CHAPTER VIII

THE MASSACRES OF 1909

In April, 1909, there was an organized uprising of fanatical Moslems at Adana, Kessab, and other towns in eastern Turkey, in which more than 25,000 native Christians were massacred and four times as many lost all of their belongings by the burning of their homes. At Tarsus several hundred Armenian houses were destroyed, and at least four thousand refugees were protected from massacre in the grounds and buildings of the American College. At Antioch, forty miles south of Alexandretta, an Armenian population of 7,000 was nearly annihilated. Ruthless gangs of Kurds, Arabs, and Circassians attacked the small Armenian villages, pillaging and burning the houses, and carrying the women into captivity. Kessab, a thrifty Armenian town of 8,000 inhabitants, was entirely destroyed and a large portion of the population was put to death. The Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, the residences of the American missionaries, an American high school for girls and grammar school for boys were all destroyed. At Adana, Tarsus, and Mersina the atrocities were beyond description, and the survivors of the massacres were reduced to poverty and despair. All the Armenian villages throughout that section were looted and burned, and the crops of the people were destroyed so that 50,000 helpless, innocent peasants fled to the mountains, where only starvation remained for them. It is estimated that not less than 25,000 people were massacred and more than 100,000 were made homeless--the victims of a fiendish conspiracy for which Abdul Hamid, the former sultan of Turkey, was directly or indirectly responsible. Appeals for help and protection came down to the cities on the coast from scores of interior towns and villages, but the local officials as a rule, knowing the reason and recognizing the significance of the outbreak, dared not interfere, even had they desired to do so. The consuls of foreign governments cabled information as promptly as possible. American physicians and teachers organized relief forces, and Mr. Kennedy, an American missionary at Alexandretta, even persuaded a battalion of 450 Turkish soldiers to follow him to the relief of Deurtyul, an Armenian city of 10,000 inhabitants, which was besieged by a horde of Kurds and Circassians.

The officials of the American Red Cross at Washington, learning of these horrors through the newspapers, appealed to the Department of State for information and got reports from all our consuls in this part of the world. The Honourable G. Bie Ravndal, American consul-general at Beirut, E. G. Freyer of the Presbyterian mission, and George E. Post of the Syrian Protestant College had already organized a relief committee which was promptly equipped with the authority as well as the supplies of the American Cross.

The sum of $30,500 was sent immediately through the secretary of state and the American ambassador at Constantinople and was liberally expended in feeding the hungry, nursing the wounded, and providing for the orphan children of the families that had been put to death. Temporary hospitals for the sick and wounded and barracks and tents for the homeless were erected, provisions and clothing of all kinds were supplied, and as soon as the actual suffering was relieved, seeds and implements were provided for the farmers so that they might be able to replant the crops that had been destroyed.

Mr. Ravndal, who had charge of the disbursements, says in his report: “In every instance we availed ourselves of the services of American, British, and German missionaries in the field, individually known and fully trusted by your committee, as distributing agents. Most of them ‘went through’ the massacre of 1895, and thus acquired experience in relief work. Among such field agents we would especially mention Rev. Mr. Chambers at Adana, Rev. Mr. Dodds at Mersina, Rev. Mr. Kennedy at Alexandretta, Dr. Balph at Latakia, Rev. Mr. Maccullum at Marsh, and Rev. Mr. Trowbridge at large, as having rendered valuable assistance.”

Several heroes were developed and in every case the American missionaries, both men and women, showed coolness and capability, courage and influence, and demonstrated the respect and confidence with which they are regarded by the public. Nesbit Chambers, representative of the Y. M. C. A. at Adana, and Major C. H. M. Doughty-Wylie, British consul at Mersina, and Mrs. Doughty-Wylie distinguished themselves especially by their personal bravery, their presence of mind during the massacres, and their devotion and self-sacrifice in relief work.

It is not the intention of the United States to claim indemnity for the murder of Rev. D. Miner Rogers and Rev. Mr. Maurer, Christian missionaries at Adana, Turkey, during the massacres of April, 1909, nor for the destruction of the schools, churches, and other property belonging to the American missions. In the first place, the missionaries do not ask for damages. They do not wish to convert the death of two martyrs into money, but want to convert it into greater security for their lives and their property in the future, and into the advancement of the cause they represent. If the Turkish government will give them greater freedom and broader privileges in their educational, medical, and evangelical work, they will consider that Mr. Rogers and Mr. Maurer did not die in vain.

Some of the privileges desired have already been granted. Mr. Straus secured for them firmins which give every American school and mission in Turkey rights and privileges that are not enjoyed even by Turkish institutions, and the title to every one of the 161 different property holdings of the American Board of Foreign Missions can now rest in that organization instead of in the name of some individual, which was formerly necessary because the Turkish government would not recognize its corporate existence.

The government of the United States does not wish to claim indemnity for the loss of American lives and property during the massacre, because the present government was in no sense responsible. On the contrary, the massacres were a part of an unsuccessful conspiracy to overthrow it, and to punish the present administration for the hostile acts of its enemies would not only be unjust, but would weaken its standing with the people. The Turkish government needs and deserves the support of the foreign powers, and has all the trouble it can attend to at present.

There is no longer any doubt that Abdul Hamid, the late sultan, planned and ordered a general massacre of Christians in Constantinople and other parts of the empire for Friday, the 14th of April, in order to force the European Powers to seize and occupy the city. In that way he hoped to save his throne. This has been repeatedly admitted by those who were in his confidence at the time. It was the last struggle of despair, but Shevket Pasha, the commander of the troops that were loyal to the young Turks, received notice and pushed on so that he was able to attack Constantinople on the day previous, and thus prevent the sacrifice of Christian lives and property at the Turkish capital, similar to that which took place at Adana, Marash, Tarsus, Aintab, and other places in central Turkey.

In every instance an officer of the sultan’s body-guard appeared at the places where the massacres took place several days previous, bringing instructions to the officials and the police, and several local officials have since confessed that they were simply carrying out orders received from Constantinople, and therefore are not responsible for anything that happened. In certain places Moslem priests appeared and preached in the mosques, calling upon the people to make a holy war and kill all the Christians, beginning on the following day.

The mutiny of the regular army in Constantinople on the 13th of April, 1909, was a part of the conspiracy, and on the 14th, after the regular salamlik, or worship of the sultan at his mosque, they were expecting the signal to be given for a general slaughter of Armenians, Greeks, and other Christians, as well as Europeans, similar to that which occurred years ago.

It is now an open secret that Tchelebi Effendi, the superior of the whirling dervishes, and one of the most highly respected of the Moslem clergy, is the man who sent the warning to Shevket Pasha and the other young Turk leaders. I understand that he does not deny but claims the credit of averting the proposed horrors.

The simultaneous outbreak in Constantinople and in various other parts of the empire is something more than a coincidence. That was the universal conclusion at the time, and now that Abdul Hamid is no longer able to punish those who interested themselves to save the lives of the Christians and the good name of Turkey, some of those who knew of his intentions are willing to tell the truth.

The destruction of lives and property in the interior of Asia Minor was appalling, but very little damage was done in Constantinople, because the timely appearance of the Young Turk army from Macedonia prevented the plan from being carried out.

For the first time in the history of Turkey there are Christian soldiers, Greeks, and Armenians in the regular army. Hitherto none but Mohammedans have been considered worthy to wear the uniform, and Christian young men, instead of serving three or five years in the ranks, were compelled to commute their service in cash, for an exemption they did not desire. The same applied to the Jews, who are also found in the ranks for the first time. In Austria, which, as you know, is a Christian country, Mohammedan soldiers from Bosnia and other provinces are organized in separate companies, have their own barracks, officers of their own faith, and cooks who are accustomed to preparing Mohammedan food. They are regularly excused from duty on Friday, the Moslem Sabbath, and have mullahs for chaplains.

The Christian soldiers in the Turkish army are allowed to live apart from the Mohammedans; they are relieved from duty on Sunday, and are given leave to attend service in the Christian church. The Armenian and Greek patriarchs and the Jewish rabbis agree that they have no reason to find fault with the treatment of their co-religionists in the army, except that there are no Christian officers. This is due to the fact that there has been no time to educate them and the government has given assurances that whenever it is possible to find the men, it will commission Christian officers in proportion to the number of privates, and provide Christian chaplains. It is not considered desirable to organize exclusively Christian regiments, and thus far the Mohammedan troops have made no complaint about having Christians quartered with them.

The greatest trouble in the army has been the retirement and dismissal of useless officers. Under the old régime, a cook or a hostler could secure a commission and rapid promotion if he made charges against one of his superiors, or any person who was offensive to the government, and promotion was often earned that way. Abdul Hamid was very generous in rewarding treachery and the cheapest method was by giving military rank. There were thirty-five marshals in the Turkish army when he abdicated, 250 full generals, 600 major-generals and enough brigadier-generals to make a brigade.

All restrictions against the Jewish population of the Ottoman Empire have been removed. Jews can come and go as they please, without permission and without passports, and the Haham Bashi, the recognized spiritual head of the Jews in Turkey, has been promised that the government will confer full citizenship upon the Jewish population. It is also disposed to encourage Jewish immigration, which has been theoretically prohibited until now. It is understood that a movement is on foot to divert the movement of Russian Jews from the United States into Turkey. Turkey has always been more favourable to Jewish colonization than any other country in the East, and an enormous area of territory in Asia Minor and Mesopotamia which was formerly densely inhabited, will one day be capable of colonization by the construction of an irrigation system.

There should be no surprise at the attitude of the Mohammedans toward Christian soldiers, however, because the Sheikh-ul-Islam, who is the head of that church, occupies a seat in the cabinet of the new government with Jews and Christians, and has an active part in the work of reform. Shortly after the adoption of the constitution, he issued a circular and caused it to be published throughout the Mohammedan world, asserting the right of members of that faith to associate with persons of other faiths in conducting the affairs of the government. He declared that nothing in the Koran conflicted with constitutional government and that there was no reason why believers in other creeds should not be recognized as having equal rights. He argued that the object of all governments being the welfare and prosperity of the people, it is clear that the claims of all should be considered as of equal strength and that the supreme authority should lie in the people instead of in the king. In ancient times the king was the ruler, the people were the servants, and everything was ordered to suit the king’s pleasure. But the Koran does not justify any such system. The king is not the ruler, but the servant of the people, and his highest duty is to find out the wishes of the people and to obey them.

In the same circular he explained that the Mohammedan population of Turkey was labouring under several delusions because they do not understand the Koran, which is written in Arabic, and has never been translated into Turkish. He promised that a translation should be made at once, because, if the people of Turkey cannot read the Koran, they will naturally be ignorant concerning the sacred law, and are likely to fall into mistakes because of a lack of knowledge of the truth. The Arab language is no more sacred than the Turkish language, and the only reason why the Koran was written in Arabic is that Mohammed was the son of an Arab, and knew that language better than any other. Inspiration is not a question of language.

Throughout the interior of the country there has been no trouble between members of the different religious faiths; there have been no persecutions, no complaints of ill treatment from Christians on the part of the Mohammedans, and even the Kurds, who are a barbarous, brutal horde, living on the borders of Armenia, have made no raids and committed no robberies, but are showing the most friendly disposition toward their Christian neighbours.

This is the first time for generations that the different religious denominations in Turkey have been in such a friendly mood toward each other.

One would not be apt to look for co-educational institutions in Turkey, but a very prosperous one is Euphrates College at Harpoot in Armenia, on the banks of the great river for which is was named. It is one of the largest and most influential of all the American colleges in Turkey, and was founded in 1876 by Dr. Crosby H. Wheeler, a human dynamo from the state of Maine. The first class graduated from the men’s department in 1880 and from the women’s department in 1883, and a good class has been turned out annually ever since. In looking up the record of the graduates I find that the largest number of both sexes are teachers. Nearly all the unmarried alumnæ are at the head of schools and the married ones are the wives of teachers, ministers and college professors. Of the men graduates the second largest number are in business, the third are ministers, the fourth doctors, and the rest are scattered among the different professions, government officials, druggists, lawyers, farmers, and so on.

The latest catalogue for 1910 shows 1,045 students in the various departments--540 men and boys and 505 women and girls--and the financial report shows that last year the institution came within $2,800 of being self-supporting. Its success is the more remarkable from the fact that it is co-educational in the face of traditions and the prejudice of ages.

Dr. Wheeler was a man of tremendous energy and strength of character, and he left his impress upon the institution, but it has had other important men connected with it since his time. Dr. Caleb F. Gates of Chicago, now at the head of Robert College, was president of Euphrates from 1898 to 1903. Dr. Henry Biggs has since directed its destinies with great ability.

Harpoot is the capital of one of the largest and most important interior provinces of the Turkish empire, called Mamuretta-ul-Aziz. It is a city of some 20,000 inhabitants, situated on the top of a small mountain which rises abruptly from the plain a thousand feet below. The plain stretches away to the Euphrates River and is one of the most fertile and densely populated sections of Turkey. The residence of the governor is at the end of the mountain in a city called Mezereh, which in the last ten years has increased rapidly in population, while Harpoot has been practically at a standstill. There are other large cities like Malatea, two days to the west on the Euphrates River, Diarbekir, two days to the northwest, and Egin, still farther north, within the province.

It was inevitable that this centre of wealth and population should have been chosen by the American Board fifty years and more ago as a centre from which to carry on mission work for that district. The people were found to be unusually intelligent and enterprising. They responded quickly to Western ideas which the missionaries brought into the country. It was from that province that the first emigrants to America came in large numbers, and to-day there are probably more Armenians and Turks in the United States from Mamuretta-ul-Aziz than from any other single province in the empire, notwithstanding the fact that from Harpoot to the Black Sea is a journey of from four to five hundred miles, and it is nearly the same distance to the Mediterranean on the southwest.

The people responded promptly to the suggestion of modern education. This natural impulse was greatly fostered by the young men who came to the United States and reported the great value of an education in English. It was but natural for the schools, started at the very beginning of the missionary enterprise, to pass through a stage of rapid development until a college resulted, which was at first called “Armenia College,” because Harpoot is really in the heart of ancient Armenia, and also because the students were mostly Armenians. When the Turkish government became suspicious of everything Armenian, it was necessary to change the name of the college and accordingly it has since been called “Euphrates College.”

Unlike other American colleges in the Turkish Empire, it has been co-educational from the first, in that it has departments for both women and men. They are under the same administration, although, of course, it is impossible for the two sexes to mingle in the same school rooms and only in a few cases in later years have they been able to recite together. From the first, however, teachers in the boys’ department have also had classes in the girls’ department, and the institution has been under a single president. The girls’ department has had a separate head, holding the title of dean.

From the beginning the college has been overcrowded with students. The Armenians, instinctively eager for advancement, with unusually alert minds, saw at once the commercial value of modern education for their sons. At the same time, not a few of them realized the value of education for their daughters. We cannot be sure what advantages were uppermost in their thoughts in discussing this matter among themselves, but perhaps a statement made by a widowed mother who, at great sacrifice, put her daughter into the school, may show one side of the question. “I am perfectly willing to make the sacrifice,” she said, “because I know in the end I shall get the money all back, and more. If my daughter marries, with her present ignorance, she will have to marry a farmer or a common labourer. If, however, I can give her a full college education, she will marry a preacher or a teacher or some other professional man who will have a much larger income and hold a position of greater honour.”

As a result of the general sentiment in favour of the education of women which prevails in the entire province, the girls’ college has been prosperous from the beginning. A large proportion of the expenses were met by the parents, they were so eager to have their girls educated. The latest catalogue shows 74 girls in the college, 60 in the high school and 247 in the lower departments, making 381 in all. Some of the graduates who have had post-graduate courses in other institutions are employed as teachers. As a result of its influence and the desire of the people for a more liberal education for their daughters, flourishing girls’ schools have sprung up in various parts of the province, some of them reaching the high school grade. These are, for the most part, supported by the people themselves, but the teachers are provided from the American College.

The boys’ college has followed practically the same course as other American colleges in the Turkish Empire, except that the number of students has been unusually large and almost wholly from the Armenian race. There have been a few Syrian students, and some other races are represented, but a great majority are Armenians.

The total number of students in the institution has sometimes passed one thousand, and the average attendance in the college department alone has usually stood at about two hundred. A majority of the one thousand have been in grades below the high school, but all under the general administration of the college. Seven years ago 34 per cent. of the students in the college came from within a radius of fifteen miles, immediately adjacent to Harpoot. But since then 56 per cent. have come from outside that radius. In the meantime the increased interest in education has caused other important schools to grow up in the vicinity, which have relieved the local pressure upon the college, allowing it to take more students from abroad.

The college is recognized as a strong force in that part of Turkey. It is the only institution of its grade for a population of three or four millions of people. Eastward to Persia, southward into Mesopotamia and northward to the Black Sea, it has the entire field to itself for the higher education of both men and women. It is the model upon which government institutions are now being established, and the faculty are often called upon to aid the officials in organizing and conducting them. It has had close relations with the government for at least twenty years, being recognized officially as an American college, with a charter from the Imperial Turkish government, and its commanding position at the head of the educational work of all that part of Turkey is acknowledged by all classes.

Immediately following the massacres of 1895, the college, which then had practically its entire plant burned out, took a prominent part in looking after the thousands of orphans that were left in the district. It was a leading force for some years in relief work; thousands of dollars of relief funds passed through the hands of its treasurer and were distributed under the direction of the then president, Caleb F. Gates, D.D., LL.D., now president of Robert College at Constantinople. The industrial enterprises started then to give employment to the destitute have been maintained, including weaving, lacemaking, tailoring, and other trades which are taught to the students, and through which they are able to earn at least a part of their tuition.

The teaching force of the college numbers forty-five, including six Americans, all the rest being natives with the exception of one Swiss teacher. Two of the native teachers have taken graduate courses in Europe, one is now taking a post-graduate course in America; three or four who were formerly teachers in the college are now studying in America at their own expense, with the expectation of returning later to resume their work.

In connection with the college there has been for fifty years a theological seminary for training young men for the Christian ministry. It was at first a part of the college itself, but when the college was put under an independent board of trustees in America, it was separated from the rest of the institution, and has remained a part of the mission plant.

In the early days the college had a printing establishment and published a monthly paper in English which circulated among the English-speaking people of the country, especially among the friends of the college in America. When the Turkish government became suspicious and the censors began their work of suppression, this printing press was stopped and the government seal was put on it to prevent its being used in the future. The college was even fined fifty dollars for having run a press without official sanction. For twenty-five years the press was silent, but as soon as the constitution was proclaimed, one of the fundamental principles of which is a free press, the college printing office at Harpoot was again started and has met with no government interference up to the present time. New furniture has been secured and the work goes on satisfactorily. Before the press was stopped, a large number of text-books for the use of the college and lower schools had been published. Fearing that the work might be interfered with, the Rev. Crosby H. Wheeler, D.D., founder and at that time president of the college, ran the press to its full capacity up to the very moment the police appeared. In this way a supply of text-books was produced which stood the educational work well in hand during the period of silence.

One cannot speak of this large station of the American Board without referring to the medical work. Dr. West, the first medical missionary at Sivas, had for one of his students and assistants a bright young Armenian who later took up practice himself at Harpoot. Because of his thorough training he was able to supply in large measure the medical needs at that city. For years he attended the missionaries and their children. Later there was a loud call for an American physician, so that ten years ago it was decided to begin medical work. A commodious hospital was erected at the foot of the hill on the plain below Harpoot, which was formally opened only in the fall of 1910, with the governor and higher officials present, all speaking in high terms of approbation of the missionary doctors and their benefits to that country.

As a branch of this station, medical work has been established in Diarbekir, nearly one hundred miles to the south, with funds left in a legacy by an Armenian formerly connected with the mission school in that place and afterward a prosperous merchant in the United States. He was so much interested in missionary work, especially in his native city, that he gave $10,000 for the construction of a hospital and $20,000 as an endowment for its continuous support.

Hospitals and dispensaries in Turkey are far more nearly self-supporting than similar institutions in Europe and America. The people are always ready to pay for medical attendance and for medicines. Some of the mission hospitals are wholly self-supporting; many are partly so. Men of wealth who have received substantial help from Christian hospitals often give liberally for the up-keep of those institutions in order that those who cannot pay for what they receive may be treated free.

In Harpoot are two large Protestant churches, with smaller churches in all of the centres of population, and in the villages of the field. Protestant principles have become widely disseminated and the relations between Christians and Mohammedans are cordial and friendly. Conditions are very different now from what they were a few years ago in this respect.