aroused, or when he Is put
ting down a rebellion he Stays In cold
blood women, and children at the
breast; burns down homes and shoots
the inhabitants as they cone forthi
violates women before their own hus-
bards and carries the best into captiv.
ity. A town thus ravaged leaves lit
tie resemblance to a human dwelling
piece.
There are 9ulgarians and Armen-
ians living who have gone through
scopes OF untold horror. Naturally
they do not love the Turf. Yet the
English and Americans who live
amcng the Turks do like them-do
come to feel real affectio, for them.
You may meet a pashs who will
captivate you today by his kindness
and winning personality. and the next
day he may have a prisoner tortured
to death with perfect unfeeling.
Whence these contradictions Ia mis-
nature? The assumption that he Ii
hypocrite-that his kindness Is mere
" put on, is not an explanation, for
Il is not true.
The explanation lies in this. that
the Turk Is sill in the middle ages.
He is only halfway up from savagery.
Like all orientals, he holds life and
suffering as Of little Importance. This
Indifference to physical pain is char
acteristic of the east.
The oriental does not differ in ma
ture from the occidental. We who
inherit ard receive frcm cur environ.
ment an exquisitive constituencies to
the sufferings OF others, leading us TO
establish hospitals. care for the suf.
fering and do away with all forms Of
cruelty. must not be- harsh in our
Judgment of our eastern brothers.
Il is only a few centuries ago that
we. too. held life and suffering In lit.
tie value. We hung men for stealing,
we chartered them fer differing with
us in political opinions. we burnt them
at the stake In orde- to save their
souls. An ofiense to a prince meant
more than ostracIsm from his society
1T meant a sudden removal from
this world. A grim AEGEAN age OF
bloodshed and horrors. Of cruelty and
torture, gone never 10 return. We
have risen above it-from the dark
age of Europe to the enlightenment
of the twentieth century.
When Christianity Was Cruel.
Yet even within two or three CEN
turtles we could have found In England
the prototype Of the modern Turk.
the cultured English gentleman, the
kindly. dignlfled merchs Mt, who could
witness with calpness torture. execu.
ton, burning at the stake. That It is
not Christianity alone which has
produced this twentieth century gen.
tleness. the religious to-tures OF the
middle ages bear witness.
Yet this much has been gained
that physical gentleness and kinduess
holds sway in the twentieth century.
and we do not have to fesr the racks.
the sword or the stake. A difference
Of opinion does not necessarily mean
death. Or even imprisonment Our
feudal lords may exact revenue from
Us In the price Of OIL. beef. wool and
other commodities Of life. but they
have no direct pOFer over our per
sons. THE highest gentleman IN the
lana may not wilfully strike the
neanest servant
The orient is Sun IN the dark ags.