TREATY 



5869 



TREBIZOND 



the performance of treaty obligations. The 

 ancient Egyptians, the Hebrews, the Greeks 

 and Romans followed this custom, which has 

 been abandoned in modern times. The last ex- 

 ample of this practice occurred in 1748, when 

 two British peers we're sent to France as hos- 

 tages to insure the return of Cape Breton Island 

 (Nova Scotia) to France. The hostage was 

 practically a prisoner of war; if the treaty was 

 not carried out he was punished, even to death. 

 Since the eighteenth century the fulfillment of 

 a treaty rests on the good faith of the nations 

 who are a party to it, although it must be ad- 

 mitted that a powerful army or navy has some- 

 times been a threat to secure treaty rights. A 

 nation injured by the failure of another nation 

 to carry out a treaty has to this time had no 

 recourse except in war. When, in 1914, the War 

 of the Nations engulfed Europe, there was 

 much discussion in official circles to the effect 

 that a treaty is only "a scrap of paper." If 

 such a thought dominates those who control 

 the destinies of nations, and other powers re- 

 main quiet when treaty rights are violated, 

 then a treaty is only binding in "political fair 

 weather," and all nations must be ready to fight 

 to uphold their rights. The world is moving 

 towards a condition which will demand that all 

 strong nations unite to force respect for treaty 

 obligations by establishing international courts. 



Termination. A treaty may be terminated in 

 various ways. It may be abrogated (literally 

 "called off") by mutual agreement, as was done, 

 for example, in the case of the Clayton-Bulwer 

 Treaty between the United States and Great 

 Britain ; or it may contain a clause giving either 

 party the right to cancel it after due notice. 

 If one of the parties disregards its provisions, 

 the other may denounce it and refuse to be 

 bound by it. If the conditions become phys- 

 ically impossible of fulfillment, the treaty is 

 void. If we suppose, for example, that the 

 straits of the Dardanelles by treaty are open to 

 the ships of all nations on equal terms, the 

 treaty is of no account if the Dardanelles be- 

 come unnavigable. In case of war most trea- 

 ties are merely suspended, or temporarily not 

 in effect, but commercial treaties are void and 

 must be renewed after the war. 



Ecclesiastical Treaties. These are not treaties 

 between ecclesiastical authorities, but treaties 

 entered into by sovereign states and bearing 

 upon the right of citizens or subjects of one 

 state to the exercises of their religion within 

 the boundaries of another. Among the Western 

 nations, where freedom of worship prevails, no 



difficulties exist; a man may practice his re- 

 ligion as freely in a foreign land as in his own. 

 But the question has arisen frequently in con- 

 nection with missionary enterprises indeed, 4 

 missionary work cannot be carried on success- 

 fully in any pagan country which refuses to 

 make ecclesiastical treaties. In China, in Japan 

 and in various other countries Christian mis- 

 sionaries are allowed to teach the principles of 

 Christianity, if they do so peaceably; in some 

 countries, on the other hand, foreign residents 

 are permitted to practice their religion unmo- 

 lested, but are forbidden to indulge in any 

 propaganda. W.F.Z. 



Consult Crandall's Treaties: Their Making and 

 Enforcement; Burnham's Struggles of the Na- 

 tions, or, The Principal Battles, Sieges and 

 Treaties of the World. 



TREB'IZOND, a seaport of the new Ar- 

 menia, on the southeastern shore of the Black 

 Sea, 570 miles east of Constantinople (see eco- 

 nomic map of Asia, following page 416). It 

 occupies the site of a Greek colony founded 

 seven centuries before Christ, and in 400 B. c., 

 when Xenophon's "ten thousand" reached the 

 Black Sea at this point, they found there a 

 flourishing city. Before the era of railroads 

 Trebizond was a prosperous center of the tran- 

 sit trade between Persia and Europe, and in 

 one period of its history it had a population of 

 150,000. Its commercial importance, however, 

 declined with the completion of a railway line 

 between the JBlack and the Caspian seas with 

 branches to the south, for its enormous caravan 

 trade was thereby diverted. 



During the War of the Nations it came into 

 prominence as an objective point of the allies. 

 'The fleets of the Russians bombarded it on 

 several occasions, and early in 1916 it was cap- 

 tured by Russia. In 1918 the city was returned 

 to the Turks, but was lost to them when peace 

 was signed. 



The city is beautifully situated on a rocky 

 table-land skirted by two valleys extending to 

 the sea. (The name Trebizond is derived from 

 the Greek word for table.} On the summit of 

 the plain an ancient castle rises, and the city 

 is still encircled by walls erected by the Byzan- 

 tine emperors. Trebizond is typically Oriental, 

 with numerous mosques and Greek churches, and 

 its dwelling houses are nearly all surrounded by 

 gardens. The population of 55,000 is made up 

 of Mohammedans and Greek and Armenian 

 Christians, the first group being considerably 

 the larger and occupying the space within the 

 walls. Without are the Christian quarters. 



