There is no need to tell the same monotonous tale of most fiendish murders which took place all over Armenia and Asia Minor wherever the Armenians were found; and the local authorities with scrupulous exactness obeyed the behests of their superiors, the arch fiends at Constantinople. Some of our Prussian friends, in spite of all, still say: “If the Porte deems it necessary that the Armenian rebellions and other riotous proceedings be repressed with all available means, so that a repetition becomes impossible, such actions are not to be designated either as murders or as atrocities. They are simply justifiable and necessary measures....” Woe to the men, women and children of the Armenian race, that have been judged and dealt with by the Prussian sense of justice! The Belgians in the West, the Armenians in the East were treated by the same Prussian sense of justice. Here is another instance of the “bloodthirsty Armenian rebellions” whose suppression is “simply justifiable and necessary,” as Count Ernst von Reventlow says: “To give one instance of the thorough and remorseless way in which the massacres were carried out, it may suffice to refer to the case of Trebizond, a case vouched for by the Italian Consul, who was present when the slaughter was carried out, his country not having then declared war against Turkey. Orders came from Constantinople that all the Armenian Christians in Trebizond were to be killed. Many of the Moslems tried to save their Christian neighbors, and offered them shelter in their houses, but the Turkish authorities were implacable. Obeying the orders which they had received, they hunted out all the Christians, gathered them together, and drove a great crowd of them down the streets of Trebizond, past the fortress, to the edge of the sea. There they were all put on board sailing boats, carried out some distance on the Black Sea, and there thrown overboard and drowned. Nearly the whole Armenian population of from 8000 to 10,000 were destroyed--some in this way, some by slaughter, some being sent to death elsewhere.”[166] Allowing that, at the least there were 1,500,000 Armenians in the Turkish empire in the autumn of 1914, the government could draw out at least 100,000 soldiers--most probably she did draw twice as many. These soldiers could and gladly would render excellent service to the empire. Their loyalty has not been suspected, neither has their fidelity been in question. What a criminal folly to disarm them, what an unpardonable sin, and a suicidal act to massacre them. But that is what the Young Turks did. They are trying to get rid of the Christian population of Turkey by the sword and fire on the one hand, on the other hand, they were letting the Germans take charge and have control of the army and navy and make the Turkish government a German vassalage; and yet they say they are going to “have Turkey for the Turks.”