The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-09-06
OTTOMAN "KULTUR"

Dt expected tndt IL would come. Ihe
remarkable thing is that it has been
50 long delayed. But now il has ar.
rived The heroes Of the Armenian
massacres have discovered kultur. Not
be It said, the kultur OF Berlin and
Dresden but the kultur of CONSTANT
nople and Baghdad. As a result to
those who understand what this means
the whole future of civilization in the
East is even more endangered than II
has ever been before.
Kultur. to the Ottoman, means the
domination Of the weak by the strong
of the giaour by the Muhammadan. The
Muhammadan regards himself frankly
as the lord Of creation. Work is not
for him. Work should be for the in.
fidel. For the faithful there must be
hewers Of wood and drawers of water.
therefore, in the hour Of conquest he
does not literally offer the conquered
the Koran or the sword The reason
is very simple. II the conquered should
be weak enough to accept the Koran
they would all become Muhammadans
and there would be no hewers of wood
and drawers Of water Therefore. he
permits the Christian to exist, and does
not entirely cut off the giaour. But the
Christian becomes to him like the horse
In his stable or the dog in the street
| do not wish to hurt the Christian,
declared an old Turk, the Christian is
like my dog. If my dog is friendly is
obpdiept and 1fokg ms. bopd .r,, 81. 4
to have him for my dog, | am anxious
to be friendly to him even feed him.
But If he snarls | beat him. if he bites
/ Kill him. The simile is a perfectly
true one. So long as the Christian
fetches and carries, he is not interferred
with, he is even allowed to prosper and
grow rich. But If he shows any signs
Of resentment, then the Turk turns
upon him in an instant; il he revolts.
then 1t is a question Of the scimiter or
the revolver.
The Turk is absolutely peculiar in his
dealing with what he regards as the
inferior race In his moments of idle.
ness and unconcern he has. time and
time again permitted the Armenian and
the Jew to wax fat. Towns I'm which
the Christians has been wiped out in
one massacre. would again be in the
economic grip Of the Christians in half
a decade. In Adana. six years after
the massacres Of 1908. threeduarters of
the next massacre took place. But this
| laziness Of the Turk is disturbed. whilst
| his appetite for plunder Is aroused by
the very conditions his apathy has pro
duced. He does not choose to labor
himself, but when the Armenian OF
the Jew has labored and become rich
| then he desires the fruit OF their labor
and proceeds TO acquire il by the sim
pie process Of determination. That Is
how the shops OF Adana came TO be
closed when the new massacre took
place.
All this describes precisely what the
Turk means by kultur The kultur OF
| COnstantinople means the relegation OF
the Christian TO the dog kennel, the
kultur of Baghdad means spoliation by
the knife. The example OF the German
in his power TO control, exhibited dur
ing the generation OF his supremacy IL
the Ottoman Empire has not been lost
Enver and Talaat dragged Turkey int
the war largely 10 apply the kultur o.
/ Constantinople 20 the East as IL wa
proposed TO apply the kultur Of BerliI
90 the West Now the whole Of tn
education Of the Near East is practl
cally in the hands OF the Christian
races, as Is the whole Of the CONNER
cial and financial energy The Turl
himself remains a soldier, and a soldie
Of the maraudiug ages even az that
His sole idea Of spreading kultur
along the lines which Enver and Talaa
laid down in Armenia. and Diemal Il
Syria Enyer and Talaat threw then
selves into the war on the side of Ger
many because they saw the opportunit
Tor spreading the kultur OF Constant
nople through the Near East. Diema
hesitated. For long time Djemal wa
the thorn On the flesh OF the grea
duumvirate Then came the Arab r,
volt. and In an access OF fear Diema
plunged, like Enver and Talaat. up {
his elbows iu massacre Like Tristrer
rHermite. he had his orchard OF IN
King, with gallows for apple trees, an
like the great twin brethren he had hi
cattle trucks Tor the railroadlng OF jew
out OF Syria into the extinction OF IN
desert In this way the duumvirate b.
came the triumvirate and the sprea
OF kultur, in other words the dominic
Of the weak by the strong. of the Chri
tian by the Muhammadan, began TO /
manifested in the silence OF the grav
, yards
, The motive Of this spread of kultt
! was an exceedingly simple one. II va
! that the Christian should find the vol
! Of Muhammad fixed securely on h
neck when the war came to an en-
/ He should feed In the Turks stable /
| nisht but he should drag the plow
the Turk by day, and IL he kicked !
/ should feel the goad and the lash. !
that way all the glory OF Muhamms
the Conqueror and OF Suleiman Il
magnificent should be revived. II
) Muhammadan in possession OF the Lar
, OF the Empire should impose his W
I on the subject Christian people. al
= should fill his barns with the cror
/ they reaped and his Golfers with Il
4 merchandise they manufactured. L
= fortunately the Turk is no thinker. 7
e has not learned yet that Il YOU wrlr