Armenia and Her People; or, The Story of Armenia by an ArmenianFilian, George H.
History
Armenia and Her People; or, The Story of Armenia by an Armenian
Filian, George H.
Armenia; Armenian question
If England had wished to solve this question, she could have done it
long ago; but she never cared to. When Mr. Gladstone was in power,
he tried to do it, but his Cabinet overbore him. He did, however,
show by isolated cases what power England had if she chose to
exercise it. After I was banished by the Turkish government, two
native Christian ministers supplied my pulpit. They were sentenced
to death on a false charge, but Gladstone threatened the Sultan,
and the latter commuted the sentence to banishment. These ministers
were Professors Thoumaian and Kayayian, who are now in England with
their families. What could be done on a small scale could be done on
a large one. I will give here some of the speeches of Gladstone on the
Armenian question; then compare Lord Salisbury with him and his policy.
W. E. Gladstone.
He assails Turkey's Intolerable Misgovernment and Emphasizes the
Value of Impartial American Testimony.
[By Cable to The New York Herald.]
London, Aug. 6, 1895.--A pro-American meeting, presided
over by the Duke of Westminster, was held at Chester this
afternoon. Mr. Gladstone was among those present, and upon entering
the hall was received with great enthusiasm.
In addressing the meeting, Mr. Gladstone said he had attended
rather to meet the expectation that he would be present than
because he had any important contribution to make to the
discussion of the subject under consideration. The question
before the meeting, he said, was not a party question, neither
was it strictly a religious question, although the sufferers,
on whose behalf the meeting was called, were Christians. The evil
arose from the fact that the sufferers were under an intolerably
bad government--one of the worst, in fact, that ever existed. A
resolution would be proposed presenting, with justice and firmness,
the true view of the matter. Mr. Gladstone added that as America
had no political interest in the Levant her witnesses were doubly
entitled to credit.
Important Treaty Provisions.
The treaty of 1856, Mr. Gladstone continued, gave the powers
the right to march into Armenia and take the government of the
country out of the hands of Turkey, and under the treaty of 1878
the Sultan was bound to carry out reforms. The ex-Premier made
three proposals:--First, that the demands of the powers should
be moderate; second, that no promises of the Turkish authorities
should be accepted; and third, that the powers should not fear
the word "coercion."
"We have reached a critical position," said Mr. Gladstone,
in conclusion, "and the honor of the powers is pledged to the
institution of reforms in Armenia."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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