The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1918-12-19
Turk and TeutOn
Continued from Previous Issue.l
Ambassador Moraenthau's Story o.
Great War Plots
BY HENRY MoRGENTHAU.

why should we feel any obligation
to the Germans?" Enver would say to
me. What have they done for us which
compares with what we have done for
them? They nave lent us some money
and sent us a few officers, 1t is true,
but see what we have done! We have
defeated the British fleet-something
which the Germans and no other ma
ton could do. We have stationed
armies on the Caucasian front, and
so have kept busy large bodies Of Rus
sian troops that would have been used
on the western front. Similarly we
have compelled England to keep large
armies in Egypt, in Mesopotamia, and
in that way we nave weakened the
allied armies in France. No, the Ger
mans could never have achieved their
military successes without us, the shoe
of obligation is entirely on their foot.
This conviction possessed the lead
ers Of the union and progress party
and now began to have a determining
effect upon Turkish national life and
Turkish policy. Essentially the Turk
is a bully and a coward; he is brave
as a lion when things are going his
way, but cringing, abjeCt and nerVeless
when reverses are overwhelming him.
And now that the fortunes of wal were
apparently favoring the empire, | be.
gan to see an entirely new Turk UNI
folding before my eyes. The h~esitating
and fearful Ottoman, feeling his way
cautiously amid the mazes of Euro
pean diplomacy and seeking o%ppOrtuni-
ties to find an advantage for himself
in the divided counsels Of the Euro
pean powers, gave place to an %upstand-
ing, almost dashing figure, proud and
assertiVe, determined to live his own
life and absolutely contemptuous Of
ms Christian foes, | was really wit
Messing a remarkable development in
race psychology-an almost classical
instance of ~reversion to type. The
ragged, upkeppt Turk of the TWEEN
tieth century WAS vanishing and in his
place was appearing the Turk of the
fourteenth and the fifteenth, the Turk
who had swept out of his Asiatic fast
nesses, conquered all the powerful peo-
pies in his way and founded in Asia,
AFRICA and Europe one Of the most
extensive empires that history has
Known. If we are properly to appre-
ciate this new Talaa and Enver and
the events which now took place we
must understand the Turk who, under
Osman and his successors, exercised
this mighty but devastating influence
in the world. We must realize that
the basic fact underlying the Turkish
mentality is it's utter contempt for all
other races. A fairly insane pride is
the element that largely explains this
strange human species, The common
term applied by the Turk to the Chris
tian is dog" and in his estimation
this Is no mere rhetorical figure; he
actually looks pom his European neigh
bors as far less worthy of considera-
ton than his own domestic animals.
MY son." an old Turk once said, do
you see that herd of swine? Some are
white, some are black, some are large.
some are small-they differ from each
other in some respects, but they are
all swine. So it is with Christians. Be
not deceived, my son. These Christians
may wear fine clothes, their women
may be very beautiful to look upon;
their skins are white and splendid;
many. OF them are very intelligent and
they build wonderful cities and create
what seem to be great states. But
remember that underneath all this daz-
cling exterior they are all the same
they are all swine"
L have talked with many foreign res
idents in Turkey.
Practically all foreigners, in the pres
attitude. The Turk may be obsequi-
ously polite, but there is invariably an
almost unconscious feeling that he is
mentally shrinking from his Chris
tlan friend as something unclean.
Ana THIS fundamental conviction
man policy toward it's subject
peoples. This wild horde swept
from the plains of Central Asia and,
lke a whirlwind, overwhelmed the ma
tloHS VI MeSopotamla n Asia Minor,
It conquered Egypt, Arabia and prac-
tically all Of Northern Africa and then
poured into Europe, crushed the Bal
kan nations, occupied a large part of
Hungary and even established the out
posts of the Ottoman empire in the
southern part of Russia. So far as |
can discover, the Ottoman Turks had
only one great quality, that of military
genius. They had several military
leaders of commanding ability, and the
early conquering Turks were brave, ia
natical and tenacious fighters, just as
his descendants are today. | think that
these old Turks present the most COM
plete Illustration in history of the
brigand idea in politics. They. were
mentals of a civilized community.
They had no alphabet Ind no art Of
writing, no books, no poets, no art, and
no architecture; they built no cities,
and they establishing no lasting state.
They knew no law except the rule of
might, and they had practically no
agriculture and no industrial organ
i@zation. They were simply wild and