The Washington herald., 1918-10-21

tempt at general disarmament that
took place also aroused their appre-
hersion, which was increased by the
brutal treatment visited upon Ar
menian soldiers in the Caucasus. On
the other hand, the Turks made many
charges against the Christian popula-
ton, and. in fact they attributed to
them the larger share of the blame
for the reverses which the Turkish
armies had suffered in the Caucasus.
The fact that a considerable element
in the already changed forces was COM
posed Of Armenians aroused their un-
bridled wrath. Since about half the
Armenians in the world inhabit the
Russian provinces in the Caucasus
and are liable, like all Russians, to
military service, there was certainly
no legitimate grounds for complaint,
so far as these Armenian levies were
bona fide subjects of the Tsar. But
the Turks asserted that large numbers
OF Armenian soldiers in Van and other
of their Armenian provinces deserted,
crossed the border and Joined the Rus
sian army, where their knowledge of
roads and the terrain was an i'm
portant factor in the Russian VIC
tories. Though the exact facts are
not yet ascertained. II seems not un-
likely that such desertions, perhaps
few hundred. did take place. At
the beginning OF the war, Union
and Progress agents appeared in Err
zeToum and Van and appealed to the
Armenian leaders to go into Rus
sian Armenia and attempt to start
revolutions against the Russian gov
ernment; and the fact that the Otto
man Armenians refused to do this
cd 80 Ia
irritation. The Turkish government
has made much of the Unreasonable"
behavior of the Armenians of Van
and have even urged 1t as an excuse
for their subsequent treatment of the
whole race Their attitude illustrates
once more the perversity of the Turk
ism mind. after massacring hundreds
OF thousands Of Armenians in the
course of thirty years. outragfng their
women and girls, and robbing and mall
treating them in every conceivable
way. the Turks still apparently be-
lieved that they had the right to ex-
peCt from them the most enthusiastic
loyalty" That the Armenians all
over Turkey sympathized with the
entente was no secret IF you want
TO know how the war Is going" wrote
humorous Turkish newspaper, all
you need to do is to look in the face
of an Armenian. II he is smiling,
then the allies are winning: If he is
downcast. then the Germans are sue
cessfuL" If an Ottoman Armenian
soldier should desert and Join the
Russians, that would unQuestionably
constitute a technical crime against
the state, and might be punished
without violating the rules of all civ
ilized countries. Only the Turkish
mind. however-and possibly the Ger
man-could regard it as furnishing an
excuse for the terrible barbarities that
now took place.
Though the air, all during the au-
tumn and winter of 1914-15, was filed
with premonitions of trouble. the Ar
menians behaved with remarkable
self-restraint. =. For years It had been
the Turkish policy to provoke the
! Christian population into committing
overt acts, and then seizing upon such
misbehavior as an excuse for massa-
cres. The Armenian clergy and DO
| litical leaders saw many evidences
| that the Turks were now up to their
old tactics, and they therefore went
among the people, cautioning them to
keep quiet, to bear all insults and
! even outrages patiently, SO as not to
give the Moslems the opening which
| they were seeking. Even though
they burn a few of our villages" /"
these leaders would say, do not re-
| taliate, for 1t Is better that q few be
destroyed than that the whole nation
be massacred."