In a letter written late in March, to the Duke of Argyle, chairman of the Armenian Relief Committee, Mr. Gladstone said, “that he hopes that nobody will suppose that deplorable and ignominious failure of Europe to do her duty in Armenia will in any way diminish the force of the present appeal (for aid) to Christian pity.”
But what about this deplorable and ignominious failure of Europe to do her duty? Lord Salisbury has gravely assured the nation that England is utterly powerless to alleviate the lot of the Armenians in Turkey. If this be true and the Porte should choose to finish his work of extermination, must all the world stand by and see it done and no arm be raised to defend the helpless? If so, woe to the world when the Lord God of hosts shall arise to avenge the blood of a slaughtered race.
When the first rumors of a massacre at Sassoun was confirmed in all essential details, the Government had to act quickly and somewhat decidedly, to avoid a swelling storm of indignation, that might break with serious effect upon their heads.
Two courses of action were open to England, either to use all her power of persuasion, with some strong language, by way of emphasis, to induce the Porte to bring the officials to justice and obtain a guarantee that no such massacres should be permitted in the future, or sound an alarm and call on all the Powers of Europe for an armed intervention, in which case she must be ready to cast in her heaviest weight of men and metal. As the responsibility for the terrible state of affairs in Armenia was due to England’s neglect, in not enforcing reforms, essential to prevent such awful scenes, she should have secured from the Powers their consent to let her thrash the Turks in Constantinople and Anatolia, while the fleets anchored in the Bosphorus to protect the “balance of power” when the deed was done.
A guarantee from the Powers, that England would not be permitted to occupy Constantinople, might have satisfied Russia, or have prevented any interference in the carrying out the purpose of delivering the Armenians from further outrages and massacres. In that case the dissolution of “the Sick Man” might have been the solution of the Eastern question.
At least unless England knew that the Powers would stand by her the threat of using force was stupid folly. A conference of the Powers was a necessity and the pledge of concurrence or armed neutrality should have been given before she began to bait the Sultan. It has been known for years that the Sultan is the last man to be controlled by mere sentiment. He only yields to necessity, to force actually present, to guns trained upon him. He was never scared by all the letters and the threats of the English Government. He knew the Powers were not agreed to use force.
Sir Philip Currie telegraphed to Lord Kimberley:
“I impressed upon His Excellency (said Pasha) as forcibly as I could that the only safe course for the Turkish Government was to authorize the Commission to make a fair and impartial inquiry; that failing this they would be held responsible for the cruelties perpetrated on the Armenians by the local authorities, and that the feeling aroused in Europe was such that if these cruelties were not punished, active interference from without must be looked for.”
Town and Citadel of Van.