The Holbrook news., 1912-02-23

are kindly, honest and gener-
 ous-hearted. They are gentle
 in their ordinary life. Many Americans hearing these facts for the first time find it hard to reconcile this view of the Turk with the sto- ries they have heard of his cruel and bloodthirsty nature. How can the Turks be kind and gentle" they ask. when they comit such barbaric deeds"
 It is just at this point that the Turk Is so 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 come forth; 1; violates women before their own hus- bands and carries tho best into capttv- ity. A town thus ravaged leaves lit tie resemblance to a human dwelling place.
 There are Bulgarians and Armen- fans living who have gone through scenes of untold horror. Naturally they do not love the Turk. Yet the English and Americans who live among the Turks do like them-do come to feel a real affection for them.
 You may meet a pasha who will captivate you today by his kindness and winnig personality, and the next day he may have a prisoner tortured to death with perfect unfeeling.
 Whence these contradictions in his naturef The assumption that he is a hypocrite-that his kindness is mere ly put on, is not an explanation. for 1t is not true.
 The explanation lies in this. that the Turk is still 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 na- ture from the occidental We who inherit and receive from our environ ment an exquisitive sensitiveness to the sufferings of others, leading us to establish hospitals. care for the sui fering and do away with all forms of cruelty, must not be harsh. in our judgment of our eastern brothers.
 It is only a few centuries ago that we, too, held life and suffering in lit tie value We hung men for stealing. we quartered them for differing with us in political opinions. we burnt them at the stake in order to save their souls. An offense to a prince meant more than ostracism from his society it meant a sudden removal from this world. A grim age-an age of bloodshed and horrors, of cruelty and torture, gone never to 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 turies we could have found in England the prototype of the modern Turk the cultured English gentleman, the kindly, dignifed merchant. who could witness with calmness torture, execu- ton. burning at the stake. That it is not Christianity alone which has produced this twentieth century gen tleness, the religious tortures of the middle ages bear witness.
 Yet this much has been gained that physical gentleness and kindness holds sway in the twentieth century, and we do not have to fear 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 power over our per sons. The highest gentleman in the land may not wilfully strike the meanest servant
 The orient is still in the dark age.