MURDERING A NATION.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 245, 26 January 1917, Page 2 (Supplement)

MURDERING A NATION.

L'ght is at last being shed upon th© fuh horror of Turkey's Armenian campaign. While the German-Turkish attempt to exterminate the Armenians was in full swing, and whilo the Armenians were passing through what lias ken aptly called "the ghastliest chapter of their ghastly history," no details ■if the massacres, and still moro cruel deportations to desert places, which began early in 1015, reached us till December. The first check came at the fal! of Ezerouin. Dr. Ida Stapleton, writing from that city just after its oc-

cupatiou by tha ltussians, said : "Tho aim of those in authority was tt totally destroy the Armenians as a people j and horribly they have succeeded. It is not finished yet, for whenever tho Turkish tinny reUwats tho suffering is sure to go on. The head of the Committee of Union and progress fiercely told my husband that if the Russians killed so much as one Turkish woman they would kill a hundred Armenians. T t was a foolish boast, ni they had already done their worst. Kaniil Pasha ordered all the Greeks aiso to leave. It just seemed as if he sat up nights to think of something more wicked to do. It was zero weather, 'lhe Greeks begged to stay, offering larg.i sums. Permission seemed granted, but after 10 days, when the Russian advance was mere certain, the order was carried out. They were told, "wo must suffer, and so must you." I visited all tho families I knew, as they wero going, they felt, to their death. Some of the Turks thought the treatment of tho Armenians shameful, and went to thy Governor repeatedly, only t) Ik> told savagely that if thev secreted or helped one of that ra o they -would be hanged in front of their own doors." If. L> marvellous that with such thorough organisation to ensure their destruction, so many Armenians should have escaped over the Russian border. Viscount Bryoe estimates that half a million flew to tho Caucasus alone, and *t is chiefly in this region that such large numbers have been saved, notwithstanding their terrible privations. Tho tremendous problem of repatriating this hi oken remnant of a brave nation, : whoso "supreme characteristic is their 'genius for martyrdom," is engaging the earnest attention of all true "friends of Armenia, among whom are tho late American Ambassador, Mr Morgan.theau, and Viscount Bryce. Thousands of these have been streaming back to itheir ruined country ever since Marcii, when the snow was still on the ground, j and though the Russian Government I has done much to aid tho pioneer relief [party sent out by tho Lord Mayor's Fund from London to the Caucasus, and the commission of tho American Board," whose missionariees have stuck tc their posts all through the horrors and sufferings of their hunted flock, they all agree that all the relief agencies together have been wholly inadequate to supply even food and shelter and clothing for s ;ch a vast number tf people. And yet, amid such conditions, tho report of the London commission says:—

"If any evidence were required of the undying vitality of the Armenian race hero it was the young men and women, having recovered from the stunning shock of their disaster, have set to work to rebuild their life in Van and hero in the town of their exile, Erivan. They have themselves established various institutions, such as a labour exehamge, teachers' "union, board of trustees for orphanages schools, Information bureau for lost relatives, and regular relief committee, which distributes Government reliet in the towns and districts."

The report wr,s written at Erivan (where 23,000 had refuge) at a time when that part was in full spring beauty, and is described as a paradise of colour and fruit blossom. It proceeds;— "It is strange that this has been the scene only a lew months ago of one of the most appalling tragedies of history. Over the shoulders- of Mount Ararat, which towers up into tne clouds and down into the plain below, came pouring a stream of fugitive "Humanity, terror-stricken, wounded, famished, and djing by hundreds on the' roadside. It is said that through Tydir alone, the frontier port near Erivan. 110,000 persons tied into Russia; and yet one may, in spito of tho sufferings of these people, claim them as fortunate in having escaped the far worse fate of their compatriots who were deported to the deserts of Mesopotamia or vilely .slaughtered by tho way. They thronged the frontier towns and spread themselves out in two directions. Thousands of women and children, sick and sore and starved, sheltered in every available cover. Thousands more simply squatted down in the open, exposed to the blazing sun and torrentir.l rains. The bishop laboured to bring order out of this chaos, to get tho dead buried and stay tho ravages of disease."

In a report of a meeting at the Mansion House, under tho auspices of the Armenian Refugees Fund, to arrange or tho repatriation of the Armenian people, at which tin Lord Mayor presided, many practical speeches were made by Viscount Bryce, 0.M., Sir Mark gjkes, M.P., Mr T. P. O'Connor, MP., and others. Lady Ramsay, a member of the executivo committee of t!: 3 Friends of Armenia, said: —"Tha Aimenians were tho first nation to adopt Christianity, and ever since have upheld their faith through tho most terrible experiences that any nation could have passed through, tho present time being their worst. The Turkish Government has been trying to kill them off. They havo been for many years a great educational force in the land, their advancement being guided to an enornn oi's extent by the American missions.

consider they are the proper people to bo in the ruling position in Turkey. They love their country, and aro striving to return and begin life again "n .■t reconstructed land." One has only l? remember the isolate 1 position and grogiaphical difficulties of their mine:! country (where industries largely depended on agricultural pursuits) to be alio to imagine the tremendous labours that face the Russian Government, (ho commissioner* and the mis-

sionarics, who are working in dose as

Isociation with unsparing effort to sup'p'> the shattered sufferers with seed, ; implements, cattle, and, in fact, all tha necessaries of life. And this in a climate where winter is very severe, and in parts lasts six months, with deep ; sno-, on the g; -and for weeks at a time. j The most urgent need has been to have i tuts neglected vineyards dug by hand, which costs about £3 10s per acre. In Persian Armenia especially the vineyards have been the first wealth of fie plain. In ordinary years 1200 acres would produce £14,000 sterling, besidej keeping the workers —a very conservative estimate. The commissioners employed some 4GO families on such an

aiea, and so preserved many vineyards ! from destruction for at least a time. ; It has been one of the most effective means of distributing relief. An added problem is the almost equal poverty of the Moslem population in the desolated 'districts. From pa:.o experience they know that t! >ir only help cornea through Christian sympathy. The imembers of the Amenian Commission, , win! i distrbuting bread and tea to some Turkish refugees, were not surprised ,wben they explained: "Our people killed your people, and you show such kindness to us. What does it mean?" They are beginning to understand. The report of the American Board says:—"The prestige of missions and tiir missionaries has tremendously increased. With a superb disregard for themselves they have stuck to their wc-k thus., and the witness of the people who have learned the fine art uf dying fori their faith cannot be fbrgotter, and will be an abiding force in tEe land."