THE SULTAN’S SLAUGHTER-HOUSE.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVI, Issue X, 7 March 1896, Page 268

THE SULTAN’S SLAUGHTER-HOUSE.

Constantinople, December 28, 1895. I wonder what would happen if the Sovereigns of Europe and their Ministers, who have humbled themselves before the Sultan, could have suddenly revealed to them at their New Year’s feast the scenes of murder, pillage, torture, and martyrdoms of their fellow Christians which they have so lightly condoned. What if a living picture of it all suddenly rose before their eyes ? Would the words of Macbeth rise to their lips ?—

• Thou canal not say I did it- Never shake Thy gory locks at me.’

Or would it be the words of Macduff ?—

• But, gentle Heavens, Cut short all intermission ; front to front Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself ; Within my sword s length set him. If he ’scape. Heaven forgive him Uo!’

Such a picture appears before me now, as I have just been reading some private letters, from three different towns, from ladies who were eye witnesses of what they describe. They have been shut up for weeks in the midst of it, in constant danger of death themselves—their own windows riddled with bullets and their rooms dark with the smoke of burning houses. They saw the soldiers shoot down helpless men and women, and then hack them to pieces with knives and swords ; heads cut off and fixed on bayonets, little children disembowelled, women carried off to satisfy the lust of the soldiers, churches burned which were filled with men, women, and children ; shops and houses stripped of everything, and the clothing taken from the backs of those not killed. They find themselves

IN THE MIDST OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE DYING

from day to day from terror, wounds, and starvation, and hear ot the fate of their friends —this man flayed alive in the presence of his wife, this man brought with his wite before the officials, and both of them shot because they refused to become Moslems ; most of their friends among the young women carried off by force, declared Moslem, and given over to the harems of Turks ; in one case all the women of a neighbouring village throwing themselves into the river to escape this fate. There is nothing sensational in the tone of these letters, as might be supposed from my grouping together of those facts. They tell the simple story of what they saw and heard each day. In all of them it is made clear that there will be very few Christians left in the spring. The Turks are doing their work with diabolical thoroughness. The Armenians in Constantinople have lost very heavily by the plunder and destruction of business in the interior; but they are making every sacrifice to save their people from starvation, although it has to be done with great caution. They would gladly adopt thousands of those children whom the Turks are carrying off, but they can do nothing, for the Patriarch is powerless, and Christian Europe cares for none of these things. Many a heart has been touched in England, and no doubt there, as here, many a family has turned its Christmas gifts into the relief fund; but I have been again informed, on the highest authority in Constantinople, that the Powers will do nothing. As it was bluntly put: ‘lt is awful. The number of dead and dying is double what has been stated ; but what can we do ? There is no Government in Europe which has at any time been ready to go to war for the Armenians. No, not England, with all her bluster, nor Russia either. I know it, and that is an end of it. The Ambassadors can do nothing.’ There is no use in appealing to Russia ; she will not act alone, as she did in the case of Bulgaria. Liberal Russia, as represented by the Vestnick Europa, the great Russian review, favours action in concert with England. Lord Salisbury ought to know whether any possible sacrifice of English traditions would persuade official Russia. I only know that no such c_>ncerted action is looked for by the Ambassadors here ; but no one doubts that ifEnglandandßussia could act heartily together, they could do what they pleased at Constantinople, and could probably bring in their fleets without firing a shot. In Russia alone there is no hope. Her present policy seems to be to strengthen the hands of the Sultan, to prevent any disturbance in Macedonia, and to discourage the movement in Crete. It is even said that she is aiding the Sultan to borrow money, and forcing the Armenians who have fled to Russia to return to Turkey to meet their fate. It is quite possible that the Czar may imagine that this is a wise and humane policy. He may hope in this way to restrain the fanaticism of the Turks, save Constantinople from a massacre, and restore some sort of order in the provinces ; but M. de Nelidoff certainly knows better than this, and Lobanoff ought to see that with no responsible Government in Constantinople, and with every element of confusion and anarchy let loose in the provinces, such results are not to be hoped for.

How much confidence the people of Constantinople have in this state of things was made apparent two weeks ago in the great panic ; and although the streets are patrolled day and night by troops, there is no assurance of safety for anyone. Ido not believe that the Sultan will order a massacre here, or in any of the large towns which have thus far escaped, but the city is full of desperate men, and of men burning for plunder—full of fanaticism and discontent, and it is too well known that no Moslem has been punished for killing or plundering the Christians. They are simply waiting their opportunity, and in some way it will probably come. We have official news of the fall of Zeitun, but it will be weeks before we learn the fate of the Armenians there, who might and ought to have been saved.— The Speaker.