The Connecticut labor press., 1920-11-06
APPEAL TO PRESIDENT
 FOR ARMENIAN RELIEF
American Committee Working for Independence of Long
 Suffering Armenians.

The appeal recently addressed to President Wilson by the American Committee for Armenian Independence, protesting against the attitude of the French in Cilicia and Asia Minor, and
 urging the exertion of the moral infu- ence of the United States to mitigate the sufferings of the Armenian people, is deserving of earnest attention. Ther is no greater danger facing Armenia, at the present time, than the possibility of her enemies winning as the result of Sheer weariness on the part of her
 friends. For considerably more than 40 years now the world has been faced
 with the Armenian question Ill more or less acute form. For more than 40 years it has been hearing and reading about Armenian massacreS, outrages of
 all kinds committed against the persons and possessions of the Armenian
 people. It has seen treaty after treaty,
 designed for their relief, entered into
 and broken. It has responded to ap- pea1s for help. It has brought all man. ner of pressure to bear upon its govern
 ments to take the matter in hand and to
 find settlement once and for all. The
 Armenian question, today, however ap-
 pears to be almost as far away from
 settlement as ever 1t was.
 In these circumstances the tempta- ton to relax effort lis considerable. The position, moreover, is not rendered any easier by the undoubted fact that the
 Armenians in the past have been dis
 posed to depend far too much on pro tests and appeals to other nations for the redress of their wrongs and far too little upon themselves. The out
 rages inflicted upon them by the Turks
 undoubtedly entitled them to the sym pathy and help of all civilized peoples i; but the demand upon nations, namely, that they should ever take the lead in | the struggle for their own salvation. When Greece raised the banner of re- volt against all the might of the Turk | ish empire, at Jassy, in 1891, she did it practically alone. All who would might come to her aid, but, whether they came or not, she was going forward. Help did come from all quarters, but Greece was ever in the van of the ! struggle.
 1 Now, until quite recently, this has
 not been Armenia's method. Armed \ with a tremendous case, she has ap-
 pea1ed on it, protested about it, and waited. The qualification until quite ! recently is, however, used advisedly l Within the last few months, Armenia | has been making a valiant stand for | liberty, and against tremendous odds
 not only in the little republic of Erivan
 where she is literally surrounded by l enemies, but in Cilicia, where she is
 facing, not only the Turk, but, to a l very large extent, the French also; and I it is on this policy of the French 1T | Ci1icia that the present appeal to Presi- | dent Wilson is made by the American l Committee for Armenian Independence I What that policy is, is by this time l pretty generally known. In many ways it constitutes one of the darkest spots 1 in international affairs at the present
 time. In her determination to save the | Turk, France, it needs to be. said quite 1 frankly, is apparest1y inclined to stoI
 at nothing. When the abandonment ot I Cilicia to the Turk, contrary to al
 treaty engagements, is not found suffici- =l ent to stamp out the Armenian struggle | for freedom, the French authorities do not hesitate to supply the Turks
 with arms and to disband the Armen-
 ian militia. And that is only a small l part of long and very shameful story I The protest of the American committee is indeed as justified as it is timely.