Page:Islam, Turkey, and Armenia, and How They Happened.djvu/185

Rh war, which caused considerable decrease in the number of the Mohametan element. All these things were facts which the Armenians could not help, and the Turks would not stand indifferent. It was repugnant and alarming to the haughty Mohametan to see the multitudes of Christians in the streets on Sundays and young "infidels" crowding the roads on their way to and from schools every day.

According to the last "Scheme of the Armenian Reforms," prepared by the representatives of the six great Powers and forcibly signed by the Sultan, the governors in the six provinces should be elected in proportion with the numbers of two parties. This would create a great change in the fabric of the old despotism, securing some Armenian governors to the first position. Hence the question of numbers was the crisis of "To be or not to be" in the palace and the porte.

2. Turks were Jealous of the Increasing Wealth of the Armenians. As a reaction of the Armenian dark ages, which continued from the middle of the fourteenth to the middle of the nineteenth century, these last forty to fifty years offered a better chance for commercial movements, especially to those who live in large towns and seaports where there was more safety and freedom. The long suppressed business ability of the Armenian race showed itself in the banks and commercial circles of the capital and provincial centers; extending its branches also in every commercial city of Europe and of the United States. Even the greatest distance of the British