The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-10-02

I 3.-If it was necessary for us to pledge all our resources for the over 1 throw of an autocratic militarism which threatened the life of free in stitutions, it is now 6 sacred and i'm perative duty to make our contri- button toward insuring the perman- , ence of the fruit of our sacrifices 50 ] that we may not have to go again | through similar experiences.
 4.-The system of mandatoriaI ad- ! mlnlstration is a great step forward ! In the new order of things which is l intended to discourage exploitation ! or the weak by the strong and thus 1 remove one of the chief causes of 1 War among nations. And America, | haVlng taken the lead in advocacy of the adoption by the great nations of 1 this historic charter for human lib- erty and happiness cannot, with honor to itself, decline to have snare in the care of its own child. o.-The Armenian, an Alpine Arvan like the Swiss, North Italian and l most Greeks since his emigration to Asia Minor over three thousand years i ago, has been stumbling block in | the way of Asiatic invaders toward | the west and has kept afIarne in inc Near East the light of western civi1i- 1 zat1on and Christianity amidst hard sh1ps that would have ground to the dust a weaker nation. We canno+ now decline to extend a helping hand ! Lo d hatlon Which has done so n111cF, for our civilization.
 1 6.-The Arm enians have made con- 1 siderable contribution to the winntra of the war, which entities them +o 1 the rlght to claim our aid in the or sanitation Of the framework of +beir i government | In the beginning of the war the Arfneh1ans A turned a deaf ear to the l IufkiSh offer for autonomy i, co,,
 sioeranon Of the united support C. 1 the Turco-Gernans, which sunnog, would have helped the Turks to over | Whelm the Russian-CaucasIs from and enabled them to reach Middle Asia, and which at the same lime would have forced Russia to brine 1 o1V1slons from the Austro- German front to the Caucasus And again in | I91f' when Germany, baked on the l western front, and encouraged with the detection of Russia, turned her attention to the east the Armenians 1mprovised a force of 5O,OOO men
 took over the Caucasus front which l was over 250 miles long, and deserted
 by the Russians, betrayed by the
 Georgfans, harassed by Tartars and
 kurds, and without any help fro-l l any outside force, fought the Tur- | k1sh Army for seven months, and
 thus frustrated the Turco-German l scheme. They did these things re-
 lying upon our good faith and upon
 our pledges. Can we break faith with
 them?
 It is useless for us to wish them to
 have independence, unless we are will
 ing to make it possible for them to
 insure that independence.
 1 7.-The view held by certain
 Americans that, if it is our duty to
 help Armenia, we should not be df- rected by a group of nations. such
 as a League of Nations, to perform
 that duty has great merit But we l cannot, under the new scheme ot
 things, extend the required help ex- 7 cept under a mandate. Moreover, by an unselfish performance of our duty
 in Arm enta and our withdrawal al the end of the fixed period, we shall
 set an example to other mandatories , and thus make the mandatoriaI duty 7 "a sacred trust of civilization" which . will lend force and sanction to the
 sanctity of the covenant of the League of Nations.
 S.-The Armenian mandate is for 2 brief period only; and we can, if we s choose, limit our responsibility. l 9.-It does not impose upon us the : task of teaching self-government ol
 of ruling the Armenians, but helping
 them and cooperating with them. ir S an advisory capacity, during the e formative period of their State.
 10.-It is the safest and most at,
 tractive responsibility in the list 0, T mandates, and one that promises ir f it's effect a larger good to the world f than any other mandate.
 11.-It is a safer responsibility thar Q even Poland or Czecho-Slovakis q would be. There will be no one na h ton along the boundaries of Ar q menia strong enough to disturI n seriously the peace of the Armenian . State.
 d 12.-The view held by certain in
 terests that unless we accept a man
 date also for AnatoHa the Turk:
 would be likely to harass the Ar
 menians, and thus make our tasl
 heavy, is a prejudiced one. A sinnila
 argument could have been urged il
 1873 against the creation of an au
 tonomous Bulgaria. There are tw;
 facts in this connection that mus y not be forgotten: CD The Peac
 Conference will no doubt reduce tn
 military institution of the Turk with
 in limits required for home defense n as it has done in the case of Ger / many and Austria; CD The Turk 7 will not be able to put in the fiel
 a larger army than can the Armen
 ians. Experience has shown durin
 the last war, as it has always in tn
 past, that an armed Armenian ca tt well take care of two armed Turks e We need have no worry about tn n ability of the Armenians taking car ,t of themselves, once they are organ h. ized. Moreover, should Armenia b e, attacked from without, 1t becomes tn le duty of the League of Nations to talk 10 joint defensive steps; as it wouldS i 'd the event of any other member of tn It League, small or big, being attacke l. under similar circumstances.
 d 13-It does not involve us in an le international difficulty, since W
 would be going there in response g an invitation from the Great Nation
 1 and Armenia.