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what the N, Y, “Tribune” “Respectfully Referred to the Office Cat” “THE VITAL
ISSUE" Respectfully Refers to the FAIR AMERICAN PEOPLE
IN THE “TRIBUNE,” MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21ST, WE FIND THE FOLLOWING LETTER:
RESPECTFULLY REFERRED TO THE OFFICE CAT.
To the Editor of “The Tribune."
- . ‘ ' ' “Tl Tribune” , M .
Sir. In answer to your accusation published inhat beds Iooks like an attempt on me part of The Re“, York Tnbum” to
based on ignorance. and impudenee, we beg to state t
inliuencc public opinion against us German-Americans.
You claim. that so far you only received two letters from the
of September 16 that our letter of September 14 was
German-American Literary Defence Commillcci 110111 of
which you printed. May we ask what you did with the letters sent to Y0“-
First (on September ll)-On Belgian atrocities.
Second (On September 4)gIn which 0,“. VicC.prc5ident protested against the undignilied cartoon, “The New Triple
Alliance."
Third (on September 3)-In which I protested against t
Oberliauser, forwar
Fourth (on September 16)-By Mr.
he cartoon, “Firm makes an appropriate gift."
dad to you through our committee.
. I 2 -F d d tl 1 ur Committee on English History. .
Elciii )2e6r)-)In W(I'lrl‘0vl':l“O11er Vl(ig?Ii1l'gE;lCi)Cnl’. calls your attention to an article by Mme. Picard.
New York, Sept. 19, 1914.
ALBERT A. SANDER,
Executive secretary, German-American Literary Defence Committee.
Th ' l . t ' t'on should appear in any reputable paper under
such a :1zipa‘ciS<)eii1:itslStlii$:lRECS)l;1EnOTl$i1Jl.LY REFERRED TO THE OFFICE CAT”-
indicates an editorially shameless disregard for life’$ P131“ d9Ce“Cie5-
instance, it denotes a mental slant which plainly belies the
the “Tribune” so busily asseverates.
In this particular
“non-partisan claims” which
By this evidence, and by the senselessly anti-German letters these editors take delight
in publishing, and by the same exaggerating pro-British Headlines that appear daily in this
sheet, the New York “Tribune” stands proved as rather unreliable and utterly wanting in
the true American patriotic spirit.
A BRITISH THEFT.
England Steals Some Ships From Turkey.
The Ottoman, Indian and Persian Mussulmans,
as well as the Hindus, residing in New York, having
met on Monday, September 7, in connection with
the seizure by the British Government of the Turk-
ish Dreadnoughts, “Sultan Osman” and “Rechadie,”
have decided to protest, and do protest, against this
arbitrary and shameful act.
Great Britain may have had the right, strictly
speaking (and the might), to take over those ships,
but since she was not at war with Turkey, nay, was
on friendly terms with her, she was legally and
morally bound to pay for them on the spot. She has
not settled the account yet. Thus she has com-
mitted an act of spoilation, pure and simple, at the
expense of Turkey. This is as great a breach of
international law as the violation of Belgian neu-
trality by Germany (no treaty was violated by Ger-
many, as there was no treaty. The mention of a
Belgian Neutrality Treaty is merely one of the many
British Press lies, copied by certain servile news-
papers in U. S.-Editor’s Note), which the British
Government and press were so warm in stigmatizing
and denouncing.
' ‘But whereas Germany may plead in excuse, if not
in Justification of her action, a strategic necessity
of ‘the highest order in the present conflict, Great
Britain, who boasts an enormous naval superiority
over Germany and is fighting the latter in conjunc-
tion with two other naval powers, cannot claim
that the addition of the “Sultan Osman” and the
“Rechadie” to her fleet serves any vital or even im-
portant purpose. There is no doubt that if these
two Dreadnoughts had been destined for Italy or
Holland or even. Greece, the British Government
would have refrained, from annexing them.
But they belonged to Turkey, and Great Britain
seems to have made a law unto herself to injure and
humiliate, whenever opportunity arises, the only
Mussulman State which has remained independent
and in whose sovereign is vested the dignity of
Caliph-this more particularly, from the time it
freed itself from despotism and entered upon the
paths of progress. Not content with having re-
peatedly violated for her own benefit and for that
Of France. Italy, Bulgaria, Servia and Greece, her
treaty engagements pledging her to defend and re-
spect the integrity of Turkey; not satisfied with
having openly sided against her with the Balkan
Allies; to have poured obloquy and contumely upon
her in her hour of misfortune; to have threatened
her with dire consequences when in a splendid re-
covery of strength she recaptured the essentially
Turkish and Mussulman town of Adrianople, she
now, after a short lull in her hostility, wantonly de-
prives the Ottoman Empire of two Dreadnoughts
acquired at tremendous sacrifice and destined to in-
sure it against further Greek aggression.
What is the meaning of this attitude adopted by
Great Britain in flagrant negation of international
faith and la.w as also in destruction of her proud
claim to be actuated by the loftiest ideals in her
dealings with others? Surely it can only be that
she is secretly striving to destroy, at any cost, the
Ottoman Empire. Therefore, we Ottoman, Indian
and Persian Mussulmans and Hindus inhabiting
New York, invite the world of Islam in its entirety
to join in our protest. And we Indian Mussulmans,
speaking for ourselves, invite separately our fellow
British subjects of the same persuasion to reman-
strate pressingly with the British Government in re-
gard to a policy which on closer inspection will be
found to be as mistaken as it is unworthy and repre-
hensible, and every manifestation of which is a stab
in the heart of 100,000,000 British subjects in Asia
and Africa. If Great Britain wishes to retain the
loyalty of this important section of the population
of the Empire; if she cares to prevent the descent of
Russia to the Persian Gulf-surely two British in-
terests of vital import-the salvation and consolida-
tion of the Ottoman Empire not its impairment, and
still less its destruction, should be the basis of her
Near and Middle Eastern policy.
Will not the clouds that have obscured the judg-
ment of her statesmen lift at last and show them
that the path of honor is also that of interest in her
relations with Turkey?
Signed on behalf of the meeting,
VASSAF CADRI, Chairman.
The above certainly is a mild protest against the
breaking of Neutrality by England and against Brit-
ish arrogance. Nothing appeared in the press of this
important incident, but if Germany had acted thus.
the subservient British press of this country would
surely have brought it out in big headlines.