The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1922-02-07
.7YE END OF A ONCE
PROSPEROUS COUNTRY
.o,,rN1A PROSECUTED AND
pTD1TcED FROM SEVEN TO
HALF MILLION SOULS.
|pEADY TO GIVE UP THE GHOST

o-,r Remnant Remains. Christians
- ~ Asia Minor, Long Prey of Mo-
Lar,n,edan Outlaws, Have Nearly
Been Exterr1inated.
Armenia. the most prosecuted ma
80 ~ modern history, is ready to give
- the ghost. The once sturdy little
Cbristisn country wedged in the north
ON part OF Asia Minor between the
r.,-,.s m the north and the Arabs,
49, Krrd, and the Tartars on the east
- soutb a nation that numbered
a,,er millions Just few years ago,
,.s been reduced by the ravages OF
~.r by massacre and slavery, by star
.,;oo epidemics and pure neglect un..
a 4oJov il cannot muster but halt
.,lr;on souls and these sadly wasted
by privation and disease. VI
Wish to Start Over Again.
Tired OF their unending battle
sqainst religious enemies, weary OF the
s resseless strife to establish themselves
E. section of the world where they
S5,are NOT wanted, the remnant OF the
8 Srr7enians have appealed, through
8@srdinaI Merrier, of Belgium, to the
srnreme council OF the league OF ma
hons for ships to carry them and their
E,7eager possessions away from the
and that has never brought them any
HING but misery and suffering, away
sto some land where they can start
oyer again. and, out of the pitifully
- hundred thousands remaining OF
#+beir race found a new Armenian ma
zion. if such thing be possible.
When the world war ended there
,yere about 100000 Armenians left
out OF a total of nearly 7,50O,0O0 cred
&ited to Armenia in 1914. About half or
possibly more than half, OF these s.,
100000 lived in Persia and Russia and
8the remainder in Armenia proper. The
sDoDulation which is now left in Ar
smenia proper is estimated at consid-
Eerablv less than 100000, the remnant
! OF nation ravaged by war, massacre
Hand starvation.
Wilson Aroused Hopes.
For generations the chief victim OF
Turkish cruelty, the story OF Armenia
4 is one OF tragedy after tragedy. Asplr-
i ing to better things, the nation has
Nbeen subjected to a yoke OF tyranny
Sthat knew no limits, that boosted OF
Hts bloody accomplishments. The end
5 Of the war brought glimmer OF hope
8to Armenia. Turkey, ally OF Germany,
seemed for a moment about to be Wis
Sited with we'll merited punishment Tor
4 the crimes it had committed. Armenia
took courage, believing that the time
had come when it would enter into its
own as free nation, under the pro-
lection OF the powers that had con-
quered its oppressor, only to have her
hopes dashed to the ground. The Rus-
sian bolshevists, having cleared their
own country of opposing forces, such
as the white armies of Denekine and
Kolchak, struck southwark toward the
Caucasus.
Slaves of the Soviet.
A bolshevist government was set up
at Erzerum, the capital of Armenia,
and great part of the country be-
came vassal to the soviet and remains
as such today Faced by cruel and
aggressive foe on the east, the Arme-
mans soon found themselves between
two fires.
Turkey in Asia, revolving at the
terms OF the peace treaty written at
Versailles, set up a government in op-
position to the rule of the sultan at
C,onstantinople. 1t was a signal for
the wild tribes of Asia Minor, such as
the kurds and the Tartars, to renew
their attacks on the Armenians. Mas
sacre and pillage swept over the land
IN greater degree than ever before.
Inc populations of cities were driven
to starve or die of exposure in the
snow. Thousands, it was reported,
perlshed in the desert lands between
the Euphrates river and the Mediter-
Tanean in the coast OF Anatolia.
Then Famine and Disease.
Famine and disease followed in the
wake OF the renewed oppression. Ty-
phus, that dread disease that has taken
unions OF lives in the less civilized
parts OF the world since the end of the
war swept through Armenian towns
ana villages, claiming victims by the
hundreds OF thousands.
In religious affiliations the Arme-
mans included considerable bodies OF
roman catholics and protestants, con-
.sT'S through wide spread of mis-
s,'onaTy work carried on chiefly by
american organizations. The main
population, however, adhered to the
sncient Gregorian Armenian church.
Sselerai racial types are represented in
armenia, and it is said that the charac-
.7Tlslics OF these people have formed
not lnconsiderable obstacle in the
way OF rXlng their place among mod
81" nations. They have been ~describ-
-; 81 as frugal, sober, industrious and
,oL.,9s--.lgent, and their sturdiness of
t-'aIacter has enabled them, until now,
; II preserve their nationality and re-
"S'on under the sorest trials.