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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 1904)
America's Big Interests in Turkey V tCupjilgnt, fcy TL C, McCrare.) Ceorge T. Herrick. author of this article,. iu been Intimately associated with AmerJ out missionary enterprise In Turkey since S. when he wu sent out as a missionary, ir the American Board of Commissioners or Foreign Missions. For three years ha vas presiiMnt of Anatolia college (1890-3) nentioned fi the article, lie has translated he Bible Into Turkish, is the author of ooka 00 religion published in the Turkish anguage, and - in many other ways has taken an active part In the work of spread- Ens; Christianity throughout the sultan' Elomalns. It is unnecessary to say that Sir. Henick Is an authority on the subject pbout which ha writes. Editor. !'"v. r "V.V: v'; ":''":'' " V :.t. 1MB four years ago France seised rs the island of Mltyierie. It waa , vigorous French plainly 'written 1 for Ottoman reading. It meant! -I "That Ion Dendlna- question about the pecuniary claims of tw6 of our Citizens has hung- fire long enough. We WU1 have It settled now. With this we will Wipe off old scores and clear our docket. JFarioua charitable Institutions have been Mitt bv French subjects In different localities in Turkey in accord with treaty encasements. These institutions have con- Stantly suffered from captious objection to repairs of buildings, or the erection of. necessary new buildings, and. from vexa tious custom house and police interference. All such interference must henceforth ceass and the Institutions must be formally and publicly recognized as having a legal status." . - This , language, so uttered, was tinder stood. The demands of Franca were ae ceded to. Subsequently, with no resort to ether than diplomatic, means, Rurala, Ger-' many and Great Britain obtained the same, recognition for educational, religious and charitable institutions established by Rus sians, Germans and Britons, respectively. Nearly two years ago the government at Washington demanded, through the ordl- nary diplomatic channels, the formal re cog- ( nltlon of American Institutions, educational 1 and philanthropic, which have been estab lished in accord both with usage ah antl quo and with treaty rights and obligations existing between the Ottoman and the United, States governments. The demand was to have these institutions recognised as possessing a legal status, and no longer exposed to injurious Intermeddling by ig norant, prejudiced or overs oalous official. Our government said in effect to the sul tan: "We demand to be treated as you have treated your friends and ouf friends serosa the water. Will you accord us this right?" It seemed at Washington too long to wait twenty months for any answer to so reasonable a demand. Hence the recent order for the louder utterance. Our commercial and political Interests in Turkey; though antedating those interests of a philanthroplo nature now under con sideration, were and still are on their own merits almost a negligible quantity. ' It is more than seventy years since the first N representatives of American Christlaa phil anthropy took up their residence at tho Turkish capital. For many years 'there after no American institutions ex isted there; no property Interests re quired protection; American cltlsens en Joyed the rights of domicile, of travel, of ' prosecuting their benevolont work unhin dered. When. In February, 1903, s list of the American Institutions whose legal recogni tion was demanded was furnished to the officials of the saltan's-government, they were astonished to find in Turkey, Including Syria, 300 American Institutions, schools of higher and lower grades, hospitals, print ing offices, chapels and residences; and, I dare say, many a good American will bo astonished even now to lian the extent of these interests. Ths property interests Involved exceed U.OOO.OQO. ,There is hardly an Important center of influence in the country, on the seaboard or In the Interior, where American Christian enterprise is not in evidence. These representatives of the civilisation of the .west are and always have been scrup ulously observant of all treaty obligations, , always and everywhere, and by voloe sr.d pen inculcate loyalty to their rulers to the people who. come under their Influence. They max themselves be both democrats and republicans, proud ' of the ccuntiy of their birth. But It does not take mnry . years of residence or prolonged experfence amid the conditions by which they are sur rounded to. convince them, If they ever thought otherwise, that what Is excellent. "both politically and socially, for an Occi dental may be unsuited or at least too early by half a mlllenlum tor an Oriental."' But Intelligence, education, whether through schools or through the press, medi cal fklll and hospital care, relief adminis tered without retard to race or rreed In times of widespread calamity, nnd Chris tian living. Illustrating Christian teaching none of tliose is out of place anywhere, and titers are' few places on this pis net "where tbsy are now more urgently needed than among the peoples under ths sway of the sultan of Turkey, Chief among these American philanthroplo enterprises Is the Bible House at Constanti nople, consisting of three four-story build ings, TO j 8tt feet, worth, . with . their con tents, $600,000- They .contain two presses, two binderies, a chapel, three ample, stock ROBERT COL.LEOB AT CONSTANTINOPLE ONE OF THE TOWERS OF THE FAMOUS ROUMALI CASTLE SHOWS ON LEFT OF PICTURE. rooms for books and printed sheets, and many ' business offices. BIMes in many languages, and in many editions are there printed, and thence sent all over the em pire. There,' also, the various constituent elements of a Christian literature are pre pared and printed and sent on their wny. This is the sole fountain of rcudlny which Is o(. permanent value of the several races of the Turkish population. The total Is sue Is about 200,000 volumes a year. The Bible House was erected In 1870-71 and dedi cated in 1872. Then there Is Robert college, the leading educational Institution in Turkey, apart from Syria. It was founded by the late Christopher Robert of New York. It . oc cupies one of the finest sites' on the beauti ful Bosphorus. Its buildings and plant r.nd Invested funds are valued at fSOO.000. The buildings are as substantial as the histori cal college building In Amerls.i; Indeed, ths average educational and philanthroplo en terprise in Turkey is, on the whole, ss well housed as it could be In the states. It has about SCO pupils, is protected by Im perial firman, and Its Influence in the capi tal and In Bulgaria has been great. Rob ert college was started -with four boj-d in 18tHsin a temporary bulletin;?, and was re moved to Its present site In 170. The well known Dr. Cyrus Hamlin was IU first pres ident, and his son-in-law, Dr. George Wash burn, has Just retired front the prer.Uency of the colege after thirty-five yer.rs of serv ice. : Dr. Washburn Is the first living au thority on the pollUco-religl'ius jroblems of the nearer east. The Syria Protestant college at Bcyroot, founded In 1865, and with a property con siderably larger than that of Robert col lege, holds ojt-the Syrian coast a position of Influence quite as unique as that of Rob ert college at the capital. IU number of pupils Is greater,, and it has a medical de partment, which no other American col-w lege In Turkey has. Its first president. Dr. Samuel Bliss, baa Just resigned and Is suc ceeded by his eldest son. Several of ths medical faculty have gained distinction In their profession. There is also at Beirut an important printing and publishing estab lishment, the best fountain existing of pur Arabic literature. Besides those already mentioned there arc seven American colleges In Turkey, and as many more high schools of a grade that fltspuplls to enter the sophomore year of the ; colleges. Two of these colleges and five of the, high schools are for girls. The American College for Girls, splendidly alt- . --i.; ym v w a - w x BCENH ON A QUAT AT BMTRNA II! uated on the Asiatic shore of the Bos- phorus. Is an Institution of a high grade, with a corps of eight American and eight native professors and Instructors, and 160 pupils In its several departments. It has a charter from the state of Mar aschuretts and an Imperial firman. It was t tar ted as a home school in 1870 and became a co'.legs in 1?92. The college. for girls at Marash, In the Province of Aleppd, Is a young institu Ion, buthas a future full of promise, because It has a large and devoted native constitu ency. Central Turkey college, situated at, Aln tab. In the Province of Aleppo, In the m dst of the large and Influential Protestant com munity of that city, was established Just thirty years ago, and has grown Into a commanding position and extends wide Influence- In Turkey. It has eleven instruc tors, and of its graduates obout forty have become physicians, as many more are preachers and a much larger number have become teachers. It has good tvtl'd'ng and equipment and funda cf about C5O.C00. The Euphrates college at Hnrpoot, be yond the Euplir-Ues, wos established In 1876, and Is the enly Institution of high grade which taches both hoys and girls under the samo administration, and whtch also includes all grades of pupils, from the kindergarten to the college, more than 1,000 in all. It has funds of about $80,000. Anatolia college at Marsovan, In the province of Blvaa, was established as a college in 1886. Side by side with It is a girls' boarding school, and there are 400 pupils In the two Institutions. The Mis sion Theological school Is also located at Marsovan. Anatolia college has fairly good buildings, an able corps of Instructors, American and native, and what was said concerning the college at Alntab holds also of Its graduates, except that a large proportion of them have become leading business men. The funds of the college are 140,000. The colleges at Alntab and at Marsovan have Imperial firmans. The two other American colleges, vis: that at Tarsus and the International .col lege at Smyrna, are still younger. The latter became a college two years ago, but already has 260 pupils, and Is more nearly elf-supporting than any other of the American colleges in Turkey. Two of the oldest and most Important of ths high schools arc that for boys at Bardesag, near Nlcomedla, and that for girls at Adabaxar on the Anatolian rail way. ' .2.lt-iStlI.l.-.A:.-. , Recent years have witnessed the estab lishment of American hospitals In most of those large centers of the Interior of the' country, such as Bey root, Alntab, Caesarea, Mardln, Marsovan and Van, where no hos pitals before existed. In these- hospitals, and In the dispensaries connected with . them, scores of thousands of the suffering are treated every year! Ihis work Is done wholly irrespective of race or creed. It is beneficent work, wlilch is highly appre ciated by all races and all classes of the heterogeneous population of the Ottoman empire. It is supoeed by some once and again ' United States ministers have come to Con stantinople with this Idea that American, missionaries run to their ministers and consuls whenever they meet with any dlf- Acuity raised by local TurkWli olliter. Nothing could b further from the facts. Ninety-nine cases out of every 100 cf such difficulties are settled by direct face to lac conference between the American resi dent and the Turkish officials. The dis tinctly reactionary movement In recent years away from the more liberal scntl ments of thirty or forty years ago has greatly Increased the necessity that Ameri can educators, and missionaries are now under for appealing to representatives cf their government for assistance and re dress. The most serious occasion for complaint Is found In the Turkish aversion to doing todJy what can be postponed until tmor- , row, that extreme reluctance to doing at all whatever Is unwelcome, even when it is acknowledged that sooner or later it must bedone. It took six years to secure the permis sion for the erection of the first Hubert college building, and no subsequent erec tion of additional buildings has been possi ble except after a delay of at least two years. It took six years to get the Turk ish government to pay the Indemnity for the destruction of buildings In l&to. It has taken twice six years and It Is not accomplished yct-o , get yermlsnton to erect a chapel on a site long since pur chased In Stamboul. There Is absolutely -ro valid reasons for all this delay. Amer ican missionaries have complied with the vexatious requirements of the new school law of 18C9, according to whtch not only must all text books be submitted to the representatives of the Department of Pub- . Ho Instruction, but the qualification of teachers also must be Judged by them. A larger number of American Interests are affected by this law than by any other. , Unhappily, In Its enforcement schools lave often been arbitrarily closed and teachers and pupjls have been placed under arrest, even when no offense bas been charged. The comedy, as well as the obstructlve ness of the requirement concerning text books and teachers, becomes evident when it Is noted that men who know only Turk ish and next to nothing of science are ap pointed to pass Judgment on the text books of an American college In an Interior city, and on the qualifications of Its professors, Some of the Judges could not pass an ex amination for admission into any class of the college, except ths lowest prepara tory class. . . , . lAmerioan missionaries comply wlthths) Continued on Page TenJ rssfirsn