No. 722.
Mr. Blaine
to Mr. Wallace.
Department
of State,
Washington, August 8,
1881.
No. 8.]Sir: Referring to recent instructions touching the
subject of brigandage in Turkey, I desire to forward herewith, for your
information, a copy of a letter from the secretary of the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions, at Boston, of the 27th ultimo, in
relation to the insecurity of life and property of American missionaries in
that empire. The murder of Dr. Parsons, mentioned in the inclosed letter,
has heretofore been the subject of much correspondence between this
Department and the legation at Constantinople, as a reference to the files
of the latter will show, and was especially presented in my instruction to
you of the 29th of June last, No. 3.
In view of the emphatic and unmistakable character of that instruction, it
has not been thought necessary to direct you specially at the present
time.
Commending the matter to your earnest consideration, however,
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure in No. 8.]
Mr. Clark to Mr.
Blaine.
Sir: I beg to call your attention to the long
delay in inflicting capital punishment on the murderer of Dr. Parsons,
of Nicomedia. Of the three murderers, two were sentenced to imprisonment
for life and one to be hung. The sentence was secured only through the
interposition of the representative of the United States Government; and
further effort on the part of the government is now necessary to secure
the condign punishment of the murderer. While this punishment is
delayed, the life and property of the American missionaries scattered
through the country are in great peril. In fact, since the death of Dr.
Parsons they have suffered more than in any five previous years since
our missionaries went into that empire. Mr. Montgomery, in Northern
Syria, and parry were robbed but a few months since. Mr. Perry, in the
central part of Asia Minor, was also attacked by a party of robbers and
stripped of everything. Dr. Barnum, on his way from Harpoot to
Constantinople, was also robbed, but by remarkable address succeeded in
persuading his robbers to return to him most of what they had taken. Mr.
Pierce, within a few miles, comparatively, of Constantinople, has been
attacked by robbers. As there are more than one hundred missionaries of
the board scattered through the empire, whose lives and property are
thus in constant peril, and all the more that sentence against the
murderer of Dr. Parsons was not executed, we beg to call the attention
of the State Department and ask that special instructions be given to
the representative of our government at Constantinople. I do not know
but more will be required than simple representations; a naval
demonstration has been necessary on two occasions to secure the
execution of murderers of missionaries.
I am also instructed by the prudential committee to call your attention
to a flagrant act of injustice just perpetrated by a Turkish judge in
Bitlis in Koordistan, in the eastern part of the empire. It appears that
Rev. George C. Knapp, on going to Bitlis twenty-two years since, rented
a house for a year; but before the year had expired the house was sold
at auction by the government. Rather than be turned out of his house,
Mr. Knapp overbid others and secured the house. Last winter a judge came
from Constantinople, who has just decided that the house was illegally
sold, and that Mr. Knapp must give it up to a pretended claimant, and,
in addition, pay L. T. 200 for costs. Mr. Knapp has enlarged his house
during his occupancy, on several occasions, and the property is much
better now than when he first took it. The claimant insists that he will
not be content with less than L. T. 1,000, and the attempt is made to
wrest this large house, or this sum, from the missionary. It is a pure
piece of injustice from first to last, unprecedented almost even in
Turkey. Mr. Knapp has appealed
[Page 1188]
to the American minister at Constantinople. The whole thing is of a
piece, however, with the indifference now manifest to the rights of
Americans in the empire. I hope it may be sufficient simply to have
appealed to the American minister; but the indifference shown to former
representations in the various cases above mentioned leads the
prudential committe of the American Board to feel that a representation
should be made here to the State Department.
Very sincerely, yours,
N. G. CLARK,
Foreign Secretary
American Board of Commissioners of Foreign
Missions.
