'General information on Persia for any future edition, 1895' [‎53v] (97/211)

Inclosure 2 in No. 10.
Vice-Consul Devey to Sir IV. White.
g* r Van, January 12, 1891.
1 ’ I HAVE the honour to forward a Memorandum bearing upon Armenian grievances
and the pretensions based thereon, as well as upon the false lights shed upon such
questions by certain newspaper paragraphs.
I have, &c.
(Signed) GEORGE POLLARD DEVEY.
Inclosure 3 in No. 10.
Memorandum on the Misleading Views respecting Armenian Affairs disseminated by
paragraphs periodically recurring in certain Newspapers, in particular the ‘ Daily
News,” and upon the Condition of Kurds and Armenians generally.
ARTICLES headed “Anarchy, Troubles, or Disturbances in Armenia” have been
constantly published throughout the past year, and the substance of these articles is
more often than not either wholly without foundation or most grossly distorted.
It would he a tiresome task to examine in detail the mass of such allegations,
hut to pitch at random upon a telegram dated Igdyr and entitled “ Ihe Disorder in
Armenia,” in the “Daily News” of the 16th September, 1890, its statements and
insinuations may he regarded as generally erroneous and false; and it is follow ed by a
letter from “ Minasse Tcheraz,” addressed to Mr. Gladstone, of much the same type on
“ Religious Persecution.”
Or, again, the “ Daily New r s ” of the 3rd December, 1890, announces the desecra
tion of a church at Mush and slaughter of eighteen Armenians, names given. w
Or, again, a reported massacre of Christians in the town of Mush (“ Daily New r s,
the 20th August, 1890) never took place; and, a little below, a priest, escaped from
Van, says that but for the presence of the Russian and British Consuls no one s life
would be safe ; as it is, the oppression is intolerable.
Such asseverations as the above scarcely call for serious notice.
Numbers of other similar outrageous expressions are constantly published, e.g.,
tnat “ the present policy of the Turks seemed to be to exterminate the Armenians
entirely,” and a recent telegram stated that the Turkish Government had furnished
Martini-Henry rifles to the Kurds in the Armenian districts, as repeated by a Member
of Parliament in the House of Commons on the 7th August last. And even after
refutation, the same accusation of the Government distributing arms and inciting
Kurds to destroy Armenians is persisted in.
Reference was also made on the same occasion (the 7th August) to a change which
had been made in the abolition of the protection formerly given to the Christian
population.
Beys and Aghas in bygone times used to levy contributions and protect the
“ Rayahs ” around them; these, wdiile still continuing to pay such blackmail, are
exposed to raids by Kurds, Circassians, tribes, and others, and though taxes are
exacted from them by the Government, no efficient protection is to he had.
Remnants of the old system, indeed, still survive in remote corners, hut the
practice of blackmailing is steadily discouraged hy local authorities. A hare half-
dozen years ago it existed in Shattakh Caza, for instance, to a much greater extent,
whereas now r it is all hut extinct.
Possibly, it would he often just as well that there should he no intervention
between such feudatories and their tyrants, in view of the impossibility of entering
into all the relations between the parties ; there may he questions, for instance, of
property in land, furnishing shepherds or watchmen, use of pasturage, feeding cattle
in winter, supply of seed, corn, &c., all of w hich circumstances are suppressed hy those
who would represent the Armenian peasant as in all cases the victim of the Bey. The
danger at such a conjuncture is lest an Agha here and there he tempted, as he feels his
pristine power and influence slipping from him, to secretly encourage raids and acts of
violence in order to appear as intermediary and thus retain his status of respect and
quasi-authority before the local Government.
In respect of the Beys and Aghas mistaken notions are prevalent, such as that