Show censorship IN TURKEY in the early part of this year the council of the evangelical alliance in london an association celebrated for its ite disinterested efforts in behalf of persecuted sects fleets in various countries appealed to the foreign department of the english government to interfere in armenia this led to further in vesti gatton gation by or of the alliance and ad a report covering the general situation in turkey the corn com consisting of five british and broo Amer american loan members point out oat that there has been a gradually increasing tendency among turkish official from the sultan to the lowest representatives of the law to annul the agreement arrived at after the crimean war and to restore the status which at that time cost europe oue one of the fiercest struggles of this age the committee on this point say we have yet to learn of any extended or serious attempt by the government to punish aggressions upon the lives and property of its christian subjects in these important provinces had the plan been officially adopted to wage an indirect war upon the ChriS christians Lians by crushing them by reducing them to poverty and by clearing them off from the face of the ground in order to replace them by a mohammedan population the means could not have been more effectually chosen nor the more steadily pursued the report shows that since 1881 non have been thrown out or at office systematically and that measures of vital interest to the sub jul gated race are constantly formed mud aud executed by their oppressors torture is in applied in order to obtain 9 one instance la 18 men man boned in which an armenian at ag mar iovin was beaten nearly to death t torce force him to sign a do dollora olora glou that certain americans were witti armenian rebels property belonging to lu christians to is not irmi reubem roo bere and it is doofe quenby apar by say any one strong enough to take it away and hold bold it if the comor ship exercised by turkish authorities throws a flood of light upon the he existing conditions the likht olai claimed by the government to exclude from tue country all or morally bad literature is not die lut but this prerogative la Is lo in many places in turkey su so as ae to exclude everything every thing the ignorant officials either do not understand or mi sunder stand and the consequence conee quence is that travelers sometimes find themselves robbed of what boche boobs they way may happen to carry with them for their own recreation the last censorship law was wae issued in january 1895 and it given a lit list of prohibited I 1 bi to 1 sub acts so 0 o broad as to cover nearly all higner literature it requires the censor to prohibit any bour book in which a doubtful son gen tence la is found fouad and fixes a pen alty not only for selling but tor for transporting from one place to another books or papers papera not authorized by thin means meana the book trade is ie entirely destroyed dea troyed and the people are prevented from keeping in touch with the ad of knowledge antho in abe world they are doomed to dark dear oese with regard to publications to in the empire the most stringent rules rulea exist A bible text must auf nut be quoted in a newspaper oo on the plea it generally la is unsuited for ur the be people or even dangerous for int instance tAnce a text on the rising from the abe dead is considered unsafe because to rise might suggest revolution As dangerous daog arous passages passage of the bible are specifically known all that contain any of we ne following words persecution courage liberty strength rights union I 1 equality star tar king kludt palace arms bloodshed tyranny and hero these words are prohibited la in religious writing in any context whatever another Ao other olam clan of expressions are forbidden in writing and in speech on various grounds good news new athe the literal translation of the greek word usually rendered gospel is prohibited hibi ted because we the mohammedan stay cay the christian gospel is not good news io the word apostle to is also prohibited because it implies that the first brat representatives of the religion of jesus were messengers ap from the almighty which moslems deny and for similar reasons refe references rentes to the savior and the atonement 1 are in ted the effect of such laws to in the bands of officials filled with prejudice and of often tan hatred of non modam madans is in easily imagined the english government is urged to use its influence for the restoration of equality between the Christ christiana lanm and mohammedan edans edam in turkey in order to save the empire from the consequences consequence of a fatally erroneous policy this may be generous but even it if the suggestion were acted upon it would prove useless the cancer that bat is now poisoning the turkish body politic ag a it lies has done for a bonit time past has baa has been out cut repeatedly only to break out anew ew treaties and conventions have been steeped in the blood of unfortunate nations the kinship in creed to christian europe while Engli alk statesmen have washed their bonds bands bromall from all responsibility and prop sed now new treaties it is in now generally recognized that reform is in impracticable ble and that nothing but separation between the two races will ever insure peace in that part of the world so long bleeding under the oppression of foreign taskmaster task masters |