x u ^ &, ^ ^ °^ '■:• A ■■'■■' .••, *> % W .,: A W.' ./ " A* <£>■ ,« v O & 0' V • -a.: v O * « > i V, * . . « ° .V ter. ** ** ; ic -K >■■:-■ <**. ,0' V ^ ife'Ci*? •% V V ^° ^ *W%>* **-? -p Vi ° ■< '< * * ' 7 * -v *b V^ ^ o -?*_ -K ' .-,'- .0* . ,v ^ ^ V \> & r oV V 'iff ^ ^ ** ^ ,** . °° \^ : America as Mandatary xor Armenia Articles and Opinions by — JAMES W. GERARD FREDERIC COURTLAND PENFIELD JOHN SHARP WILLIAMS CHARLES W. ELIOT BENJAMIN IDE WHEELER CHARLES STEWART DAVISON ALBERT BUSHNELL HART WILLIAM WALKER ROCKWELL EDWARD C. LITTLE THE NEW YORK TIMES THE NEW REPUBLIC VAHAN CARDASHIAN WHY AMERICA SHOULD ACCEPT MANDATE FOR ARMENIA? By James W. Gerard Ex-Ambassador to Germany * * * (Reprinted from The New York Times, July 6, 1919.) The acceptance by the United States of America of the proposed Armenian mandate is not a humanitarian duty only. It is the duty of America to help Armenia to organize her government on a permanent basis because it is one of our fundamental political ideals that we should contribute, whatever we reasonably can, toward the emancipation from oppression and tyranny of struggling and deserving com- munities, provided, of course, we can do so without endanger- ing our own safety, and without interfering with the fixed and recognized rights and duties of other nations. The view still held by a few persons that we can and should cling to the outworn policy of "isolation"* or "non- entanglement in foreign affairs" has been conclusively dis- credited by the war that has just ended. The outstanding fact which we must now recognize, whether we like it or not, is that our will to remain "isolated" or "disentangled" is equally dependent upon the will of other nations. It is an obvious fact that common prudence dictates the necessity of relying upon ourselves — upon our own physical force — for our safety and for the protection of our institutions. But, far-seeing statesmanship and our recent international expe- riences tell us in certain terms that, it is by insuring in so far as practicable, the safety of the rightful possessions and institutions of other nations and peoples, which share our political and social ideas and ideals that we can best serve ourselves. We must, to be sure, rely upon our fighting men and upon our great navy for the defense of our frontiers and of our rights, but we must not fail to encourage, within the limits of reason and international law, of course, the growth and security of institutions like our own, which relatively serve to strengthen and insure our own. 3 It has been stated with apparent sincerity that we should keep out of foreign commitments, such as accepting a mandate, or pledging ourselves to the maintenance of the integrity of the territories of other nations against aggres- sion from without. Reason and experience alike suggest the contrary course. The majority of the great wars of his- tory, like the one that has just drawn to a close, have sprung from small nations and small issues. If we were to decline to take the Armenian mandate, another nation must take it, and that nation will be likely to attempt to exploit it. With- out a contended Armenia, the peace of the Near East will be disturbed, and consequently the peace of the world. We must be interested in Armenia, in the Balkans and in the boundaries of the great nations, because we now know that we cannot quietly enjoy peace on this side of the Atlantic, if there is war beyond it. It has been also said that we must not commit our- selves in advance to make war on the side of a certain nation, without knowing the merit of the case. Under no law, divine or human, can we be forced to make war in de- fense of a bad cause. The League of Nations covenant provides that the members of the League shall not be obliged to make war on a nation alleged to have committed an offense, unless the decree of the Council is unanimous. It simply means that the American representative in the Council, who must take his orders from the Congress of the United States, which has the power to declare war, shall not cast a vote in favor of making war, unless he is so directed by our Government. What we are asked to do, which we ought to do, is that, we must not wait until the outbreak of war to make up our minds as to which side we shall take, but we must in advance reserve to ourselves the right to so adjust things as to reduce to a minimum the causes of war, which right imposes on us, of course, a co- extensive duty. Experience has shown that international conventions and courts of arbitration, excellent and neces- sary instruments and institutions as they are, cannot deter an ambitious and greedy nation from armed aggression,, unless it be opposed by an organized superior force. A superior force cannot be organized exactly at the time when it is needed. It must be ready for use whenever needed. What is now being attempted is, of course, a great experi- 4 r>. of D. OCT 6 1919 ment, since all other experiments have failed. It is our duty to test the efficacy of this new experiment which, no doubt, needs improvement, and shall be improved upon as trial and experience suggest. The following facts and reasons establish, in my opinion, a clear case in favor of our accepting the Armenian mandate : 1. It is the duty of Christian America to respond to the call of Christian Armenia — the world's first Christian nation. 2. Among the sixteen or more nations, that are to be made into statehood, none has suffered as much as Armenia and none has contributed more to the success of our cause than Armenia. On these grounds alone, she deserves our prior sympathy and support. 3. If it was necessary for us to pledge all our resources for the overthrow of an autocratic militarism which threatened the life of free institutions, it is now a sacred and imperative duty to make our contribution toward in- suring the permanence of the fruit of our sacrifices so that we may not have to go again through similar experiences. 4. The system of mandatorial administration is a great step forward in the new order of things which is intended to discourage exploitation of the weak by the strong, and thus remove one of the chief causes of war among nations. And America, having taken the lead in advocacy of the adoption by the great nations of this historic charter for human liberty and happiness, cannot, with honor to itself, decline to have a share in the care of its own child. 5. The Armenian, an Alpine Aryan like the Swiss, North Italian", and most Greeks, since his emigration to Asia Minor over three thousand years ago, has been a stumbling block in the way of Asiatic invaders toward the west and has kept aflame in the Near East the light of western civili- zation and Christianity amidst hardships that would have ground to the dust a weaker nation. We cannot now decline to extend a helping hand to a nation which has done so much for our faith and our civilization. 6. The Armenians have made considerable contribution to the winning of the war, which entitles them to the right to claim our aid in the organization of the framework of their government. In the beginning of the war, the Armenians turned a deaf ear to the Turkish offer for autonomy in consideration of the united support of the Turco-Germans, which support would have helped the Turks to overwhelm the Russian-Caucasus front and enabled them to reach Middle Asia, and which at the same time would have forced Russia to bring divisions from the Austro-Ger- man front to the Caucasus. And again in 1917, when Ger- many, balked on the Western front, and encouraged with the defection of Russia, turned her attention to the east, the Armenians improvised a force of 50,000 men, took over the Caucasus front which was over 250 miles long, and deserted by the Russians, betrayed by the Georgians, harassed by Tartars and Kurds, and without any help from any outside force, fought the Turkish Army for seven months, and thus frustrated the Turco-German scheme. They did these things relying upon our good faith and upon our pledges. Can we now break faith with them ? It is useless for us to wish them to have independence, unless we are willing to make it possible for them to insure that independence. 7. The view held by certain Americans that, if it is our duty to help Armenia, we should not be directed by a group of nations, such as a League of Nations, to perform that duty has great merit. But we cannot, under the new scheme of things, extend the required help except under a mandate. Moreover, by an unselfish performance of our duty in Armenia and our withdrawal at the end of the fixed period, we shall set an example to other mandataries, and thus make the mandatorial duty "a sacred trust of civilization" which will lend force and sanction to the sanctity of the covenant of the League of Nations. 8. The Armenian mandate is for a brief period only; and we can, if we choose, limit our responsibility. 9. It does not impose upon us the task of teaching self- government or of ruling the Armenians, but helping them and co-operating with them, in an advisory capacity, during the formative period of their State. 10. It is the safest and most attractive responsibility in the list of mandates, and one that promises in its effect a larger good to the world than any other mandate. 11. It is a safer responsibility than even Poland or Czecho-Slovakia would be. There will be no one nation along the boundaries of Armenia strong enough to disturb seriously the peace of the Armenian State. 12. The view held by certain interests that unless we accept a mandate also for Anatolia the Turks would be likely to harass the Armenians, and thus make our task heavy, is a prejudiced one. A similar argument could have been urged in 1878 against the creation of an autonomous Bulgaria. There are two facts in this connection that must not be forgotten: (1) The Peace Conference will no doubt reduce the military institution of the Turk within limits re- quired for home defense, as it has done in the case of Ger- many and Austria; (2) The Turks will not be able to put in the field a larger army than can the Armenians. Experience has shown during the last war, as it has always in the past, that an armed Armenian can well take care of two armed Turks. We need have no worry about the ability of the Armenians taking care of themselves, once they are organ- ized. Moreover, should Armenia be attacked from without, it becomes the # duty of the League of Nations to take joint defensive steps, as it would in the event of any other mem- ber of the League, small or big, being attacked under similar circumstances. 13. It does not involve us in any international dif- ficulty, since we would be going there in response to an in- vitation from the Great Nations and Armenia. 14. It does not impose upon us any military burden, because following the completion of the occupation of the country and the disarmament of the armed bands and indi- viduals, the Armenians can easily create a force of 75,000 men for home defense. The Delegation of Integral Armenia has already informed the Peace Conference that the Armen- ians have in Caucasus Armenia at least 75,000 men who have seen service in the Russian Army, and who would form the nucleus of the proposed Armenian force, provided we supply them with necessary equipment. The Armenian Re- 7 public in the Caucasus, which has been now functioning for over a year, has a force of over 30,000 men. The opinion advanced by certain Americans who, for reasons of their own, would like to see America take a joint mandate for Armenia and Anatolia, on the grounds that the Armenians are scattered and that they constitute the minority in Turkish Armenia, has no practical merit. In 1914 the Armenians in Turkish Armenia numbered 1,403,000, the Turks 943,000 and the Kurds 482,000. That is, the Arme- nians constituted the plurality of the population. Possibly one-half of the Armenian poulation of Turkish Armenia has been destroyed by the Turks. According to Turkish testi- mony, more than one-half of the Moslem population of Turkish Armenia has likewise perished from privation, pestilence, etc. The Armenians in proposed Armenia will constitute over sixty-five per cent, of the population, be- cause the proposed Armenia shall include Caucasus Armenia, where there is an Armenian population of about a million and a half, and also over one million Armenians who live in other parts of Turkey and the contiguous regions of Russian Armenia and elsewhere. Also with the establishment of an independent Armenia, the majority of the Turks would be likely to move into Turkey, as they have done when Bul- garia, Serbia and Greece were severed from Turkey. When we remember the fact that, in 1914, the Turks constituted only twenty-five per cent, of the population of Turkey, then we will see that the Armenians are in an infinitely better position in point of numbers than the Turks have ever been. 15. We may have to land on the Black Sea and Medi- terranean shores of Armenia a few thousand marines as a notice on the population that America has assumed the task of organizing the Armenian Government, which will have an incredibly great steadying effect upon the population. Our principal task will consist in aiding the Armenians materially, which shall be done by way of loans. Armenia can be made a self-supporting nation within five years. In proportion to its size — and it is the most extensive among all the newly created States, except Arabia, which is largely a desert country — Armenia is the richest country in the world in natural resources. It has a healthful and vigorous climate and excellent soil for all agricultural purposes. 16. We are the only disinterested nation that the Powers and Armenia implicitly trust, and one that can make the independence of Armenia a reality. Armenia is the great highway that links Europe with Asia and has a commanding position on the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Without a stable government in Armenia, there can be no peace in the Near East and once the Near East is in turmoil, it will inevitably involve us in international difficulites. 17. Germany started the war of world conquest with the immediate purpose of securing the domination of Turkey, and particularly the Armenian part of it, since it is the most desirable portion of the former Turkish Empire. Armenians are the only people capable of self-government and of representing us in that land. Without them Ger- many will naturally be tempted to make a new bargain with the Turks for another adventure in the east. 18. The principal reason that induced the Turks to at- tempt to get rid of the Armenians was that they were a barrier between the Turks of Anatolia and the twenty-four or more million Turanians beyond Armenia. It was the plan of the Turks that once they were able to effect a junc- tion with their kinsmen of the Caucasus and trans- Caspian, they would set out on a campaign of militant pan- Islamism, with the ambition of dominating the destiny of the world. An organized Armenia locks up the Turks of Anatolia and does away with any pan-Turanian peril in the future. 19. If we take the Armenian mandate, Armenia will become the outpost of American civilization in the east. Our missionaries and our educators in the Near East can carry on their work of civilization through Armenia, and our busi- ness interests can establish their branches there and thus stimulate American commerce in the Near East. Within a radius of 500 miles of the boundaries of Armenia, there are to be found over 100,000,000 people who should be receptive to American ideas and methods. 20. If we were to decline to take the Armenian man- date, another nation will; then the American missionary and educational activities will receive not only a definite check in the Near East, but will be substituted by those of the mandatory. And if that mandatory is a non-Anglo-Saxon nation, then the Armenians will naturally drift away from Anglo-Saxon civilization, and we shall have thus lost a great opportunity for the propagation of Anglo-Saxon civilization in the Near East. 21. Armenia should not be mixed up with any other neighboring region or nation. If we were to accept a man- date also for Anatolia, that would deter a great many Armenians in that region from moving into Armenia. That would also necessitate our remaining there for an indefinite period, since the Turks cannot be taught self-government in a generation. Anatolia is a Moslem country, so that it is best for a Moslem-ruling great nation to take charge of it. The organization of the Armenian Government is very much similar to assembling the scattered parts of a machine, put- ting" them in their respective places and harmonizing" them, and once the machine has been set up, it can be turned over to its owner. The parts of the machinery of the Armenian government exist, but they are scattered and in certain cases need the care of an expert mechanician. In the case of Anatolia, there is no machine in existence and no material for making one. Likewise the opinion held by certain per- sons that a joint mandate for Armenia and Anatolia would be advisable, because it would insure for them the ad- vantages of administrative and industrial efficiency, is devoid of any merit. Armenia is a separate and distinctive geographical unit, clearly defined by mountains, hills, rivers and seas, and possesses necessary resources and facilities for an independent development. The plan that is advocated for Armenia and Anatolia would possibly be a good one for the Balkans, if it were possible to secure the consent of its various nationalities, but it is an absolutely unnecessary and impracticable one in the case of Armenia. 22. Armenia will become an independent nation if we help her. Otherwise, her liberation will be short lived, and she will be lost to civilization forever. 10 REPRESENTATIVE AMERICANS URGE AMERICAN MANDATE FOR ARMENIA Frederic Courtland Penfield, formerly American Ambassador to Austria-Hungary, says : "I cannot feel that it is any part of our duty to pull the chestnuts out of the Turkish embers for the benefit of Euro- pean powers long having intimate relations with the Otto- mans, nor do I zvant to see amiable Uncle Sam go into Anatolia with any administrative responsibility. "Only as a temporary expedient can I favor an American mandate over Armenia, aspiring to become an organised Christian state, with independence guaranteed by the pozvcrs. "And Uncle Sam never should remain in Armenia longer than to make certain that the native administration 7vas properly organised and controlled by capable men. This task zi'ould take eight or ten years to complete." Senator John Sharp Williams, says : "I think that if the United States are offered the place of mandatory for Armenia they ought to accept it. I don't , believe that zve would subject ourselves to any great expense and I do believe that zee could do a great deal of good, not only for Armenia herself, but for all Asia Minor by the unselfish example that zve could so easily set for the other mandatories." Ex-President Eliot of Harvard, says : "I hope America will help Armenia to organize a stable and independent government by lending her all necessary means." Benjamin Ide Wheeler, President, University of California, says "I think that the United States ought to assume the care and oversight of Armenia's interest if she does it for any nation. The intervention need not be expected to last many years. The Armenians understand self-government and will adjust themselves to the modern demands thereof very quickly. We knozv them as a people better, probably, than any other Eastern stock, and zve have occasion to sympathize with them and the Greeks who are in like estate." Charles Stewart Davison, Chairman, Board of Trustees of the American Defence Society, says : "If Armenia is to be free she must not be exploited. If she needs temporary help it must be afforded her without any strings tied to it. If she needs counsel, or advice, or muni- 11 tions, or actual temporary aid it is true that they can best come from America. But that fact must not be utilised as a cover for joining her up in any guise, or way, or shape with Turkey, or for arranging for her management by any agency except a National one. We can help her to her feet as we helped Cuba but not as a part of any enterprise, commercial, political, or even religious. Our business is to save the bodies of the Armenians, not to make money out of them, or use them as a political catspazv, or even to save their souls (assuming that zee are licensed by Providence to undertake the matter). It seems but Turkey's last desperate effort to hold her subject races when she artfully suggests some form of or assimilation to a joint protectorate. Heaven forbid that we should be deceived into it in cither fact, or form." Professor Albert Bushnell Hart, of Harvard, says : "No people in the world arc more distinctly struggling at this moment for the things for which our forefathers struggled than the Armenians. They want self-government, they arc capable of self-government, they are willing to learn abaut self-government. Let us do everything we can to bring self-government within their reach." Congressman Edward C. Little, Recognized Authority on Near Eastern Affairs, says, "Armenia should extend from the Mediterranean to in- clude Adana clear to the Caucasus. While the Armenians are not as thick around there as they would be if they hadn't killed so many of them, they are the intellectual force and the progressive factor in all that country through there, and with a little encouragement would soon dominate it thoroughly. "All that the Armenians really need or seriously seek is a policeman's commission to enforce laws in that country. They can do the rest. In my experience on the western frontier, I learned that the gun-man who was a policeman generally got the better of the gun-man who was an outlaw, because he had a better backing and it put the other fellow upon the defensive, everything else being equal. At present Turkey is the gun-man with the policeman's badge through all that country. Give Armenia that and it will come out all right. "However, it probably would add considerably to their prestige and standing if America nominally at least accepted a mandate there and perhaps established a regiment of marines for a while at the Mediterranean end of Armenia." 12 AMERICAN MANDATE ALONE CAN INSURE THE INDEPENDENCE OF ARMENIA By Professor William Walker Rockwell, Columbia The Armenians form a minority of the present popula- tion of the territory that will be taken from the former Otto- man Empire to increase the extent of the Armenian Re- republic (in the Caucasus). Even before the war they were in the minority in every Turkish vilayet except one (Van) ; and since then they have been decimated by massacre and depleted by exile.* The Armenian Republic is still in the grip of war and of famine. How then can Armenian inde- pendence be stabilized and preserved save under a manda- tory power? "We all agree that some Western power must act as manatary. The question is, Which power? Do you wish Italy? I see" no signs of enthusiasm at the mention of the name. Do you desire France ? Think of her great burdens and of her perilous budget for the next fiscal year. Do you fall back on England? Her own statesmen, worn with the sacrifices of war and preoccupied with new responsibilities of empire, would welcome our acceptance of the mandate. The Armenian patriots call us. Let us come to the rescue of Armenia as we came to the rescue of France. Let us work side by side with our gallant Armenian friends till the floods of war have entirelv receded from Mt. Ararat, and there shall grow in the fertile valleys of Armenia every- where the olive branches that signify a prosperous and an enduring peace." *In 1914 the population of Turkish Armenia was estimated at 3,100,000, of which 1,403,000 were Armenians, 943,000 Turks, 482,000 Kurds, and the balance other elements. Possibly one-half of the Arme- nians have perished, likewise one-half of the Turks and Kurds, according to Turkish testimony. The Armenians in proposed Armenia will consti- tute 65% of the population, because the proposed Armenia shall include Caucasus Armenia, where there is an Armenian population of about one million and a half, and also over one million Armenians who live in other parts of Turkey and the contiguous regions of Russian Armenia and else- where, the majority of whom will naturally emigrate into the new Arme- nia. The Turkish Government has recently appropriated a sum equivalent to $15,000,000, with which to induce the Kurds and Tartars of Persia and Caucasus to move into Armenia, with a view to insuring a Moslem majority. 13 Armenia By Robert Underwood Johnson Of all the nations new and free — The remnant seed of cruelty — Who has a better right to be A foster-child of Liberty Than thou, Armenia? Lift up with hope thy stricken brow — See! all the West sends cheer to thee, Armenia. Oh, thousand years of wrong and scorn ! Oh, night, that seemed to have no morn! Martyr of cross and spear and thorn, Thy path to Calvary shall be worn No more Armenia! Last of the fateful brood of war, The world stands still till thou be born Armenia ! By Ararat the blood-stained snow No more shall lie; Euphrates' flow Unmoaning to the sea shall go. Time shall restring the harp of woe To willowy song, Armenia, And Memory shall make thee strong And thou what thou hast dreamed shalt know, Armenia. SENATOR LODGE FOR ARMENIAN INDEPENDENCE In May, 1919, Senator Lodge offered the following resolution in the Senate of the United States : Resolution : Resolved, That in the opinion of the Senate, Armenia, (including the six vilayets, Trebizond and Cilicia in Turkish Armenia, and Russian Armenia) should be independent, and that it is the hope of the Senate that the peace conference will make arrangements for helping Armenia to establish an inde- pendent republic. 14 BISHOPS ADVOCATE AMERICAN MANDATE FOR ARMENIA On April 22, 1 9 19, seventy-seven Bishops of the Amer- ican Church cabled the President as follows'. "President Wilson, Paris. "Seventy-five Bishops of the American Church join us in the following message: "Armenia has suffered terribly during this War because of her loyalty to our faith and our cause. Our people have always felt a deep interest in her welfare. As a manifestation of that interest what we could do we did wholeheartedly to relieve her distress. The vic- tory of our arms has liberated her from five centuries of bondage and she is about to enter into the sisterhood of free nations. But she needs provisionally the help- ing hand of a big brother to organize the framework of her government. To achieve the ultimate purpose of our interest in her and to promote the peace and civiliza- tion of the Near East through her we strongly feel that it is the duty and opportunity of the United States of America to act as mandatary of League of Nations in Armenia." David H. Greer, Philip N. Rhinelander. 15 The following cable message, to which we attach a his- toric importance because it interprets, in our opinion, the heart and mind of America, was sent to the President on June 22, IQIQ: "President Wilson, Paris. "We believe that without regard to party or creed the American people are deeply interested in the wel- fare of the Armenian people and expect to see the resto- ration of the independence of Armenia. When the un- speakable Turks were perpetrating their diabolical crimes upon men, women and children of Armenia, American hearts were stirred with impotent horror. But with the triumph of right over primitive barbarity we had hoped that the Peace Conference would make it one of its first duties to take necessary steps to put a stop to the agony of Armenia and recognize her fidel- ity and services to our cause. We now believe that the prevailing insecurity of life and intense want in the major portion of Armenia make immediate action an imperative and sacred duty. We therefore respect- fully urge that, as a first step in that direction, and without waiting for the conclusion of Peace, either the Allies or America or both should at once send to Cau- casus Armenia requisite food, munitions and supplies for fifty thousand men, and such other help as they may require to enable the Armenians to occupy the non- occupied parts of Armenia, within the boundaries de- fined in the Memorandum of the Delegation of Integral Armenia. We trust that it may be possible to secure prompt and full justice for Armenia." (Signed) CHARLES EVANS HUGHES, Elihu Root, Henry Cabot Lodge, John Sharp Williams, Alfred E. Smith, James W. Gerard, Frederic Courtland Penfield, Charles W. Eliot. 16 ARMENIA'S SHARE IN THE WINNING OF THE WAR LORD ROBERT CECIL on October 3, 1918, wrote: EX-PREMIER KERENSKY on August 20, 1918, said: GEN. IHSAN PASHA, Commander, Right Wing, Turkish Caucasus Army, in July 27, 1915, said: GEN. LIMAN VON SANDERS, German Commander in Syria, following Turkey's Surrender. GEN. ALLENBY, After Turkey's debacle in Palestine, telegraphed to President Armenian Na- tional Delegation, Paris: "In the beginning of the War, the Russian Ar- menians organized volunteer forces, which bore the brunt of some of the heaviest fighting in the Caucasian campaign. After the Russian Army's break-down last year, the Armenians took over the Caucasian front (over two hundred miles long), fought the Turks for five months, and thus rendered very important services to the British Army in Mesopotamia. (They also cap- tured Baku from the Turko-Tartars, and held it from March to July, 1918, until the arrival of the British.) They served alike in the British, French and American Armies, and have borne their part in General Allenby's victory in Pales- tine. The services rendered by the Armenians to the common cause can never be forgotten." "At the outbreak of the War, the Turks cap- tured Sary-Kamish, and were marching on Tiflis. All the high officials, including the Vice- roy, were preparing for a hasty flight. Of all the races of the Caucasus, the Armenians alone stuck to their posts, organized volunteer forces and, by the side of their Russian comrades, faced the formidable assaults of the enemy, and turned his victorious march into a disastrous rout." "We were advancing victoriously into the Cau- casus when, with the intervention of Armenians, the Russian right wing was stiffened up. I then ordered a fresh army corps to attack the Russian left. But this corps was delayed for three days by Armenian volunteer contingents, and arrived too late to the scene of battle to save us from the terrible defeat we suffered. I don't blame the Ar- menians. We gave them a bad treatment. But. 1 must confess that, had it not been for the Ar- menians, we would have conquered the Caucasus. We will do that yet. When we do, then the Allies can't win the War. We will have India and the whole Mohammedan world on our side, which will force Great Britain to send armies from the Western front to the East, and thus offer^ Ger- many the opportunity to overcome France." The Russian Armenians were within their right to fight the Turks from the beginning; and the Armenians of Turkey did not take up arms against the Turks until they were attacked. "The collapse of the Turkish Palestinian front was due to the fact that the Turks, against my orders and advice, sent all their available forces to the Caucasus and Azarbaijan, where they fought the Armenians." "I am proud to have Armenian contingents un- der my command. They fought brilliantly and took a leading part in the victory." 17 ARMENIA (An editorial in the New York Times, February 16, 1919.) The suggestion frequently advanced in England — most recently by Viscount Bryce — that the United States should act as mandatory of the League of Nations for Armenia will, of course, conflict with the settled opinion of most Ameri- cans that it would be better for us to keep out of those parts of the world where hitherto we have not been active. How- ever, a principle is sometimes best recognized by being dis- regarded; and if this country should act under any mandate outside our own immediate neighborhood we should prob- ably be as well satisfied to be in Armenia as anywhere. The whole matter, of course, must depend on the wish of the Armenians ; but Armenia would not call for very much effort on the part of her mandatory; her people are apparently capable of self-government, their commercial and industrial ability is well known. About all that Armenia's mandatory — if she required any at all — might have to do would be to furnish what the projected constitution of the League of Nations calls "administrative advice and assistance." But it may be doubted if Armenia, once guaranteed against a renewal of Turkish aggression, would need any mandatory at all. No higher tribute could be paid to the Armenians than the willingness of the present Greek Gov- ernment to have the Greeks of Pontus, geographically hard to include in the Greek State, attached to an independent Armenia. Armenian estimates would indicate that their race still consists of some three million people, after all the massacres; and of those who live in Constantinople, or else- where outside the contiguous Armenian territory till lately under the sovereignty of Russia, Persia, and Turkey, many will doubtless go back to help the nation rebuild its home Inasmuch as the Armenians furnished many of the ablest administrators and statesmen of the Ottoman Empire, in view of the executive capacity which Armenians have dis- played in foreign countries where their abilities were given free rein, it would be rash to say that Armenia is not even now capable of full self-government. "One thing is to be made secure — that there is to be no Armenian irredenta, in so far as the overlapping of populations may make it possible. Armenia has earned the right to full national liberty. Ac- cording to the last Turkish statistics, nearly 30 per cent, of the 18 Armenians of the empire, outside of Constantinople, lived in Cilicia, on the Mediterranean. Cilicia is within the sphere of influence alloted to France by the treaties of 1916, but French economic interest could be guaranteed without interfering with the political sovereignty of the Armenians in Armenian territory ." The Christian Powers of the world are in duty bound to remember that most of the misfortunes which afflicted the Armenian people in the nineteenth century were due to the remissness of these very Powers, who time and time again were willing to accept Turkish promises of better ad- ministration, and never took effective steps to enforce per- formance of these promises. The Armenians were mis- treated chiefly because they were Christians and held to their religion inflexibly, incidentally because they were eco- nomically superior to the Turks and dangerous to the Ger- mans. A nation that has been sacrificed for the faith and the •civilization of Europe should not again be betrayed, in whole or in part, by Europe and America. The present Turkish Government has lately begun prosecution of one or two offi- cials in the evident hope of blaming the Armenian massacres on minor personages who can be sacrificed in place of the men higher up. Any real fixing of responsibility will go to persons very high up, in Constantinople and Berlin; and jus- tice to Armenia includes the punishment of guilt in the past as well as real and trustworthy guarantees for the future. Armenia is as much a moral test of the Peace Conference as is Belgium. 19 AMERICA AND ARMENIA (Reprinted from The New Republic, March 8, 1919.) Our European Allies and friends, so we are repeatedly assured, are eager to have America undertake the guardian- ship of Armenia. The Armenians themselves, if they had a voice in the matter, would choose America as mandatory in preference to any other Power. This is flattering to Ameri- cans. It is a recognition of the national disinterestedness, competence and good will. Besides, Americans are staunch believers in action as the only wholesome outlet for emo- tion. Since 1885 when the Turks first exhibited their vil- lainous purpose of extirpating the whole Armenian race, American breasts have throbbed with impotent horror over the outraged of Armenia crying for succor. Russia could do nothing for fear of England, nor England for fear of Russia; France could not move without exciting the antago- nism of England and Germany, nor Italy without exciting the antagonism of Russia and France. All Europe was forced to stand by, bound hand and foot by competing" ambi- tions and mutual suspicion. As for ourselves, we were far away and committed to a policy of isolation. What we could do we did. We sent missionaries, we maintained schools and orphanages, with the net result of providing the next out- break of Turkish fury with more and better cultivated vic- tims. We would gladly have done more, but there was no place for our action under any law which then existed. But now a new law of nations is coming into being. It rests with us alone to say whether or not we shall undertake to assist Armenia, victim of infinite oppressions, to inde- pendent statehood. That is a grave responsibility, we recog- nize. And before we assume it we wish to be clear with our- selves on the two vital particulars : Is the undertaking really feasible; and if it is, are we the nation to carry it out instead of any other? Geographically considered, the territories that ought to fall to the Armenian State are sufficiently rich and varied to offer an adequate basis for independent national life. They are well enough defined by mountains, desert and sea, with comparatively narrow stretches where artificial boundaries must take the place of natural ones. The Armenian popula- tion lacks none of the elements essential to state building. The Armenians are a people of remarkable intellectual gifts 20 and of still more remarkable practical abilities. Whether as shepherd, farmer or orchardist, whether as artisan, mer- chant or banker, the Armenian is a superior type of worker. In the midst of Turkish night the Armenian has managed to attain a degree of literacy only surpassed by the more fav- ored nations of western Europe. In the midst of robberies and exactions such as would utterly break the industry of another people, the Armenian has managed to attain mate- rial prosperity. Between the periods of massacre the Arme- nian population renews itself as the green of mountain sides renews itself between the forest fires. Such tenacity, such vitality are worth guiding into organized statehood. But we have said nothing of political instinct. What if the Armenians lack that quality? Whatever "political instinct" may actually be, the Armenians are likely to ex- hibit enough of it for independent national life. They are intelligent, they are loyal to their ideals and to their leaders, they are tolerant and patient. They have managed their local affairs frictionlessly; they have conducted their church affairs democratically ; they have given the Turkish Empire some of its ablest administrators. It is not a benighted peo- ple, just rising out of tribal barbarism, that it is proposed to launch on a career of statehood. Armenia, like Serbia and Rumania, was geographically a corridor, in the era, only recently closed, when the greater population masses of east and west swept back and forth in ceaseless tides of conquest. Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Arabs and Turks, who most harried the Armenians in their incursions, have disap- peared or dwindled to insignificance. Say that a modern state of six or seven millions is established in Armenia : there is not another state anywhere in the vicinity that could chal- lenge its safety. The Turks, thrust westward into Asia Minor, could not, nor the Arabs from beyond Lebanon, nor the Persians, engrossed in holding the vestiges of their own culture, nor the future cosmopolitan state that may be planted in Mesopotamia. The situation of Armenia will be far less hazardous than that of Belgium or Holland, Poland or Czecho-Slovakia, Hungary or Rumania. Armenian state- building is not an enterprise foredoomed to frustration. Armenia's difficulties lie in the present, not in the fu- ture. Chief of these is the hopeless mixture of races, lan- guages, religions, characteristic of the whole empire of the Turks. Only in insignificant tracts is the Armenian popula- tion free from alien admixture. There is no considerable 21 province in which the Armenians count for an absolute ma- jority. But the Armenians themselves admit that they are a minority, although easily the most numerous single peo- ple in the whole mixture.* How could they be expected to exhibit a majority status, when the Turk, by successive massacres, has thinned them down and scattered them? Armenian state-building involves processes peculiar to the Levant and the Balkans, processes of redistribution of population. We have seen how, with the rise of Christian states in the Balkans, the Turks, even without propulsion, have emigrated en masse into Asia Minor. Except as mas- ters privileged to plunder, the Turks do not know how to live among Christians. Therefore, if Armenia is erected into a Christian state we may confidently predict that much of the Turkish population will remove itself to the Turkish districts of Anatolia. On the other hand, the Armenians scattered through Anatolia and the remaining fragment of European Turkey may be expected to return in large num- bers, once Armenia is free. Of the remaining alien popula- tion, the minor elements will in large part be assimilated. That will hardly be the case with the Greeks of the Black Sea littoral, who have managed to preserve their nationality since before the days of Xenophon. But these Greeks have always lived on good terms with the Armenians, and there is no reason why they should not retain the Greek character and language and still prove harmonious elements in the Armenian state. What is expected from the Power endowed with a man- date for Armenia is an assurance of peace and domestic tran- quility while the Armenian nation consolidates itself by the natural processes of emigration and immigration, assimila- tion of alien elements of low culture and accommodation with alien elements of high culture. Would such assurance involve great difficulties and expense? There is no natural risk of attack from without. Even the Turk, after his late experiences, will long exhibit a distaste for military enter- prise. There are turbulent elements within that will require watching; the Turks who prefer to remain, the Kurds and various lesser peoples. A well organized police will be neces- sary, but given an efficient nucleus and good officers, the Armenians themselves can produce the necessary personnel *This refers to Turkish Armenia only. With the union of Russian Armenia with Turkish Armenia, Armenians will constitute about 65% of the population. In 1914 the Turks formed about 25% of the popu- lation of Turkey. 22 and support it. We have seen how it is possible thus to organize an efficient native force, in the Philippine constabu- lary. There are more turbulent peoples to control in Ar- menia, perhaps, but Armenian support of a national con- stabulary would be far more universal than was Filipino support of the Philippine constabulary, at any rate in the early years. What else would be required of the mandatory besides keeping the peace and holding in check a too ardent zeal for prompt nationalization of alien elements? The economic development of the country would repay fostering care. There are railways and roads to build, mines to be opened, irrigation projects to be set under way. Provide work, and the police problem will simplify itself, as it has in the Philip- pines under the recent general prosperity. But this involves the investment of capital. Is the mandatory Power re- quired, then, to furnish capital and assume the risk of loss? No; under the mandatory system one Power will have as good right as another to trade with Armenia. Loans are an incident of trade, and the nation which provides Armenia with rails and machinery will extend the loans that make the trade possible. In view of the Armenian reputation for thrift, it may be doubted that capital invested in Armenia can long remain alien. In a decade or two the Armenians will have saved enough to control their own means of pro- duction. Such, in general terms, is the kind of problem the man- datory for Armenia will have to solve. Much good will and tact, some trained administrators, a small military force, a temporary loan of capital will be required. The reward of effort, in the rise of a state quite capable of holding its own and of contributing richly to the common stock of both ideas and material goods, appears assured. That is the kind of transaction America can hardly refuse to undertake, if there is good reason why America rather than another Power should undertake it. Why do our European Allies, why do the Armenians themselves, look to America? Principally because America is disinterested, and disinterestedness is absolutely essential to success in the enterprise. If England undertook the man- date she might be suspected of a desire to strengthen her position in Mesopotamia or Persia. If France undertook it, she might be suspected of desiring to extend her Syrian holdings. If Italy undertook it, she might be suspected of trying to consolidate her claims in southern Asia Minor. 23 We are granting that the motives of these Powers are pure. It is equally important that the motives of the mandatory Powers should be beyond suspicion. Else every counsel of moderation might seem a device for extending the status of guardianship into the indefinite future. Our motives are pure now, but we are human. Once we have established ourselves in a quasi-imperial position, shall we readily turn our wards free, to complete their national development according to their own desires? America has proved, in the case of Cuba, that she is capable of controlling any imperialistic desires latent in her. There we were bound, it is true, by the Piatt Amendment. But we are pre- paring to withdraw from the Philippines, under no other compulsion than our own conviction that when a people is competent to manage its own affairs, it ought to be free. No other people has ever given a similar proof of devotion to the principle of self-government. Therefore under no other Power as mandatory could Armenia have equal assur- ance that she would not remain in tutelage beyond the period when it is to her own advantage. But what would the United States get out of the Arme- nian enterprise? A consciousness of a job well done, of a nation saved, in the first place. And in the second place, a material reduction in the risk of disorder in the world. With Armenia free and prosperous, orderly civilization will have an outpost in Asia Minor. That quarter will not become a second Balkans, as it must, if Armenia is left to disorder, or thrown a prey to a recrudescent imperialism. In the long run, the reward will be worth the effort. 24 SHOULD AMERICA ACCEPT A MANDATE FOR ARMENIA? By Vahan Cardashian On February 26, 1919, The Delegation of Integral Armenia, representing 3,500,000 Armenians distributed throughout the world, appeared before the Peace Conference at Versailles and presented to it a Memorandum embodying the claims of Armenia. The Delegation demanded the crea- tion of an Armenian State consisting of the essential parts of Russian and Turkish Armenia, namely : the province of Erivan, the southwestern parts of the Government of Eliza- vetpol and of the province of Tiflis, and the province of Kars, except the northern part of the district of Ardahan, in Rus- sian Armenia, all of which now constitute parts of the Republic of Armenia, which has been established there since May 28, 1918; the provinces of Van, Bitlis, Diarbekr, Har- poot, Sivas, Erzerum and Trebizond (according to the Reform Measure of February 8, 1914), except the districts south of Tigris and those west of Urdu-Sivas ; the four dis- tricts in Cilicia, known as Marash, Sis, Jebel-Bereket and Adana, including Alexandretta, and the Sanjak of Cesarea, in Turkish Armenia.* *Turkish Armenia has an area of 101,000 square miles, and Rus- sian Armenia an area of 26,491 square miles. What constitutes Turkish Armenia has been denned in four international documents since 1878. 1. Under Article 61 of the Treaty of Berlin, the provinces of Erzerum, Van, Bitlis, Harpoot, Diarbekir and Sivas, which have an area of 96,600 square miles, were recognized as constituting parts of Armenia. 2. Under the terms of the Ambassadors' Memorandum of 1895, said Six Provinces and Cilicia were recognized as Turkish Armenia. 3. Under the terms of the Reform Measure, dated Febru- ary 8, 1914, agreed upon between Germany and Turkey on the one side, and Russia, representing the Entente and the Armenians, on the other, acting by direction of the Ambassadorial Conference of London of 1913, said Six Provinces and the Province of Trebizond, which have an area of 109,100 square miles, were considered as parts of Turkish Armenia. At the suggestion of Germany, Cilicia, or Lesser Armenia (the Bagdad Railroad crosses through it), was to become a sepa- rate subject of treatment. 4. Under Article XXIV of the terms of the armistice granted to Turkey by the Allies, dated November 1, 1918, the above mentioned Six Provinces were referred to as the "Six Armenian Vilayets." 25 The Delegation also demanded that the integrity and independence of the proposed Armenian State be guaranteed by the Great Powers, or the League of Nations, and that one of the Great Powers be designated as the mandatary of the the League of Nations, if one is organized, so that such mandatory power shall aid Armenia during the first few years of its existence in establishing its Government. The Delegation, furthermore, set forth in its Memorandum that the aid thus to be extended by such mandatary should not be of the nature that is given by a protecting power to a dominion or vassal state or to a colony, and that the exercise of such mandate shall not in the slightest degree interfere with the independence and sovereignty of the State of Armenia. It is known that the Delegation of Integral Armenia, interpreting the sentiment of the Armenian people, has indi- cated as its preference that the United States of America assume the mandate for Armenia. President Wilson, in his conference with the Senators in the White House on the evening of February 25th, is reported to have stated that, if the United States of America is to assume any mandate under the provisions of the Covenant of the League of Nations, he will favor accepting a mandate for Armenia. Should the United States of America accept the mandate for Armenia? What shall be the nature and extent of the duties that the United States of America shall be called upon to assume, in the event of the acceptance of such a mandate? In order to give an intelligent opinion on these ques- tions, we must consider : (A) The physical development of Armenia, and (B) The moral fitness and the capacity of the Armenian people to establish and maintain a self-governing State. First: The area of the proposed Armenian State will be between 125,000 and 135,000 square miles with outlets on the Black and Mediterranean seas. The climate of upper and central Armenia, which constitute four-fifths of Armenia, is very much similar to that of Kansas. The cli- mate of the Black Sea coast of Armenia, which is about 20,000 square miles in area, is quite similar to that of New 26 Jersey. The climate of Cilicia, the Mediterranean coast of Armenia, which is about 15,000 square miles in area, is simi- lar to that of southern California. The soil of Armenia is rich and excellent for all agricultural purposes. Armenia has the most extensive and varied mineral resources of any country in the Near East. It has a great many iron, silver, coal and zinc beds, and two of the worlds' richest manganese and copper mines are to be found in Armenia. And its scores of rivers and lakes, which are to be found almost in every part of the land, are destined to play a most important role in the industrial and agricultural development, of the country. It can be, therefore, asserted without exaggeration that, in points of its varied climate, the richness of its soil and its natural resources, Armenia is a miniature America, which distinction no other Near Eastern or European country can claim. Moreover, it has such an abundant wealth of natural scenery that, with proper nursing, it can be turned, in two decades, into one of the most beautiful spots of Europe of which it naturally or geographically forms a part. And its geographical situation offers it an opportunity to engage in commercial intercourse with the millions of a dozen nations along the Black and Mediterranean seas, in the Caucasus and beyond the Caspian. But the country is to-day in a badly neglected physi- cal condition. It hasn't any public roads to speak of. Turkish Armenia has only one rail system, that of the Bag- dad road, which crosses through Cilicia. The Caucasus Armenia is a little better off in this respect. This means that two-thirds of Armenia remain to be connected by rail, with- out which it will be difficult to set up an efficient govern- ment, to develop the resources of the country and to im- prove the material condition of its people. Modern con- veniences of living must be provided in every part of Armenia, such as gas, electricity, water and sanitation systems. These are found only to a limited extent in certain parts of Cilicia, Trebizond and the district of Erivan. Second: The Armenians are European Alpines by race, one of the three principal branches of the Aryan family, who left their home in southeastern Europe about 1300 years B. C, and emigrated into Asia Minor, where they are to be found principally between the Caucasus Mountains and Cilicia, on the Mediterranean, and where until 1375 they maintained independent or autonomous existence for a pe- riod of 2500 years. 27 Surrounded on all sides by alien communities and in the way of large movements of races East and West, they have clung - tenaciously to their traditions, to their language and to their faith. They are the first Christian nation in the world; they have a church of their own, and their language is said to be, according to foreign testimony, one of the two most cultivated means of human speech. "This people," says Grant, "really represents the last outpost of Europe toward the Mohammedan East and constitutes the best remaining medium through which western ideals and cul- ture can be introduced into Asia." "They are the only peo- ple," according to Dr. Barton, "that are morally and intel- lectually capable of self-government and with capacity to develop to the full the resources of the country — Armenia." "By their industry, intelligence and education, the Armenian people are well fitted for freedom and capable of restoring prosperity to their ancient home," said Viscount Bryce last December. "We may say without exag-geration that not only in Armenia proper, but far beyond its boundaries, the economic life of Turkey rests in great part, upon the Armenians," says, Paul Rohrbach. Sir Edwin Pears says of them: "They are physically a fine race. The men are usually tall, well built and powerful. The women have a healthy look about them which suggests good motherhood. They are an ancient people of the same Indo-European race as ourselves, and speak an allied language. During long centuries, they held their own against Persians, Arabs, Turks and Kurds. Whenever they have had a fighting chance they proved their courage. ... A large proportion of them remained tillers of the soil. In commerce they are successful not only in Turkey, but in France, England and India. Though subject to persecution for centuries under Moslem rule (because of their Christian faith, their superior intelligence, their indus- try and thrift), they have always managed to have their race respected." The following data covering the province of Sivas, where the Armenians constitute about 35% of the popula- tion, is significant. Commerce: 166 importers; 141 Armenians, 13 Turks and 12 Greeks. I $0 exporters; I2J Armenians and 23 Turks. 3J bankers and capital- ists; 32 Armenians and § Turks. 0800 shopkeepers and artisans; 6800 Armenians, 2^55 Turks, I $0 other elements. Industries: 1^3 factories, of which 130 belong to Armenians. The technical staffs of 28 all factories are principally Armenians. Number of factory workers, IJ ,J00, of which I4.OOO are Arme- nians. In the province of Van, according to Rohrbach, "q8% of commerce and 80% of farming are in the hands of Armenians. 85% of the Armenians in Armenia are tillers of the soil." In Armenia, in 1Q0S, the Armenians had $8$ schools with §2, OOO students, as against I^O Turkish schools, with about IJ,000 pupils in the same region. It is estimated that not less than I§,000 Armenian men and women attended, in IQI 4, higher institutions of learning in Europe, America and Tur- key (American and French schools). As artisan, or merchant, or farmer, or administrator, or soldier, the Armenian is, according to all observers, the equal of his European kinsman. This brief review of the qualities of the Armenian char- acter, as brought out under most adverse conditions, is an assurance of the moral and intellectual fitness- and of the capacity of the Armenian to establish and maintain a self- governing state and become in the Near East an effective agent in the difficult task of civilizing its backward peoples. •*• •*• •*• Population. — In 1914, there were 4,470,000 Armenians in the world, of whom 2,700,000 lived within the boundaries of the territories now claimed by Armenia, 1,000,000 within its adjacent regions and the balance scattered. During the same period there were 1,005,000 Turks, 537,000 Tartars and 555,000 migratory Turcomans and Kurds, or a total of 2,- 308,000 Moslems within the boundaries of Armenia. But, it is quite possible that 1,000,000 Armenians have perished dur- ing the war. Moreover, nearly half of the 2,500,000 to 3,- 000,000 Armenians that are to be within the boundaries of the proposed State of Armenia are now found outside its boundaries. These are to be repatriated, and there is said to be over 100,000 orphans for whose care provision must be made. In considering the reduced number of the Armenians, it is well to consider also the fact that the Moslem elements in Armenia have suffered even 29 more than the Armenians, particularly those in the regions which were invaded by Russia. In the Fall of 1917, the normal Turk and Kurd populations of about 551,000 in the provinces of Van, Bitlis, and Erzerum had been reduced to 96,000, and in the city of Diarbekir, out of a resident and refugee Moslem population of 63,000 only 6,000 were left. Another important point for us to remember in con- sidering the relative numbers of races in the Armenia to be is that, with the setting up of an Armenian State, there will start a general voluntary movement of peoples. Many Turks, as usual, will follow the Turkish Government; Geor- gians will move into Georgia; Tartars into the Tartar State; Persians into Persia, and the Armenians in those adjacent regions, where they number over a million into Armenia. The following table gives an approximate idea as to the numbers of nationalities that are to be found within the boundaries of the proposed Armenia, during the first few years of her independent existence : CHRISTIANS: Armenians 2,500,000 Greeks, Nestorians, Russians, Georgians, Europeans 500,000 MOSLEMS: Turks, Circassians, Arabs, Persians 500,000 Tartars 300,000 Kurds 200,000 OTHER RELIGIONS: Kizil-Bachiz, Yezidiz, Zazas, Fellahs 300,000 TOTAL, CHRISTIANS 3,000,000 MOSLEMS 1,000,000 OTHER RELIGIONS* 300,000 *In 1914 the Turks constituted about 25% of the population of Turkey, or, their number was estimated at 4,600,000, out of an esti- mated population of 18,000,000 in the Empire. The Turks ordinarily include in their own number all the Moslem elements, except the Arabs. 30 What financial and military help, if any, shall America be called upon to give to Armenia? Armenia will need considerable money for repatriation, relief, organization of its government, its physical develop- ment, etc. But Armenia is entitled to, and must receive, adequate indemnity for all the losses she has suffered dur- ing the war. The cost of the reconstruction of Armenia, as well as the cost of the organization of the Armenian Govern- ment, must be paid for by the Turks and Germans who, as equal partners in a common venture, should repair the dam- ages they have inflicted upon their Armenian victims. The Armenian Delegation, in its above said Memoran- dum, demands adequate indemnity. If any nation is entitled to reparation from the enemy, that nation is the Armenian. In the district of Baku alone, the Armenians have suffered losses conservatively estimated at $200,000,000. Their losses throughout are estimated at not less than $3,750,000,000. If the United States of America are called upon to extend any financial assistance to Armenia, such assistance should be of a provisional character by way of loans. In the event that Armenia is discriminated against in the matter of in- demnity, then it will be necessary for the Armenian Govern- ment to borrow money, quite naturally, from its mandatory power. Armenia may be made a self-supporting nation within five years. No considerable military expedition needs to be under- taken into Armenia. It is quite possible that the whole of the former Turkish Empire shall have to be occupied provisionally by from 150,000 to 200,000 troops, so that the decisions of the Peace Conference may be enforced without any hindrance. Insofar as Armenia is concerned, a force of not less than one nor more than two brigades may be sent to remain temporarily (possibly until the Spring of 1920), largely for the moral effect that such expedition will produce upon the native population. This means that, Armenia does not need American troops for police duty, or for the protection of its frontiers. There are now sufficient number of Armenian troops in Armenia to do these things, provided they are supplied with adequate food and munitions, which they lack. It is to be noted that Russian Armenia, where an Ar- menian Government has been in power since May 28, 1918, 31 is now under the control of that government. It is known as the Republic of Armenia. This Republic has an organized force of about 40,000 men. In addition to this force, there are independent Armenian contingents in those regions, which may number 10,000. The Armenians can now put in the field a minimum number of 75,000 trained men, provided we furnish them with necessary equipment. To summarize: In the event of America ac- cepting mandate for Armenia, her duties shall be principally, (a) To aid the Armenians, in an advisory capacity, to establish a government on a permanent basis ; (b) To send to Armenia possibly two or four regi- ments, to remain for a brief period, which will exert a steadying effect upon the native popu- lation; (c) To co-operate with the Armenian Government in the repatriation into Armenia of 1,500,000 Armenians ; (d) To make provision for the caring of 100,000 or more orphans; (e) To help Armenia, through technical commis- sions, in the construction of her transportation system, docks and harbors, and inaugurate modern improvements and means of sanita- tion in its towns and cities. In fine, America shall not be called upon to teach Armenians self-government ; that they know. But, in view of the general social, political and economic upheaval that has overtaken Armenia, she is to give Armenia a hand in the creation of a scheme of life modelled largely after the Amer- ican system of civilization. The carrying out of this task shall require not less than five nor more than ten years. And the United States, by accepting the mandate for Armenia, will not run any risk of being involved in inter- national difficulty. She will go there in response to the unanimous call of the Armenian people and with the consent of the Powers to do a specific thing. 32 And she shall not be entangled in any military expedi- tion for the protection of Armenia, because there is not a single neighboring nation that would consider it wise or profitable to challenge an Armenian fighting force whose number can easily reach a quarter of a million men, once Armenia has been organized. The Turks know to their own satisfaction that it would not be safe to interfere with armed Armenians. Following the breakdown of the Russian army of the Caucasus in 1917, a newly organized Armenian force of 50,000 held back the Turkish Caucasus army for seven months, when the Turks offered to conclude peace with that portion of the Armenian nation. It is now conceded that Armenian volunteers and regu- lars saved the Russian Caucasus front from collapse in the winter of 1914 and that they defeated the Turkish aggres- sion in 1917 and 1918. General Allenby has already testified to the excellence of the soldier-like qualities of the Armenians in his famous telegram to the President of the xArmenian Deleg-ation, in which he expressed his pride for having had Armenian con- tingents under his command, "who took leading part in the victory over the Turks." Thus the mandate that America will be expected to exercise in Armenia will be chiefly the extension of the noble relief and educational work which the brave men and women from America — the missionaries— are now carrying on in that historic land. It is extremely difficult to believe that the United States of America would decline to accept a mandate for Armenia, when all Armenians throughout the world have turned their faces and their hearts to the United States of America. The development of a stable self-governing state in the country of the Armenians will have a steadying effect upon all the races of the Near East, and such a State will become the leading- agency through which to civilize and enlighten many millions of the backward peoples of those regions. By accepting the mandate, the United States will pro- mote not only the well-being and peace of Armenia, but through Armenia, will restore and maintain peace in the lands beyond the borders of Armenia. For over fifteen cen- turies Armenians have been, under most difficult conditions, 33 the staunch upholders of the faith and civilization of Europe; and they will hereafter become missionaries for the propagation of western ideals in the Near East. The above considerations lead us to the follow- ing conclusions : (a) A mandate for Armenia is a provisional trust. The trustee shall help the Armenians to help themselves — to organize their government — but shall not carry the burden of organizing or maintaining their government; (b) If America must accept any mandatorial responsibility under the covenant of the League of Nations — since she has been the principal advocate for the formation of a League of Nations — then a mandate for Armenia is the lightest and safest responsibility she can assume. There are two other reasons, suggested by the consid- erations of historical facts and of far seeing statesmanship, which support the Armenian plea that America accept this trust: One: Russia and Turkey knew by experience that in all the wars between them success of arms rested with the side that enjoyed the cooperation of the Armenians. Accord- ingly, at the outbreak of the war, Turkey offered the Arme- nians autonomy (both Turkish and Russian Armenians), conditioned upon their lending active support to the Turkish arms. The Russian Armenians would have absolutely noth- ing to do with the Turkish offer. The Turkish Armenians categorically declined to go beyond the limits imposed upon them through their allegiance to Turkey. The whole- hearted support which the Armenian Regulars and volun- teers gave Russia in the beginning of the war, and also the resistance which an Armenian force of 50,000 men offered the Turks for seven months (from December, 1917 to June, 1918), following the breakdown of the Russian Cau- casus front in 1917, saved the Russian Caucasus front from certain collapse; destroyed all the hopes and expectations the Turks entertained as the result of their campaign for a Holy War, by preventing them from effecting a junction with the eighteen million Turco-Tartars and Afgans of the 34 Caucasus and Trans-Caspian; enabled the British Armies in Mesopotamia and Syria to maintain their positions, and facilitated their successes over the Turks; and finally, be- came the direct causes of the breakdown of the Turkish power. The Armenian aid also made it possible for Russia to concentrate her forces against the Austro-German fronts which accrued greatly to the benefit of France.* The destruction of one million Armenians was the answer of the Turks to the refusal of the Armenian race to make common cause with them. America pledged to the success of her arms all her re- sources. Armenia was struck a staggering blow as the result of her loyalty to the cause for which America entered t-.he field. Can America decline to extend a helping hand to Armenia — a help comparatively small to the giver but of immeasurable consequences to the recipient? Two: Armenia is the bridge that links Europe with Asia. All Asiatic invaders have crossed over this bridge, after having trampled under foot the Armenians, who inva- riably challenged their aggression. Following the expul- sion by the Mameluke-Turco-Tartar avalanche of the five kingdoms and principalities which were founded in the East by the Crusaders, the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia, single- handed, stayed that powerful Asiatic onrush for a period of eighty-five years. History will repeat itself. Both as the civilizing agent in the Near East and Mid- dle Asia and as the representative of westen civilization to hold its first line of defense against Asiatic aggression, Ar- menia must be helped until she can stand alone. The Pan-Turanianism of the Young Turks, which was the forerunner of a militant Pan-Islamism, has been tempo- rarily checked with the blood of the fighting men of Arme- nia ; but it will rise again. Armenia is the only barrier that separates the apostles of Pan-Turanianism from their objective, and also from the *In 1914, there were 4,470,000 Armenians distributed throughout the world, of whom 2,054,000 lived in Russia; 2,026,000 in Turkey, and the rest scattered. The Armenians contributed about 275,000 fighting men to the Allied arms during the War. Thus, in proportion to their num- bers, the Armenians suffered more (their losses are estimated at one million) and made a larger contribution to the Allied arms than any other race or nation. 35 disciples of Bolshevism with whom they will be certain to enter into alliance, once they establish physical contact. America would be serving her own interests and strengthening the cause she has espoused by lending her in- fluence and support to the creation and development of an Armenian State, within her historic, national boundaries, which will become the outpost of western civilization in the East. "To serve Armenia is to serve civilization," said Mr. Gladstone. 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