Gross Ottoman Minister at Madrid, and lately Vali of Crete, as President of a Com- Nr. 10920. mission of Inquiry into the affairs of Armenia. The other members of the britannien. Commission would shortly be named, and he hoped it would be able to 10. Apr. 1895. commence its labours in about ten days. He had selected Turkhan Pasha as an honest and intelligent official, who had given proof of his capacity when Governor-General in Crete. || His Majesty also said the Porte had given him a list of Armenians in prison, which was, however, unfortunately, incomplete and misleading. || He had observed with regret that the names of some political prisoners whose release he had ordered, still figured in this document, which also included persons condemned for ordinary crimes, such as murder and robbery. He had therefore ordered the preparation of a new and accurate list, and only the day before had personally desired the Minister of Justice and others specially occupied with the matter to lose no time in completing their labours. || I replied that I had already communicated to your Lordship, in my telegram of the 1st April, a message from His Majesty much to the same effect as what he had just said. In reply, I had been instructed to express the satisfaction of Her Majesty's Government at the action taken respecting Armenian prisoners. As to the introduction of reforms, Her Majesty's Government were gratified to hear that His Majesty proposed to deal seriously with the question. They were themselves elaborating a programme of reforms in concert with the Governments of France and Russia, and as soon as it was ready would communicate it to the Sublime Porte. After a moment's reflection, the Sultan asked whether it would not be better for us to communicate directly with the Turkish Commission instead of preparing an independent scheme of reforms. I replied that I could express no opinion on the point without consulting my French and Russian colleagues. His Majesty pressed me to consult them on the subject, and repeated several times that he saw no need for our making a formal communication, and that it would be much simpler to come to an understanding by friendly discussion and unofficial exchange of ideas. || I said that I would of course mention His Majesty's views to the French and Russian Ambassadors, but that, in my opinion, it would be best to wait till the plan was complete, and then deal with it as a whole. When ready, it would be presented in the form most convenient to His Imperial Majesty. | The Sultan seemed disappointed, and wished to know the nature of the reforms contemplated. I replied that I was not at present at liberty to lay the details of the scheme before him, but that the guiding principle would be to give security and contentment to the Armenians by obtaining for them a fair share in the Administration. The reforms would be based mainly on existing Laws and Regulations, which were unfortunately now a dead letter, and they would contain nothing which would cause prejudice to the rights of the Moslem community. || The Sultan seemed relieved at this last statement, and said that under these circumstances he felt no cause for anxiety, as most of the Laws and Regulations had been britannien. Nr. 10920. made in his own reign. He also repeated several times that the Armenians Gross- had already a fair share in the Administration. I replied that this, though 10. Apr. 1895. true in theory, was unhappily not true in practice, as was proved by the Returns sent me by British Consular officers. || His Majesty said he would send me a list of Armenian functionaries, and dilated at some length on the number who held appointments in the Civil List Administration or as servants in the Palace. I replied that I feared this was hardly enough to satisfy the Armenians. They required security for life, property, and honour in the provinces where they resided. || The Sultan insisted with some warmth that the continued existence of the Armenians was the clearest proof that they enjoyed that security; if the Ottoman Government in his reign and those of his ancestors had not followed this policy there would not be any Armenians left; as it was, they were rich and the Turks poor. I said Her Majesty's Government had no doubt of the kind and benevolent intentions of His Imperial Majesty, but that, unfortunately, the local authorities were in the habit of sending false reports to Constantinople in order to conceal their own misdeeds. His Majesty expressed pleasure at the opinion entertained of his personal feelings, but asked whether my information respecting the conduct of the local authorities was based on conjecture or on accurate reports. I replied that for years I had been reading reports by Her Majesty's Consular officers, who had no bias against the Turks, and no object in misrepresenting the truth, and these reports had left no doubt in my mind that the Armenians were misgoverned and ill-treated. I then said, in corroboration of the statement that His Majesty was deceived by the local authorities, that I had been instructed by Her Majesty's Government to call His Majesty's attention to the manner in which signatures were obtained by force to telegrams and addresses dispatched to Constantinople, thanking Hist Majesty for the good government enjoyed by Armenians. The Sultan said he was at a loss to understand such conduct; he always treated even his servants with consideration, and was pained by harsh conduct towards subordinates. The Commission should most carefully inquire into these stories of signatures being obtained by force. || I then said I trusted His Imperial Majesty would not suppose that my Government or myself were animated by any hostile intentions; on the contrary, our desire was to improve the relations existing between the two countries. His Majesty thanked me, and expressed the hope that Her Majesty's Government would publish some statement to correct the hostile attitude of the press. I replied that they had no power to correct it, and that its present tone was in a great measure due to the refusal of the Turkish Government to allow correspondents to enter the country. The Sultan said this was only a temporary measure while the Commission was sitting; foreigners ignorant of the country and language must inevitably be deceived, and would be likely to call white black and black white. He again requested me to render him a service by making every effort to remove the opinions Gross hostile to himself and to Turkey now prevalent in England. He added a Nr. 10920. hope that the friendly disposition of Her Majesty's Government and my good- britannien. will might lead to a friendly settlement of the question. || I expressed the 10. Apr. 1895. conviction that if His Majesty would adopt the advice which the three Powers would give him, the prosperity and stability of His Majesty's Empire and the well-being of his subjects would be materially increased. Philip Currie. Nr. 10921. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Derselbe an Denselben: Hat My Lord, den Grossvezier auf die Gewaltthaten der türkischen Pera, April 17, 1895. (Received April 22.) Gross I have the honour to state that I went yesterday to the Nr. 10921. Porte, and called the attention of Saïd Pasha to the increasing violence of britannien. the Turkish authorities in the country districts of the Armenian provinces. 17. Apr. 1895. I also called his attention to the statements contained in the despatches, copies of which I have the honour to inclose herewith. I endeavoured to impress upon his Excellency the extreme gravity of the situation, and the danger of forcing on a crisis which might prove disastrous to the Turkish Empire. I urged that the provincial authorities should be plainly given to understand that they must act with the greatest circumspection, and should treat all classes of the population with justice and moderation, and that they should be plainly told that every act of injustice and violence, and every irregularity on the part of the civil or military authorities, would place the Government in a difficult position, and would be visited with the severest condemnation. || In order to insure attention being paid to my communication, I left with Saïd Pasha a Memorandum giving the substance of my language. Mr. Block, who accompanied me, read extracts from the despatches, and will furnish Saïd Pasha with a summary of them. Philip Currie. Beilagen. Consul Graves an Sir P. Currie. Erzeroum, April 1, 1895. Sir, || I have the honour to report that several bad cases of oppression and extortion on the part of the local authorities are announced from the Caza of Keghi, in the south-west of the Sandjak of Erzeroum, as having occurred within the past few weeks. On the plea of collecting taxes, and by order of the Keghi Kaïmakam and police officers, bodies of gendarmes are said to visit the Armenian villages, where they behave in the most brutal manner, beating and torturing the men, and shamefully ill-using the women, britannien. Nr. 10921. while they live at free quarters upon the villagers. The inhabitants of the Gross- villages Sevkili, Arikli, and Melikan have at last summoned courage to com17. Apr. 1895. plain officially, and telegrams have been sent by them to the Vali, and to the Armenian Archbishop of Erzeroum. The Archimandrite Aristakes, Vicar of Keghi, has also complained that, on his making representations to the Kaïmakam on the subject of one of these acts of injustice, the latter only cursed and abused him, and publicly tore up the written application which he had presented to him. || My Russian colleague, during a recent interview with the Vali, mentioned these complaints to his Excellency, who, however, absolutely denied their truth, and declared that they had been trumped up by the Archimandrite for the purpose of giving trouble. Notwithstanding this denial, I learn that the chief of police, Servet Bey, has left Erzeroum with an escort of gendarmes, and it is believed that he has been ordered to proceed to Keghi to inquire into the alleged abuses. The Vali has also dispatched the Major of Gendarmerie, Mehmed Bey, to inquire into the outrage at Tchipod. These and similar incidents are, no doubt, partly occasioned by the stringent orders from head-quarters to local authorities to collect whatever money can be extracted on account of taxes for the exhausted treasury, and by the way in which the latter now interpret such orders. The gendarmes have hardly returned from beating up the arrears of the past year, when they are sent back to the same village with orders to collect the full "verghi" tax for the year just begun, which is usually paid in instalments spread over the whole year. In cases of this kind, nearly the whole burden is, of course, made to fall upon the Christian minority, and since the Sasun massacres (the extent and nature of which are well known to every inhabitant of the country) have been allowed to go so long unpunished, the opinion has naturally gained ground with the worst class of Moslems, official and otherwise, that the Christians have been delivered into their hands to do with as they please. || This state of affairs, which extends to all the vilayets in this Consular jurisdiction, as your Excellency will have perceived from recent reports, may be expected to grow worse as the summer comes on. The Kurds will then come to take the little that the zaptiehs have left, and complete the ruin of the outlying Christian population, which is only to be averted by such strong and speedy action as the Turkish Government seems unwilling or unable to take. R. W. Graves. Résumé of a Report received from Keghi (Vilayet of Erzeroum). LES déprédations des Kurdes sont ici, plus que jamais, à l'ordre du jour; une bande de douze brigands Kurdes est entrée dans la nuit de 17. Octobre (v. s.) dans le couvent de Sourpe Garabeth, à dix-sept heures de distance du chef-lieu du caza, et après avoir lié le chef gardien et les domestiques, a complètement saccagé et pillé le couvent. La dite bande a aussi emmené les Gross troupeaux du couvent. L'autorité Ecclésiastique Arménienne de Keghi a fait Nr. 10921. les démarches nécessaires, mais le Gouvernement ne s'est adressé à aucune britannien. mesure pour arrêter les brigands. || Tandis que, d'un côté, les Kurdes com- 17. Apr. 1895. mettent toute espèce de cruauté, les Agents du Gouvernement, d'un autre côté, par les vexations qu'ils mettent en pratique dans la perception des impôts, rendent la vie impossible à la pauvre population. || Pressurer et maltraiter les Arméniens, sous prétexte de la perception des impôts, est érigé en système. On lie les Arméniens; on les bat et on les torture. Les gendarmes délégués à la perception, obligent partout la population à fournir gratuitement la nourriture, à eux et à leurs chevaux. | Chaque jour des troupeaux appartenant à des Arméniens sont volés; les voyageurs allant d'une ville à l'autre rencontrent des voleurs en chemin. Si la misère causée par cet état de choses continue, la disparition de la race Arménienne dans ces parages n'est qu'une affaire de temps. | Comme preuve de l'état d'esprit ici, nous signalerons le fait suivant: Une bande de brigands a rencontré dernièrement quelques paysans, Arméniens et Musulmans, qui se rendaient de Keghi à Erzeroum pour vendre des bestiaux. Les brigands ont ordonné aux Musulmans de se retirer avec tout ce qu'ils avaient, et n'ont rien pris de leurs bestiaux; tandis que les Arméniens ont dû laisser entre les mains de ces malandrins tout ce qu'ils possédaient. Résumé of a Report received from Keghi. Le 4 Février (v. s.), 1895. Les vexations des Agents du Gouvernement en ce qui concerne la perception des impôts continue. On va jusqu'à pendre la tête en bas ceux qui ne peuvent s'acquitter de leur dette, à cause de leur misère. || Dernièrement la fièvre typhoïde et la rougeole régnaient ici en état épidémique. La maladie même n'a arrêté les Agents du Gouvernement. On est entré de force dans les maisons des malades et en plusieurs endroits on a vendu leurs matelas pour encaisser l'impôt. || Dans les quarante-six villages se trouvant aux environs de Tokat la cruauté des gendarmes dépasse toute narration. || Le Caïmacam de Keghi, qui montre une grande cruauté dans la perception des impôts du district, a été complimenté par le Vali d'Erzeroum pour son zèle! aussi il n'y a plus rien à espérer des autorités locale et provinciale, en ce qui concerne le soulagement de la population. Telegrams received from Keghi. Le 8 Mars (v. s.), 1895. Tandis que nous nous trouvons incapables de nous acquitter des dîmes de moutons, cinq gendarmes, sont venus, le 3 Mars, dans notre village pour percevoir l'impôt militaire de l'année 1311. La perception se faisait régulièrement, pourtant les dits gendarmes, agissant contrairement à la volonté de Sa Majesté Impériale le Sultan, ont battus cruellement plusieurs personnes et |