admitted by this Government. Nor can the prohibition to use prop- Mr. Foster, Sec. of State, to Mr. Thompson, min. to Turkey, Nov. 29, 1892, "The treatment of the religious and educational establishments of American citizens in Turkey has of late called for a more than usual share of attention. A tendency to curtail the toleration which has so beneficially prevailed is discernible and has called forth the earnest remonstrances of this government. Harassing regulations in regard to schools and churches have been attempted in certain localities, but not without due protest and the assertion of the inherent and conventional rights of our countrymen. Violations of domicile and search of the persons and effects of citizens of the United States by apparently irresponsible officials in the Asiatic vilayets have from time to time been reported. An aggravated instance of injury to the property of an American missionary at Bourdour, in the province of Konia, called forth an urgent claim for reparation, which I am pleased to say was promptly heeded by the government of the Porte. Interference with the trading ventures of our citizens in Asia Minor is also reported, and the lack of consular representation in that region is a serious drawback to instant and effective protection. I can not believe that these incidents represent a settled policy, and shall not cease to urge the adoption of proper remedies." President Harrison, annual message, Dec. 6, 1892, For. Rel. 1892, xv. As to indignities offered to the Rev. Mr. Richardson at Erzerum, see For. With reference to complaints that letters addressed to American missionaries were opened, the Grand Vizier disclaimed any censorship over private correspondence, though one was maintained over printed matter; and orders were issued by the Porte to postal officials not to permit the detention of letters addressed to Americans. (For. Rel. 1892, 537, 556, 590.) As to interference with American missionaries in Syria, see For. Rel. 1893, 635. Early in February, 1893, two native teachers in the Anatolian College, an American institution, at Marsovan, were arrested, and a new building which was in course of erection was destroyed by fire. The Turkish minister of foreign affairs immediately promised that steps would be taken at once to bring the guilty parties to justice and that protection would be given to the college against any outbreak.a The incident was regarded by the United States as so grave as to warrant earnest representations to the Turkish government, and cooperative action with the representatives of Germany and Great Britain at Constantinople in order to secure the repression of disorders, the punishment of offenders, and the protection of life and property. The United States consul at Sivas, who was sent to investigate the case, reported that there existed at Marsovan "a state closely resembling that of siege;" that hundreds of Armenians had been arrested; that the streets were patrolled, the shops closed, and houses searched; that communication by letter and telegraph was largely prohibited; and that Hosref Pasha, chief of the gendarmerie of the province of Sivas, who was charged by the vali to investigate affairs and protect American interests, seemed to be acting in a contrary sense, there being plenty "of testimony reported that he has expressed great animosity toward the college and has expressed also his determination to destroy it." The building that was burned was, as it appeared, "owned for the college in the name of Dr. Melcom (the college physician, or member of the faculty, and one of the local board of directors) because he could get the land at a more reasonable price than the Americans could and because he could obtain a building permit more readily," although there was "reason to believe that the purposes and real ownership of the building were well known to the authorities." The United States insisted upon prompt reparation" for the burning of the American buildings," and the punishment of the offenders, as well as upon a license and full protection a For. Rel. 1893, 593, 596, 597, 598. For. Rel. 1893, 331, 603, 604. c Mr. Jewett, consul at Sivas, to Mr. Hess, U. S. consul-general, Feb. 1893, For. Rel. 1893, 605. See, also, the full report of Mr. Jewett to Mr. Thompson, min. to Turkey, Feb. 21, 1893, id. 609, and the report of Mr. Newberry, April 12, 1893, id. 628. See, also, p. 633, where it appears that all the real estate connected with the college, except the lot on which the burned building stood, was recorded in the name of American citizens. d Mr. Gresham, Sec. of State, to Mr. Thompson, min. to Turkey, tel., April 1, 1893, For. Rel. 1893, 624, for the school and a permit immediately to rebuild." Full satisfaction was promised by the minister of foreign affairs without formal demand; and it was made by the payment of 500 Turkish pounds for the destruction of the unfinished building, the issuance of an iradé granting full permission to rebuild, the removal of Hosref Pasha, and the imprisonment of the chief of police of Marsovan, and the promise of a further iradé guaranteeing protection to the college and exemption from taxation. As to the two native teachers who were imprisoned, the minister of the United States was instructed that it would be proper for him " to endeavor by all suitable means to secure for them a fair trial, with every possible recourse for their defense, and to enlist, through the British ambassador, the kindly offices of Mr. Newton, the British vice-consul at Angora, to this end." a When the missionaries prepared to rebuild, they were advised by the local governor, as well as from Constantinople, to have the land transferred to one of themselves; but, when the papers were made out, they were asked to give a written promise that they would not set up a church, a school, or a hospital on it; and the Turkish government asked for a delay in issuing the firman for the college on account of the unsettled condition of affairs among the Armenians. Orders were issued from Constantinople, however, to have the land transferred and a permit for the building given. A notice having been published that the Porte intended to require all conveyances of land to foreigners to contain a clause prohibiting the use of the property for schools or religious worship, and the minister of foreign affairs having stated that such an order had been under consideration, the American minister sent a written notice to the Porte, reserving the right to protest against the order. The missionaries felt apprehensive as to measures against Euphrates College, which had about 550 students, equally divided between the two sexes. They also stated (December 26, 1893) that they awaited tidings of the granting of a firman for Anatolia College, which the Turkish government had promised during the spring. The government exhibited a disposition to repress places of worship which had no a For. Rel. 1893, 625. b Id. 1893, 626, 627. Mr. Thompson, min. to Turkey, to Mr. Gresham, Sec. of State, April 27, 1893, For. Rel. 1893, 631, 632, 635. d Mr. Gresham, Sec. of State, to Mr. Newberry, chargé d'affaires ad int., May 15, 1893, 632. e For. Rel. 1893, 669, 672, 677, 679, 694. 1 For. Rel. 1893, 678-679, 700. “This Government thinks it has a right to expect full compliance with promise to issue iradé to Marsovan College. Delay incomprehensible." (Mr. Gresham, Sec. of State, to Mr. Terrell, min. to Turkey, tel., Aug. 31, 1894, For. Rel. 1894, 740.) In April, 1895, a demand was made for the iradé, and it was issued. (For. Rel. 1895, II. 1236.) firman, and the missionaries complained that restrictions upon printed matter became more and more severe. For. Rel. 1894, 702, 706, 707. For an acknowledgment by Turkey that the rights acquired by foreigners January 16, 1895, the American legation at Constantinople reported that an iradé, forever exempting the American college for girls at Scutari from payment of taxes, had been issued in recognition of "good work done in educating His Majesty's Christian subjects.” For. Rel. 1895, II. 1232. This incident is mentioned in President Cleveland's annual message of Dec. 2, 1895, For. Rel. 1895, I. xxxv. It seems that the delivery of the iradé in this case, there being no new buildings to be constructed, was equivalent to a firman. (For. Rel. 1895, II. 1235.) In 1896, Mr. Terrell, American minister at Constantinople, sent out a circular to persons in charge of American schools in Turkey, in which he made certain inquiries concerning such schools and their treatment during the Armenian troubles. The general substance of the responses, as stated by Mr. Terrell, was that no schools taught by American citizens had for several years been closed, and that Mohammedans were rarely if ever found in such schools. The difficulty had, he said, arisen with regard to the establishment of schools with native Armenians as teachers, and such schools had very generally been closed before 1893. For. Rel. 1897, 570–582. In one of his dispatches Mr. Terrell, referring to a letter which he had received from the Rev. L. O. Lee, of Marash, said: "If the continuance of American missionaries in Turkey depends upon their being protected in the right to establish and control schools when and where they please, which are not to be taught by American citizens, and which yet shall be free from the authority of the Turkish gov ernment to permit or close them at will, then the stay of missionaries here will not be long. Mr. Lee's letter makes a plain statement of the missionary claim. It ignores the sovereign right of the govern- See Mr. Gresham, Sec. of State, to Mr. Dodds, Jan. 30, 1895, 200 MS. In 1896, special telegraphic orders were repeated by the Porte to the For a protest against the efforts of local officials to destroy the patronage of American schools, and an intimation that, whether such schools were broken up by destroying their building or by intimidating their patrons, in either case values were destroyed where investments had been made under the protection of treaties, see Mr. Terrell, min. to Turkey, to Mr. Gresham, Sec. of State, No. 52, Sept. 4, 1893, For. Rel. 1893, 678. The conviction of a native teacher in an American school in Turkey on the charge of having in his possession a copy of Shelley's poems containing the "Revolt of Islam" was considered a "frivolous and vexatious interference," justifying an appeal for justice for the teacher and for his release from the penalty imposed upon him. It seemed that the teacher's father had suffered a year's imprisonment for possessing a hymn book containing the Sunday-school hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers." It was thought that this might be used in supporting an appeal for justice toward the son, but that no direct intervention in behalf of the father was practicable, since he was neither an American citizen nor apparently employed in an American school. Mr. Adee, Act. Sec. of State, to Mr. Terrell, min. to Turkey, Sept. 6, 1895, February 2, 1903, Mr. Hay, as Secretary of State, in a telegram to Mr. Leishman, American minister at Constantinople, stated that the attention of the President had lately been called by a numerous delegation of prominent citizens to the embarrassments of American educational and religious institutions in the Turkish Empire. Mr. Leishman was instructed to ask an audience of the Sultan, and in the President's name to bring these embarrassments to his Majesty's attention. What the President desired and expected, said Mr. Hay, |