Evening star., 1915-11-26
DESCRIBES PERSECUTION
SUFFERED BY ARMEN|ANS
Bulletin Issued by National Geo
graphic Society Says Grievances
Are in Two Glasses.
Ancient Kingdom Larger Than
Greece and France Combined
Before Conquerors Arrived.

The Armenian in his native land,
for residence in which he has suffered
many centuries of most bitter persecu-
ton, is described in a bulletin just is
sued by the National Geographic Socie-
ty, whose facts are based upon COM
munication to the society from Hester
Donaldson Jenkirs, a longtime student
of near eastern peoples.
Armenia is not easy to bound at any
period of history" the writer begins.
but, roughly, it is the tableland ex-
tending from the Caspian sea nearly
to the Mediterranean sea. Its limits
have become utterly fluid. the waves
of conquerng Persians and Byzantines,
Arabs and Romans. Russians and Turks
have flowed and ebbed on its shores
until all lines are obliterated. Armenia
now is not state, not even geo
graphic unity, but merely a term for
the region where the Armenians live.
THE ancient Kingdom of Armenia.
a writer mentions, was larger tnah
Greece and France combined, with 800
900 square miles of fertile table land,
reaching from the Black sea and the
Caucasus mountains to Persia and Sy.
ria. The land is fertile, rugged ana
beautiful. including endless acres OF
| fine grazing land and excellent agr1-
cultural soils, which produce grapes,
wheat, Indian corn, barley, oats, COTTON,
rice, tobacco and sugar. Besides these'
all the vegetables that we know IN
America are grown there. together
with such fruit sorts as ounces, aprl-
| cots, nectarnes, peaches apples, pears
and plums.
Two melons in this country are said
to be camefs load. Armenia ex
ports are silk and cotton, hides and
Leather, wine, dried fruits, raisins, to-
bacco, drugs and dyestuffs. In mineral
wealth, too, their land is rich. Cold,
silver copper and iron are present IN
stores, but the Turkish government mas
never allowed their exploitation
Civilization Not Brief One.
Armenian civilization is not a brief
one, dating back to Mayfower or even
Norman conquest" Miss jenkins says,
but one that is almost cotermlnous
with recorded history; and every Ar
menian feels behind him the vast
antiquity, giving him personal dignity
and great national pride. They begin
their history with the Garden OF Eden,
which they claim was in Armenia. bas-
ing the claim on the native statement
that the land is beautiful enough 10
have included paradise. Their frst re-
lcorded ancestors they find in the Book
of Genesis Their church differs from
1.-THE Greek Church very little in creed,
but unlike the Greeks, the Armen1ans
are not theologically inclined. ana lay
little stress on doctrine. They nave
aIwavs been. however, devotedly trini-
tartan.
''The Armenian Church has been per-
lsecuted not only by Moslem and hre-
worshiper, but also by Roman ana
lGreek: vet it is one of the beautiful
characteristics of this ancient church
that it never persecutes in It's turn: IT
fellowships with all churches, holding
that Christianity means brotherhood
ttlr CT
rant for oppression or anathema
The appearance of this soreiy trieo
people, the writer continues, pears
remarkable resemblance to the He
heavy haired, black-eyed, with aqui'
line features and summing up in a
much more oriental type than TURK
, Slav or Greek. The fates OF these two
peoples also has much in common
Both developed remarkable strength
of nationality and wonderful persist
ence of type and a strong cohesiVeness
out of their generations of oppression
and persecution. Both are gifted with
Keen business instincts, with talent
for languages and with unusual power
for concentration. The best know
Armenian towns are ErZerum, kharput
a little town 1850 feet above the seq
Bitlis, not far from Van; Van itself. or
the beautiful blue lake of the same
name. Diarbekir; Marash. near stateiS
Mount Tarsus; Tarsus and Adana, In
the same district of Cilicia, and Marso-
van. In all of these towns the popu-
Iation is largely Christian. partly Mos
lem, with enough armed kurds to ter
rify. Over the frontier, within Russia
Armenia, lie Erivan and Etchmiadzin
and Tifiis. which is largely Armenian.
Grievances in Two Classes.
The Armenian grievances are stated
nv Miss Jenkins as follows: They may
be divided into two classes: those
which arise from the deliberate policy
of the government, and those which
arise from the weakness and ineff1ci-
ency OF the government. To the for
mer class belong the massacres. the '.
impoverishment of the peasantry by
taxation and the impunity granted to the
crimes of KurdA against Christians, to-
gether with the disarminG OF the lat
ter and the supplying of rifles to the
former. To the second class belong
disorders. utter failure of justice.
Lwretched and unsafe transportation
and brigandaSe.
of an Armenian will not be taken, and
the Armenian peasant or trader has to
pursue his calling knowing that he
cannot travel freely: RECOGNIZING that
he will be so heavily taxed that he
can scarcely make living, and then
when the struggles of the year are
nearly over. perhaps the kurds sweep
down from the mountains and seize his
Rome for their winter shelter. take his
crops, and even carry off his daughters
, No Armenians life. his property, nor
| the honor of his women has been safe
in Turkey for a century,.
Despite these grievances. however.
| Miss Jenkins tells that the Armenians
were wild with enthusiasm and a
| touching faith that they were about to
be given a fatherland by being allowed
| to take part in the upbuildinG of young
| Turkey But" the writer concludes.
| they were destined to sharp disap-
| pointment; and now. infinitely saddened
| they reluctantly have abandoned their
| hope of freedom through the Turk.
| Large numbers of them following their