Page:Islam, Turkey, and Armenia, and How They Happened.djvu/184



Two of the fundamental causes which underlie every Turkish massacre have already been discussed in the previous chapters namely: The anti-Christian spirit of Islam and the savage nature of Tartaric blood. Besides these general causes, there were some special motives which led "The Gracious Father of the Ottoman Empire" to these late deeds of unparalleled devastation and death.

1. The Multiplication of the Armenians in the Empire Excited the Jealousy of the Turks. The last and careful census made about twelve years ago perplexed the Turkish Government over the unexpected and sad condition of numbers of the people. Armenians, as Christian and civilized people, live a moral life, regarding also the physical and hygienic laws; on the other hand, the Turks were not only slow in increase, but were found diminished in numbers. This decrease was due to several reasons, such as the practice of polygamy, vice of abortion, constant supply of military troops and loss of life in wars, ignorance and carelessness in respect to the laws of health, and fatalistic refusal of preventive and curative means in times of epidemics, which are frequent in Turkey. Besides, a goodly portion of the country was severed from the empire since the last