El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-06-01
To Accept Mandate For Armenia
Means U. S. War In Asia Minor;
To Refuse Is Death For Armenia

IhTEW YORK. June President
In Wilson's recommendation that the
] United States accept the Armenian
| mandate should surprise no one IA
/ miliar with the course pursued by
I him at the Paris conference. At that
| time both the president and Col
Z House again and again expressed the
l belief that the United States would
/ take mandates, both for CONSTANT
uople and for Armenia, and there was
. discussion Of the possibility that
I America might take over the respon-
sibility for all Of the Turkish en-
/ pire, outside Of the Arabian districts.
which had been divided IN advance
[ by Britain and France.
The long delays in the solution OF
l the near eastern problems. which
have persisted for more than a year,
are to be traced directly % The gen
! eral expectation in Europe that the
I United States would in some measure
] become a partner in the enterprise
Of recognizing the near east
Conditions Grow Worse.
Unhappily. while decisions have
been postponed, conditions in Asia
Minor have marched from bad 70
worse. If British troops have Occu-
pied COnstantinOple; Greek troops
Smyrna, and French some portion of
the Syrian littOral, Turkish leaders in
the hinterland OF Anatolia have
broken aWav from Constantinople au-
thOrity and allied control and have
proceeded to organize armies and pre-
pare to resist any Christian interven-
ton. whether in Armenia or in Ana
tolia- In point Of fact. the French
fore Turkish attack, while the Greek
forces about Smyrna are at least
threatened with serious offensives.
As for Armenia itself. IL exists
largely in official documents, for
Erzerum and the highlands about Van
and Bitlis are actually in Turkish
hands, while as the Turkish rebels
push eastward, the Russian revolu-
tionists continue to advance south
westward and between the two mill
stones Armenia is being ground up.
In point Of fact, in all the vast region
bounded chiefly by the Caspian. Black
Mediterranean and Aegean seas, to-
gether with the Arabian desert there
is now only turmoil, massacre anar-
chy.
Left to Wilson to Decide.
In permitting president Wilson to
draw the boundaries Of the new Ar
menia, the European nations have
done no more than to leave to Amer
lea the privilege Of deciding how
large a responsibility she is willing
to accept Thus the president may
decide that Armenia shall consist
merely Of the area described as
gliding the Russian Armenian re-
gicns and the Turkish Districts OF
Ezerum, Van and Bitlis, with or with
out the TrehiZend coast, or he may
decide that IL shall include both this
Armenia Major. which / have indi-
Gated above, and Armenia Minor as
well. If the latter be included, then
the state viii extend sOuthWestward
to the Mediterranean at the gulf Of
Alexandretta- including the Cihcia- |
where Franco-Turkish fighting is
now in progress.
But the latter state would in reality I
include vast regions in which the /
Armenian population. mainly because ]
Of systematic massacres. is now IN I
great minority. Moreover the task 4
OF policing. OF organizing OF admin ]
istsring the larger area, would be i
one Of at least twice the magnitude j
Of q similar effort in the smaller ter /
ritury. Moreover, while the occupa- ]
ton OF the smaller state would bring /
the mandatory nation into conflict I
with the Turk and the bolshevist,
any effort to take over the larger,