lly an Oriental people, possessing, like the Jews,
whom they resemble in their exclusiveness and widespread dispersion, a
remarkable tenacity of race and faculty of adaptation to circumstances.
They are frugal, sober, industrious and intelligent and their sturdiness
of character has enabled them to preserve their nationality and religion
under the sorest trials. They are strongly attached to old manners and
customs but have also a real desire for progress which is full of
promise. On the other hand they are greedy of gain, quarrelsome in small
matters, self-seeking and wanting in stability; and they are gifted with
a tendency to exaggeration and a love of intrigue which has had an
unfortunate effect on their history. They are deeply separated by
religious differences and their mutual jealousies, their inordinate
vanity, their versatility and their cosmopolitan character must always
be an obstacle to a realization of the dreams of the nationalists. The
want of courage and selfreliance, the deficiency in truth and honesty
sometimes noticed in connection with them, are doubtless due to long
servitude under an unsympathetic government."

It seems to me that it is time to subordinate sentiment to common sense
in discussing the question of Armenia. I have known many Armenians and I
have the deepest sympathy for the woes of that tragic race, but if the
Armenians are in danger of extermination their fate is a matter for the
Allies as a whole, or for the League of Nations, if there ever is one,
but not for the United States alone. To administer and police Armenia
would probably require an army corps, or upwards of 50,000 men, and I
doubt if a force of such size could be raised for service in so remote
and inhospitable a region without great difficulty. My personal opinion
is that the Armenians, if given the necessary encouragement and
assistance, are capable of governing themselves. Certainly they could
not govern themselves more wretchedly than the Mexicans, yet there has
been no serious proposal that the United States should take a mandate
for Mexico. Everything considered, I am convinced that the highest
interests of Armenia, of America, and of civilization would be best
served by making Armenia an independent state, having much the same
relation to the United States as Cuba. Let us finance the Armenian
Republic by all means, let us lend it officers to organize its
gendarmerie and teachers for its schools, let us send it agric