214 



CONGRESS. (THE ARMENIAN QUESTION.) 



subjects since he has acknowledged their right of 

 supervision, and he for them and they for him have 

 given solemn assurance to the Christian world that 

 liberty of conscience and freedom of worship shall 

 exist in every part of the Turkish Empire, that the 

 Armenian Christians shall be protected against 

 Kurds and Circassians, and that the local adminis- 

 tration of the Porte in the provinces inhabited by 

 the Armenians shall be thoroughly reformed, we 

 have the right to summon them into the high court 

 of national honor and good faith and ask why these 

 pledges have not been performed, and upon what 

 excuse they stand idly and shamefacedly by while 

 10.000 Christian homes are being plundered and dev- 

 astated, and while men are murdered, women dis- 

 honored, and children sold into unthinkable slavery, 

 and all because they will not cry out that Moham- 

 med is the prophet of God. 



"I dare say, Mr. Speaker, that the resolutions 

 which have been read are probably inadequate to 

 accomplish what needs to be accomplished upon 

 the conscience, and perhaps upon the fears, of the 

 rulers of the Turkish Empire ; but if they shall 

 succeed in showing that the American people are 

 watching occurrences in, Armenia, and watching 

 them with solicitude and regret, it is possible that 

 the protest and the warning they contain may not 

 pass wholly unheeded." 



Mr. McCreary, of Kentucky, said : 



" The members of the Committee on Foreign Af- 

 fairs of this House have endeavored this session and 

 last session to do all in their power as regards Ar- 

 menia. During the last Congress we received infor- 

 mation of these robberies and murders in Armenia. 

 Hoping and believing that we might accomplish 

 something, we authorized the appointment by the 

 President of the United States of a consul at Erze- 

 rum and a consul at Harpoot, in the Turkish prov- 

 inces where the greatest atrocities had been commit- 

 ted. These consuls were appointed by the President, 

 but they were at first denied their exequaturs. After 

 months of delay I believe they have at last reached 

 their posts of duty. At this session of Congress, to 

 still further aid them, we authorized in the diplo- 

 matic and consular appropriation bill the appoint- 

 ment of interpreters for those consuls. 



" I wish to say further, Mr. Speaker, that the very 

 fact that exequaturs were denied to our consuls 

 when duly appointed, accredited, and sent to Har- 

 poot and Erzerum is another important reason why 

 the Congress of the United States should take an 

 interest in this matter and do all that can properly 

 be done." 



Mr. Bailey, of Texas, said : 



" I have no doubt that it is obviously improper 

 for this Government to practically censure other 

 nations for violating a compact made among them- 

 selves, and with which the United States has no 

 connection. This resolution, if adopted, is an im- 

 pertinence, if not a downright insult, to the na- 

 tions making this treaty. It says in effect that the 

 great powers of Europe have entered into a combi- 

 nation and assumed an obligation which they have 

 so grossly disregarded that this Government feels 

 it incumbent upon it to call attention to their of- 

 fense. 



" I submit to the judgment of the House that this 

 is not different from the case where two parties 

 enter into a contract in which a third party who 

 has no interest should demand of them that they 

 enforce its stipulations. I believe that it is as gross 

 an affront to a nation to tell it that it has violated 

 its treaty as it would be to an individual to tell him 

 that he had disregarded the obligation of his con- 

 tract. I can see, no difference between them. 



" I had supposed that this Government had no 

 policy better settled than that it will not interfere 



with the affairs of a foreign nation and will not 

 suffer a foreign nation to interfere with its affairs. 

 I submit, in conclusion, to the judgment of the 

 House that while we are denying the right of for- 

 eign nations even to interfere in the affairs, not of 

 our country, but of this continent, we ought not to 

 attempt an interference with the affairs of other 

 nations. To do so must involve us in a departure 

 from our traditional policy, and for that reason I 

 believe the resolution ought to be amended so as 

 to eliminate all reference to the Treaty of Berlin." 



Mr. Turner, of Georgia, said : 



" Our wise forefathers committed our foreign re- 

 lations and our delicate diplomatic affairs to a con- 

 fidential channel, in which they are conducted by 

 the President and the Senate. They carefully en- 

 deavored to isolate these questions from the temp- 

 tations and emergencies of party politics, which too 

 often overmaster and dominate us all. 



"But it seems to me, sir, that this question pre- 

 sents itself : Is it wise, is it prudent, is it dignified 

 in the high forum of international ethics and comity 

 for us to intrude in this foreign quarrel and in this 

 manner f In addition to this constitutional policy 

 to which I have already adverted, we have also 

 established another great principle of American 

 policy, the converse of that which has been called 

 the Monroe doctrine. 



" Why, sir, looking further at this matter, let it 

 be remembered that these great powers undertook 

 by that famous treaty to effectuate a pacification of 

 the Eastern nations, which for ages have been en- 

 gaged in the terrific conflicts between the followers 

 of Christ and those of Mohammed, an international 

 and imperial undertaking which ought to add im- 

 perishable fame to Lord Beaconsfield and his illus- 

 trious associates in that mighty enterprise of piety, 

 peace, and humanity ; and we ought not to forget 

 that the gravest complications growing out of re- 

 cent wars and their bitter results, jealousies as to 

 the balance of power, and mutual fears in the face 

 of the insatiable militarism which holds Europe in 

 its grasp, embarrass the orderly execution of the 

 compact made at Berlin. The great armies and 

 armaments of Russia, the mighty military estab- 

 lishments of Germany and France, of Austria and 

 England, with the consequent lust of power and 

 dominion, what would they do with Turkey if they 

 were to undertake to subdue that country. They 

 seem, in fact, to be fully occupied just now in 

 watching each other. A spark in the present tem- 

 per of Europe might kindle a flame which would . 

 appall mankind ! 



" Do we regard ourselves as wiser and better than 

 the statesmen who are keeping the peace in Europe? 



" Will not our interposition under those most ex- 

 traordinary circumstances be regarded as a rash 

 and unjustifiable intrusion f 



" The last of these resolutions declares to the 

 world and the Turkish Government that whatever 

 the President may do, whatever step he may take 

 for the protection of American citizens in Armenia 

 shall meet with our sanction and our support. How 

 far, Mr. Speaker, does that resolution fall short of 

 a declaration of war ? He might send the Ameri- 

 can navy to bombard the whole Turkish coast, to 

 lay Constantinople in ruins, an^ level it with the 

 waters of the sea. I have no doubt of the wisdom 

 and conservatism of the honorable gentleman who 

 occupies that high position ; but I would not, under 

 the conditions which now exist, charge him with 

 such a menace." 



Mr. Hepburn, of Iowa, said : 



" Mr. Speaker, the recital of outrage and wrong 

 that has just been made to this House by the 

 gentleman from New York and the gentleman from 

 Kentucky is one that seldom falls upon human ears. 



