El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-01-03
Turks Don t Admit Defeat;
''WeASked Arn1istice FRS"
Is Their acknowledgment

HDNSIANLlNOELE turkey Jan 5.
I Although Il war vessels OF DIFF
ferent nationalities were lying off
Pera last week and such a number had
not been seen since 1873 wnen the
British fleet anchored off san stefano,
the Turk refuses to acknowledge he IS
beaten Allied forces occupy the main
strategical points OF both straits. the
.Dardanelles are open. and the CALI
poll peninsula Is occupied by British
and Indian troops. The Turk mentality
is hard TO understand. He tells the
English authorities: We are not
beaten: It was we who asked FOR an
armistice, not you"
Throughout the last four years the
Turks, acting under the orders Of the
committee Of union and progress nave
done their best to ruin their country,
and have succeeded extremely well
Three million human beings have been
massacred. another million is on the
verge Of starvation this winter. A
great portion Of the empire has been
totally ruined. It is probably true
that never before have the Turks IN
the empire been so rich The ord1-
nary policeman In Pera is estimated
to be worth anything between 10000
P1underfnE Of Christians.
The souTest vinegar bottled as wine
costs SO piastres a half bottle The
most ordinary necessities OF life aver
age ten times the preWar prices Sew
ing cotton is sold at three piastres per
yard. The shops are well stocked
Probably II acquisitions were made
throughout the city enough stores
would be found to feed the population
for at least eight months. But all the
trade, by pillage and robbery. has
been concentrated in the hands OF No
hammedans. The committee requisi-
toned for the army" everything from
the Christians. including corsets- chill
dren's shoes, perfumes articles de
luxe, etc. Nothing was given to the
Christian merchants but a piece OF
uaper stating the price OF requisition-
ing with a promise to pay after the
war. The committee then sold these
goods TO Turkish merchants at more
than 1000 percent above the reQuisi-
tfoning price The merchants resold
10 the public at another 1000 percent
David Bey. minister OF finance in
the Talaat cabinet, stated in parlia-
ment that the Turks must become a
commercial people, and the committee
has been able to make them that Per
haps. he continued. there had been
some cases OF theft but they were
very few. and those would be pun
ished- The president OF the chamber
took cognizance Of Diavid's speech, but
hoped he did not include him among
the thieves A motion was made last
week before parliament 10 prosecute
the president and vice president OF
the chamber for Illicit traffic. Ger
man officers had their share also in
this plumber. What they demanded
they had to have, and they robbed
both Christians and Turks. A field
Febel who was wounded on the west
ern front, and who was sent 10 Tur-
key as overseer to the Turkish ammu-
milton factory, left the country with
$4,000 and boosted that he need new
er work again
Admiral Caifhorpess Demand.
IN the first days after the armis-
tice Germans and Austrians stiu
crowded the capital It was estimated
that there were at least a, 600 German
soldiers there. These have now been
mostly deported to Haidar Pasha and
Scutarf- A large number OF officers
still remain, though they have
their uniforms for civilian
clothes Gen Linan Won Sanders IS at
1foda watching events Last week he
issued a manifesto to the officers stat
ing that he fully approved the Social