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| Sultan Abdul Hamid II. |
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| Miss Clara Barton. |
FEEDING THE STARVING.
Clara
Barton's Red Cross Work In Turkey.
FURTHER
DETAILS OF MASSACRE.
Compulsory Conversions to
Islamism Carried on to a Frightful Extent.
Eighteen Christian Ministers Put
to Death For Their Religion.
NEW YORK,
March 16.—The following are extracts from a report by mail from Miss Clara Barton to the American National Red Cross here. The report is dated Constantinople,
Feb. 25. Miss Barton says:
Immediately
on our arriving here Judge Terrell lost no time in notifying the Turkish government
of our arrival and asking an audience for me with the foreign minister. This
was granted and held on the 18th. We were informed that the permit was granted
for my party to enter the interior to afford relief to the suffering people there
and that no obstructions would be put in our way.
Mr. Terrell
at once cabled that information to Mr. Olney, but the permit or papers are to
be signed by the sultan. This is the time of the great feast of Ramazan, during
which no work but the ordinary labor is supposed to be done, and the papers have
thus waited until now. Minister Terrell yesterday demanded, through the Russian
ambassador, that the papers be attended to and he waits in much certainty for
favorable action immediately.
Since the
date of this letter cable dispatches have announced the signing of the papers by
the sultan and the issuance of the necessary permits and passports.
The report
continues: "Meanwhile we are not losing a moment's time. Dreadful news comes
in from the battlefield of Zeitoun. It has not failed to reach you, for it went
to the press. Sir Philip Currie has asked that I send relief to Zeitoun, and we
are getting our supplies ready for shipment via Alexandretta at the first moment
the papers are issued. Our agents are today purchasing supplies to be taken by
caravan from Alexandretta. There are always delays of boats, only about one a week
going over, and this occupies a week in the voyage across.
"Our
dragomen are ready. The Turkish guard will be provided, and Dr. Hubbell will
lead the first detachment up into the snows and mountains, to hunger,
nakedness, smallpox and typhus.
"We
find supplies as cheap here as at home, some even cheaper. It is said that food,
such as grain, flour, etc., can be found all through the interior, therefore we
shall not have to transport that. Dr. Hubbell will see what need there is for seed
and other materials for helping the destitute people to raise something for
themselves. We shall employ our customary efforts in our endeavor to assist the
people to provide for themselves as soon as circumstance will permit."
The
Armenian Relief association has received the following advices from
Constantinople giving additional incidents of massacres in Turkey:
In the
province of Aleppo, the village of Chizek, the Armenian priest was killed for
refusing to become a Mohammedan.
In the province
of Erzeroum and the district of Erzingan, six separate attacks for pillage have
been made upon the village of Zimara, and great pressure is being used to force
the people of the village to become Mohammedans.
At the
village of Gazma the houses have been pillaged, and numbers of the people have
become Mohammedans to save their lives.
In the province
of [Bitlis] a considerable number of Armenians at Sert have been forced to
become Mohammedans. In the district of Shirvan, out of 22 Armenian villages the
inhabitants of four entire villages have become Mohammedans to save their
lives. The priests also accepted Mohammedanism and the churches have been
changed into mosques.
At a little
village at which the inhabitants could not disperse over the mountains a
considerable number were killed, and the survivors accepted Mohammedanism. This
village is called Kourine. In the district of Chilain returns from six villages
have come in, which show a considerable number of persons killed for refusing to
accept Islamism.
In the
province of Van the stuffed skin of the superior of the monastery of Khizan was
still hanging to a tree in front of the monastery three weeks after the
massacre took place, that is, at the date of the last news from there, Nov. 27.
At Kharkotz, in this province, three priests accepted Mohammedanism and were
paraded through the streets in the dress of Mohammedan Ulema in order to
influence the people to follow their example.
In the
province of Harpoot, in many of the smaller villages where the people have been
supposed by the Turks to be mere peasants without ideas of their own, the offer
of Islamism has not been made, but the people were seized without ceremony and
circumcised by force, and are considered now as Mohammedans.
At Haboosi,
in this province, the Christian dead were left unburried in the streets for the
dogs to eat. The Armenian church and the Protestant chapel and parsonage were
burned.
At Peri, in
the same province, 450 Christians were made Mohammedans by threats of death.
At Arvos,
in the same province, all the buildings were destroyed. The Armenian priest was
forced to give the call to prayer, and was then shot for refusing to become a
Moslem.
At Garmuri
the Christians accepted Mohammedanism at the edge of the sword and have been
circumcized. The Protestant chapel and parsonage were burned and the Armenian
church has been seized and made into a mosque.
At Hohkh
the Armenian church and Protestant chapel and parsonage were burned.
At Houilu in
the province of [Harpoct] 266 out of 300 Christian houses were burned, among
them the fine new Protestant church. Two priests were killed. Many of the people succeeded in escaping from the
village. The rest have been forced to declare themselves Mohammedans.
The events
above mentioned took place in the main between Nov. 6 and Nov. 20. But the
process of forced conversion and the murder of individuals who refuse to accept
Mohammedanism was still going on as lately as the 20th of December, when the
Turkish government was assuring the European ambassador that all is quiet in Asiatic
Turkey and that all that is necessary to complete the work of pacification is
for Turkey to be let alone.
The nature
of the pacification, which may be expected if Turkey is left free to carry out
its schemes for these provinces, may be judged from the fact that 18 educated
and influential Protestant ministers have been put to death for refusing to embrace
Mohammedanism. In every case the offer of life on these terms was made; in
several cases time was allowed for consideration of the proposal and in each case
faith in Jesus Christ was the sole crime charged against the victim.
PAGE TWO—EDITORIALS.
Cuba.
In the
interests of mankind and of civilization the time has come when the
Cuban inhumanities should be stopped. Spain should
be let down with as little hurt to her pride and dignity as possible. No nation
would willingly humiliate a proud and civilized sister nation. But there is
simply this to be repeated: The time has come when the war in Cuba must be
stopped. The best way to stop it will be for the United States to propose to
buy Cuba from Spain, giving a price which shall be mutually agreed on. Then let
the United States reimburse herself for the outlay by accepting the promise of
the Cuban republic to repay the amount as a loan. Cuba could easily and would
gladly do that. Or if Cuba preferred to be annexed as a state outright to the
United States she should have the option. Let her pay back to us the purchase
money and remain independent, or let the United States buy the island as
Louisiana and Alaska were bought, Cuba becoming at once United States
territory. Thus Spain could back out of an impossible task with dignity and no
loss of self respect. Cuba would be free, and the United States would be happy
either way.
◘ In justice to General Valeriano Weyler, the new governor general of Cuba,
it must be said he declares with the utmost solemnity and emphasis that not a prisoner
has been shot since he arrived on the island. Reports to the contrary are
fabrications of the rebels and of the sensational newspaper correspondents, he
asserts. But he does leave it to be inferred that he will shoot the leaders of
the revolution without mercy if he can catch them.
◘ We have a nice mix up in the matter of our laws against the admission of Chinese
into this country. It has been decided by the perspicacious solicitor of the
United States treasury, Judge Reeve, that while a Chinaman resident permanently
in the United States may visit his native land, he cannot bring his wife back
with him, for she is debarred under the act forbidding the admission of Chinese.
Does Judge Reeve, commiserating the scarcity of marriageable men, perhaps want
to give Chinamen a chance to marry American women?
◘ Visitors to New York will soon have more pleasure than ever in visiting
the Palisades of the Hudson. To protect them from being gradually quarried and carted
away the state of New Jersey has ceded them to the United States. They will be
kept as a national park. Congress must make sufficient appropriations to put
them in thorough park-like order.
CONGRESS CRITICIZED.
President Cleveland Says Its Course Is Dangerous.
DIPLOMACY BY TOWN MEETING.
It Is Liable to Bring the Nation into Grave Peril—But This
Is a Democratic Government, and Discussion is Inevitable, They Say.
WASHINGTON,
March 16.—[Special.]—President Cleveland has very radical ideas concerning the
impropriety of congress attempting to interfere in foreign matters. The
president has so often expressed himself on this subject to members of his
cabinet, to senators, representatives and other callers that his views have
become well known. They are interesting even to those who do not agree with
him.
Mr. Cleveland
says he, as president of the United States, is charged by the constitution with
the management of our affairs with other countries. The makers of the
constitution were wise in imposing this duty upon the executive branch of the
government. Diplomacy, unlike legislation, does not thrive on publicity. In all
governments there is recognition of the necessity of leaving the conduct of
negotiations with foreign powers to the head of the state, because he alone can
throw about the business those safeguards of secrecy, prudence and skill
requisite to success. Diplomacy must be attended to by diplomats and
legislation by legislators, and the two functions are apart and distinct. Nothing
but trouble is bred by any effort to mix them together. Diplomacy by town meeting
is a failure and always has
been.
Liable to Precipitate War.
To a recent
caller President Cleveland said our congress was adopting a very dangerous
course. Its eagerness to have something to say about every foreign affair which
comes to the surface, its desire to meddle by resolution or speeches or bills
or investigations will, if carried on much longer, involve the country in
serious difficulty. It will bring on war and perhaps bring it on in such way
that the right will not be on our side. President Cleveland spoke very
earnestly and added that ever since congress assembled last December his
greatest fear had been that some action of that body would precipitate international
trouble which otherwise might be averted.
President
Cleveland spoke quite as emphatically against the habit congress has fallen
into of making speeches on international questions while they are pending. In
other countries the impropriety and danger of such speech-making are clearly
recognized. The trouble is that the words spoken in debate by members of
legislative bodies are irritable abroad. They convey an impression that is not
warranted by the facts. Sometimes they may be too belligerent and at others too
much for peace. In either case it is possible to do great harm.
So well is
this understood that in European countries such debates are either suppressed altogether
or are practically limited by the wishes of the government. An illustration of
this was afforded, and has been several times cited by the president in conversation,
in the house of commons when the Venezuelan case came up for discussion last
month. The debate went on a little time, and no objection was made. But as soon
as it reached a stage in which the public interests were threatened, or there was
danger that they would be, the representative of the prime minister on the floor
appealed to the house to remember the duty it owed to another branch of the
government, and the debate instantly came to an end.
Fearful Forebodings.
President
Cleveland mentioned this as a good example, for our congress to follow. Unfortunately
in our system the executive has no spokesman on the floor of either senate or house.
A member or senator may presume to speak for the president, and it may be well
understood he speaks by request, but his words do not carry the weight which
would be borne by the utterances of a minister or secretary. Such appeals have
been made to the senate, but they fell on deaf ears. Mr. Cleveland is satisfied
that if this tendency of congress to meddle with foreign affairs be allowed to
continue and develop it will unbalance our government and produce a state of affairs
which will threaten the nation with the direst perils. The president did not speak
with the tone of one who feels hurt because another branch of the government is
encroaching upon his prerogatives, but as one who was sincere in his belief
that the tendency constituted a menace to our system and to our peace.
This is a
very grave matter which the president has brought forward, and one not to be
dismissed without serious thought. There is, of course, another side to the
story, and I am able to present that after talks with members of the foreign
relations committee of the senate. These gentlemen admit the management of
foreign affairs is constitutionally in the hands of the president, but claim
this fact does not operate to shut out congress altogether. Ours is a
democratic government. Congress, more nearly than the president, represents the
people. Cannot congress express its opinion? Is it debarred from voicing what
it believes to be the popular will? Must it simply sit still, without making
the slightest effort to convey to the executive the nature of its wishes?
The Other Side.
Discussion
is inevitable, they say. This is the age of discussion, the age of publicity,
the age of free speech. Editors will write their opinions and reviewers theirs,
and the pulpiteers will thunder theirs, and all sorts of private citizens
theirs by means of interviews and signed articles in the press. Must congress
alone remain silent simply because the matter which is attracting universal
attention is a foreign and not a domestic affair?
Moreover,
they claim the danger from expressions of opinion is exaggerated. There is no harm in letting the temper of the people
be known. If on individual opinion chances to be extreme, too bellicose or too
cringing, it will be discounted at its true value. The art and skill of the
diplomat need not be nullified by free speech on the part of the people or
their representatives.—Walter Wellman.
BREVITIES.
—The
regular meeting of the Woman's Relief Corps will be held to-morrow afternoon at
3:30 o'clock.
—New
advertisements to-day are—Bingham Bros. &
Miller, spring styles page 7; Beaudry, bicycle repairing, page 5;
Warner Rood, "Tim the Tinker," page 5.
—On account
of the cycle show in Syracuse on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday of
this week, the D., L. & W. will sell round trip tickets from Cortland to
Syracuse to $1.50.
—The annual
meeting of the Woman's Auxiliary will be held, Thursday, March 19, at 3:30 P.
M. in the Y. M. C. A. parlor. The election of officers for the ensuing year
will take place and the reports for the past year will be presented.
—To-morrow
evening the long anticipated St. Patrick's day party of the McGraw Republican
club will be given in the opera house, McGrawville. Great preparations have
been made and is expected that it will be one of the events of the reason.
—High mass
will be celebrated at St. Mary's church at 9 o'clock A. M. to-morrow, St.
Patrick's day. In the evening at 7:30 a special musical program will be
rendered by the choir and it is expected that Rev, G. S. Mahon of Oxford will
lecture at this time.
—Miss Nellie
Stevens recently gave a sleighride party to her home to the clerks of Warren,
Tanner & Co.'s and a few other invited guests. After arriving a bountiful
supper was served, after which music and dancing was enjoyed. The party broke
up at a late hour, singing as they departed "Auld Lang Syne."
—A
complaint was lodged in police court this morning charging to young men in the
southwest part of the village with disorderly conduct. They were brought before
Police Justice Mellon, who administered a severe reprimand and discharged them
with a warning of what they would receive on a second complaint.
—The
funeral of Miss Margaret Conners, who died at the home of her sister, Mrs. John
Lynch on Clinton-ave., after an illness of four months, was held at St. Mary's
church this morning at 9:30 o'clock. The Young Ladies' Sodality, of which the
deceased was a faithful member, attended in a body. Interment St. Mary's
cemetery.
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| Cortland Opera House. |
"Tim the Tinker"
Coming.
Among the
most beautiful and picturesque of Irish plays that has been accorded a hearty
welcome among lovers of Celtic dialect and historical surroundings may be
mentioned "Tim the Tinker," written expressly for the clever young
Irish dialect comedian, John E. Brennan, who will appear at the Opera House
next Wednesday evening, March 13. Mr. Brennan could have no better schooling
than the several seasons spent in the supporting company of W. J. Scanlan.
The scenes
in "Tim the Tinker," are laid about Blarney Castle, Lakes of
Killarhey and Battery park, New York. Mr. Brennan's company numbers twelve
people familiar in the past support of J. K. Emmett, Chauncey Olcott and such
artists. All music, songs and medleys heard in "Tim the Tinker," were
written expressly for Mr. Brennan and prominent among these may be mentioned
"Who'll Buy my Tins?" "Mamie Carey," "Fairies' Looking
Glass," "Making Tin Caps," (lullaby) "Don't you Cry,
Baby," "True Irish Grit," and his great Irish ballad, "Down
the Green Lane She is Coming."
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