New-York tribune., 1918-03-31

But how would Moslems of Asia
take the invitation of the Hun to
loot and plunder to their hearts
content and set the continent on
fire? Would they receive it with a
stony, silent contempt or would
they denounce the Huns invitation
as a gross insult? To get the cor
rect answer to the query one has
to remember the battle of Bedr. It
is perhaps the most classic of the
Holy War Mahomet
himself led his forces. The mere
mention Of it is apt to turn the
blood in the veins Of the followers
Of Allan INTO something like liquid
fire. And the battle of Bedr, as all
the world knows, was nothing more
CT less than plain, profitable busi-
ness venture Of plurdering a richly
laden caravan. 1t IS beautifully in
tune with the seizure Of Rumanian
oil fields, with The robbery of the
grain centres round about Odessa,
with the levying of millions of war
tributes on Belgian cities-it is es-
senfiallv Teutonic, this classic mill
tant tradition of the Moslems. There
is little difference between the
Nahometans Tho followed the
Prophet pe.sonally IN his many AMI
various exc lions after some one
elsc's goo6s and the Mahometans
of India aad Mongolia of to-day
that the Moslern Asia of the pres
ent time is a tcilie hungrier than
the ancient classic pioneers Of
piety and plunder for loot and for
Che blood Of the enemies of the holy
faith. That is about all.
The history Of the Chinese Ma
honsetanism is the story of some Of
The bloodicst of her rebellions.
Tic storv g re Mahometans in
India IS largely TIE story CT an un-
s6el, cft-attempted, long nour-
isica rcveage As for the Manom-
otan in tie Sungarian depression,
passins from Mongolia to Turkestan
the classic highway through
which the ancient Huns made their
ruthless way 20 Europe--nothing
Is doarcr TO their nomadic souls
than the prospect of unlimited
slaughter and pillage.
Il Would Sound Like
TIE Prophets 5 Summons
m uprising of the natives Of
Ba.aeAlstan Vas reported by The
Assoc .atea Press from London un-
der date Of March 20. 1t was not
d mere freefor-all street fight, it
seems; it vas serious enough to call
forth the British garrison stationed
there. And almost all the people in
Baluchistan lean on Allah.
It was suppressed, Of course,
without difficulty But there is
decided hint there. If the Mussul-
mans N Baluchistan are in the tenn
pcr 70 rise al by themselves-after
all the repeated failures they have
had-it IS not very difficult to mag
ne inst what would happen if an
army Of eTen 10000 Teuton pris-
oners out Of Siberia made its all
victorious way south toward the
northern frontiers Of India. 1t
would simply and naturally sound
Ike the summons from the Prophet
in the ears Of all the faithful.
In The light of these facts the oc-
cupation Of Irkutsk by the Teutonic
forces has particularly lurid looks
.atOut It. TIE city of Irkutsk is the
capital city Of the government Of
tne same name; it has something
Ike ao.oe0 people. more than
Elad:vostok; It is the largest city
IN al IBERIA Il s right on the
rain line Of the Siberian Railway.
With Ir.uts'l in her hand. Germany
viii not have much difficulty in COM
u.andng the entire stretch OF more
than $500 miles of railway clear to
Petrograd.
The present condition Of the Si-
berian Inc may not permit the
transportation of huge Teutonic
army with many large guns. But
neither huge army nor huge guns
are needed for the campaign in
Asa. The Teutonic army is already
there on the ground, as has been
pointed out-at least more war pris-
onors than are necessary for the
particular business Of starting Mos
lem Asia going.
The one important thing, of
course, Is to arm the Mahometans
adequately for the Asiatic con-
tf.agration. And for that control Of
the Siberian line is comforting
thought. For it will take only a
lew Thousand machine guns and the
munitions for them to let loose the
Mussulman fury on sonpaolent Asia.
Asia.