THE ARMENIAN RACE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11596, 14 January 1916, Page 4

THE ARMENIAN RACE.

The mirage of mystery, equivocation and studied silence has beau lifted from the deserts of Asia Elinor sufficiently, writes the Washington correspondent of tho "Boston Monitor," to enable mo to reveal all that is available at this date concerning the tragedy of exterminated Armenia. Tho source of the information may riot be given, but in that connection it may bo said that it is unquestionable and authoritative. The facts as laid before this bureau confirm tho truth of the Crane report, and confirm .also stray reports that have appeared at intervals since that date, oniy with this added significance: When the Crano report was published the deliberately planned effacement of tho Armenians was in the process of being accomplished. it is done, with tho exception of a remnant of that people who cither nro in Cbnstantantinople or arc taking refuge among the Russians in Russian Armenia, or Transcaucasia.

In Constantinople and vicinity there aro approximately 200,000, while in Caucasia in the district of which Tifiis is tho centre, there aro 250,000 more Armenians, it is estimated. Some scattering remnants are in Turkish territory occupied by Russian armies. When it is considered that at the begininng of the year, and beforo the Porte put into execution its policy of extermination, the Armenian people numbered 1,750,000, it is seen that at least 1.000,000 of this population have fallen victims of tho Muhammadans. A REBELLION.

From the same source, whence come these facts it is related that at the begjlining of the war tho larger portion of the Armenian people were to be found in the country districts, the cities and the hamlets of the region bounded on the north by the Russian border and the Black Sea, as far west as the •western confines of Trebizond province, on the west by Aleppo, <m the south by tho thirty-eighth degree of latitude and on the east by Erzerum, Van and Bitlis. As soon as Turkey became active in the war the Armenia highlands wero taken possession of, as was also lforth-eastern Persia. The Russians later invaded Armenia and also Persia and drove the Turks out, following them into the Armenian highlands. It was at this time that a portion of the Armenians rose in rebellion against the Turks, arid it was generally reported at the time that tho Armenians captured Van before the arrival of the Russian troops. The city was later lccaptured by the Turks, and subsequently fell into tho possession of the Russians. This minor participation of the Armenians in the war against the Turks was really _ undertaken in selfdefence, and in any case was no justification for what followed. In this action there was no evidence of treason whatever against the Armenians, though there no doubt of their sympathy with the Russians.

PLAN OF EXTERMINATION. \

As told in the Crano committee report, the inauguration of tho Turkish plan of extermination came in the spring. As told in that report the atrocities continued through the summer; Reports that have come out of the country this fall, however, show that tho entire recnon of Armenia has been Mvept clean of its former inhabitants. Only recently the information reached America that a district near Aleppo, whore dwelt 60.000 Armenians, now contains only a few scattered individuals. The others have been driven int.) the desert, attacked bv Kurds, or have perished on the march.' Liter information as to the methods employed by the Turks show a system, a finesse, a precision and business-like orgaui3j.fr'3n surprising to those who understand tha proverbial Turkish way to be the exact opposite of those qualities and ways of doing tilings. It is as though they had been trained and shown how to accomplish one of the most gigantic crimes in tho history of the raoa of men, an enterprise that even the Camel Driver of Mecca himself must have foreseen when he wrote chapter CXI. of the Koran: " The hands of- Abu Laheb shall perish and ho shall perish. His riches sliall not profit him, neither that which he hath gained. Ho shall go down to

THE TERRIBLE TRAGEDY OF ASIA MINOR. TURKS DELIBERATELY PLANKED EFFACEMENT.

be . . . and liis wife also, bearing wood, having on her neck a cord of twisted fibres of a palm tree." The story of what hnpponed in one district or "town js tho stoi'v of all. The solders had ono tiling: to do, and one method of doing it. They Mould, come to a village and the first move in every case was to summon all tho Armenians, men, women and children, to assemble. BRUTAL METHODS. . As soon as the, people had obeyed the order tho soldiers went about and seized their property, mid tho people were at onco started off under a. small 1 ' escort'' toward the desert. They had little to eat or drink, and were .'subject daily to tho attacks of the Kurds, which attacks invariably left fewer to continue the march. Nor is this all, but it ia all of the details of their march that can be told in tho ''Monitor." .Invariably the soldiers failed to protect their charges. Never was there any deviation from tho set method. It was a steady process from one end of the region to the other, ending, so far as til© information at hand goes, with the extermination of the district before referred to, where 60,000 persons have disappeared. And those that are left in Constantinople and vicinity are sub-; jected to extortionate taxes and are bereTt of their goods, while the younger men are forced into the Turkish army. PUT OFFICIALLY. Thf only official information that has ccJme from the region that has been given outi for publication, and that at tile request of tho Turkish authorities, is a note from the American Consul at Trebizond, who said: " A commission has been formed at Trebizond by tho Governor-General for the purpose of taking possession and selling the property of the Armenian population which has been banished from that province. Persons having claims against Armenians are invited to present the same to the commission in order that they may bo examined, and, if found in order, registered. There were a great many Armenian merchants and commission agents in Trebizond, some of whom had' extensive dealings with Europe and England. It is not believed that American firms have claims of any great importance. If there are any claims however, an itemised statement, duly sworn to before a notary public and certified by a Turkish Consul in America, might be sent to the consulate, to bo presented to the commission." Ambassador Morgenthau, at Constantinople, is still waiting for a reply to the message lie delivered to the Turkish Government protesting against the Armenian atrocities, but no answer has been given and no attention has been paid to this Government's action, INSTANCES. As a result of late reports received by the Armenian Relief Committee, these particular instances are cited: A consul of a friendly Power has reported that ho has examined a large caravan of Armenian refugees,' driven from their homes, who had travelled 200 miles without shelter and little food, and found that about 50 per cent of the number that had originally started out had perished by the road. The journey then was only half done.

'Another man, for whom this committee can roach, passed on the railroad from Angora to Constantinople, within two or three days, as many as refugees.

Other reports tell that cities with Armenian populations of 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 and more have been entirely depopulated. In other cities from half to one-third of the Armenians have go?i<3 and those remaining are being continually tiliVeatenedi. Many have accepted Muhammadanism to save their lives and large numbers of women have been driven into Moslem harems.

Official representatives \of neutral Powers have reported that two or three weeks ago there were coming into some of the centres of North Syria and Mesopotamia great masses of survivors rrom caravans and that tho aggregate numbered scores of thousands, with the stream flowing on without abatement.