November 6, 1890
PROF. BRYCE DESCRIBES THE CONDITION OF ARMENIA
Prof. James Bryce addressed an audience of Armenians yesterday afternoon at the Grand Opera House Council Booms, Eighth Avenue and Twenty-third Street. Before beginning his address he was presented with a memorial thanking him in warmest terms for his efforts on behalf of suffering Armenia.
“The Cruelties of the Turk” was Prof. Bryce’s theme. No words, he said, could paint the condition of affairs in Armenia blacker than it really was, and, although the Turkish Government had laid the blame on the local Governors, it was itself culpable, from the Sultan down, in not having lifted a finger to check the oppression of the Armenians.
The attention of European statesmen was now being drawn to the state of affairs in Armenia, and if there was no change in it Russia would soon interfere. The English Government had not done its duty toward Armenia, and jealousies among the different European powers made concerted action difficult, but it would come in time.
Prof. Bryce advised that all insurrections be abstained from by the Armenians. There was no chance for success, and a repetition of the Bulgarian massacre would probably be the result. H. M. Kiretchjian, a young Armenian in the audience, here said that the Armenian colony here had received plans of an insurrection projected by the revolutionary party in Armenia, and asked what else could be expected from men goaded to desperation. Prof. Bryce replied that patience and moderation must be practiced, and urged the Armenians in this country to contribute to the education as well as the material wants of their countrymen.
