Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1922-10-05
THE 4UNsPEAKABLE, TURK.
One Wrletr Claims He rs More Sinned
Against Than Shining.

Against Than Shining.
$50 you have been In Turkey! Are
they really as terrible as one hears?'
! have answered this unvarying for
aula at least once a day since my
return from the Near. East. says a
writer In Henry Ford's paper, the
Dearborn Independent. Without ex-
ception my Questioners have enter
tanned an identical opinion of the
peoples among whom was thrown:
that the Greeks are an enterprising
and worthy people, that the great
majority of Armenians have been
massacred, and that the Turks are
the most villainous and detestable
race on the face of the earth. The
uncnimity OF belief would be almost
incredible IL L did not keep in mind
that my own opinion was similar to
theirs prior to the day that diseni-
barked at Constantinople.
There Is no better way OF setting
forth the truth of the matter as ]
saw 1t than by recalling a succession
OF various reactions experienced IN
and around Constantinople. 1t was
not surprising to find them almost
universally dishonest, for here was
the Oriental and semi-Oriental mind
confronted by the incongruous ideals
and austerity OF our Occidental civil
ization. They all cheated fiagrantly.
Little by little began to discover
that, dishonesty could be separated
into two different categories-con-
scious and unconscious dishonesty.
In the first category fell the Greeks,
puToa rioro and Arrnapiana-a1I fhnca
in fact who lived nominally in the
Western fashion, who were Christ
ians, and who claimed to despise the
Mohammedan faith and civilization.
These boys knew well enough the
difference between right and wrong
as We understand it, and deliberately
chose the wrong. They would never
admit cheating, even though had
caught them red-handed.
The Turkish boys, on the other
hand, were a.novel experience. Quite
as dishonest as the others, they could
see no reason for being otherwise,
and we're therefore quite free to ac-
knowldge their guilt. They were
openly amused at my attempts to in
culcate in them the principles OF per-
sonal honor. 1t was as IL they were
listening TO q language which had no
meaning to them. .
Atsmy hand WAS the mast easscinat-
Ing and bewildering or cities, a seeth-
Ing caldron OF race hatred, the bat
tleground OF dozen centuries, and
tho dep0sitary OF some Of the most
magnificent monuments which have
come down to Us from antiquity. or
the three smaller cities which make
UP Constantinople,LI went first to
Pera, the European city.
Pera is In the hands OF the West
ern peoples who have raised 1t In
the likeness OF their own cities, with
department stores, hotels. womens
shops, and all the other appurtenan-
ces OF our mode of living. During
the daytime II Is harmless enough.
Under the cloak of evening, however.
II is.transformed into a riot of drunk
enness apd vice. Vicious cabarets
and foul drinking dens appear in the
dim lighted streets, taking possession
OF Pera like swarm OF nocturnal har-
pies. Then II Is that one sees brawl-
Ing crowds fighting In side alleys, in
toxicated women in the last stage of
abandonment, and men knived or
murdered by unseen hands. Our
much vaunted modernity and pro-
gressiveness are found in Pera, but
our weaknesses are still more appar-
ent. And this Is what we have
brought TO Constantinople, for the
Turks are conspicnousiy absent from
the activities OF Pera.
Down the hill Is Galata, the ship
ping quarter Inhabited principally by
Grseks. There are no words ade-
uate to picture Galata In the hide
ousness OF its depravity. It is fes-
tering. breeding place OF white slav-
cry, disease and opium dens. The
worst OF II has sprung up since the
alltes took control OF the city out OF
the hands of the Turkish authori-
ties. Befre the war 1t was no worse
than any seaport OF the Mediterrane-
en-. Now. II stands terrible charge
against the West--for In .GaIata the
Turks are as little In evidence as in
Pera. :.
The city Of Stamboul presents q
sgtktAs contrast to the two Euro
pean .ausrters. The Turks have kept
Il mech sas Il has been for centuries.
Broad, shaded avenues lead to the
1aeN1ficent niosQues and monuments.
xnant ot which were erected before
~ 1lscovory. OF America. The mar
xow Slde streets are hummiug with
he Ho3oA0 or the ohOpa and ba2nars