Mr. Riddle to Mr.
Olney.
Legation of the United States,
Constantinople, June 22, 1896.
(Received July 9.)
No. 901.]
Sir: Referring to your instruction No. 938, of
April 15, and my dispatch No. 873, of May 16, in relation to the alleged
protest of a certain number of Armenians of Harpoot against the presence
and teaching of foreign missionaries in that city, I have the honor to
transmit to you herewith an extract from a dispatch on this subject from
Mr. Fontana, British vice-consul at Harpoot, to the British chargé
d’affaires.
The result of Mr. Fontana’s inquiries seems clearly to indicate that this
petition does not contain the spontaneous expression of the wishes of
those signing it.
I have, etc.,
J. W. Riddle,
Chargé d’Affaires ad
interim.
[Page 857]
[Inclosure in No. 901.]
Extract from a dispatch from Mr. Fontana,
British vice-consul at Harpoot.
The circumstances under which the petition for the recall of the
American missionaries was signed were such as would seem to render
it anything but a genuine statement of the wishes of the
signators.
The “petition” was carried round by various Turkish officials, who
began their rounds the day after the disturbance occurred.
The Armenians, still in great dread, were ready to sign anything from
sheer terror. Many of those who signed had bound white turbans round
their heads and had temporarily accepted Islamism to escape from
death. A number of them subsequently called on Dr. Barnum and told
him of the paper they had signed, expressing at the same time their
regret from having been compelled through fear to attach their
signatures to a document containing false accusations against
them.
I have myself conversed with six or seven of the signators, who
assure me that they signed through fear and for no other reason, and
that they consider that the presence of the mission here has been a
great blessing to the people in general. Three of them, moreover,
declared that they did not even read the document presented to them.
Another man whose name figures among the signatures at the foot of
the protest declared to me that he never even saw that protest, much
less signed it. A certain Armenian, I learn on good authority,
signed several other names besides his own.
The attempt of Government officials to bring about the expulsion of
missionaries a day or two after the mission had been bombarded by
Government troops would appear too significant to call for comment
of any kind.
I have, etc.,
