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Show SPATS WITH THE TURKS Our naval commanders on the coast of is a M nor understand better than they d d the old adage that he who looks for trouble shall f nd it When ever one of our warships has cruised along the coast of Anatolia s nee Tur itey procla med a holy war it has be come involved in some trouble w th the inhab tants Our sh ps were sent for the purpose of protect ng Amer can 1 ves and property but on eachjoeca on when confl ct has ar sen w th the Turks (the d spute has been with refer ence to non Amer cans The commander of the lorth Carolina was compelled to threaten a mob with shell fire unless they de sted from the r attacks upon French res dents who boarded the Amer lean steamer Virginia at Tr poll n Svr a Thn Amer can commander acted Just as every Amer can expected h m to act If he had fa led to protect the Frenchmen we should have been ashamed of h m. Americans were glad to ava 1 ""then selves of s milar protection at lampico last spring when through the r'Vrbmpt act on of Captain Koehler of the German cruiser Dresden American n en women and children were pro tected, from a Mexican mob The same Capta n Koehler by thai way brought gJusphp sayxotpf 1&a, f gH with Hthe English near the Falliland islands but js now be ng pursued with 1 ttle 'itfhance' of niak ng good h s escape w A few weeks ago the state depart tjjinent at "Wash ngton gave the two ft American naval commanders m the Mediterranean str ct orders to avoid trouble with the Turks For fear that Sthe commapders ni ght n olve th s 1 country jn the European war by some " precip tate and unwise conduct the state department laid do vn a set of i r gid rules most of wh ch we have for gotten and some of wh ch the com ! mander of the North Carolina probably has been unable to keep in; mind f: If the state department at Washing ?! ton wishes to prevent any friction be j tween onr commanders and the Turk f sh population our warsh ps should be t recalled As long as they remain m Turkish waters the chances for trouble are most premising Wherever the sh ps ij go they probably w 11 f nd English French and Buss an people be ng per secuted by the Turks If our com ? manders refuse a d and perm t the in ' nocent to be killed or lnmred they i w 11 deserve only our contempt The admimstrat on at Wash ngton should be prepared to fa e the s tuat on as it s If the ships are withdrawn Amer can 5 interests may suffer and some Amer icans are 1 able to lose the r lives If fc the ships rema n they will be called 1 1 upon occas onally to protect other than Amer cans and we shall r sk becom ng involved in a war with Turkey |