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ARMENIA IN MODERN TIMES 321
Thus ended the feeble efforts of the West-European and
American Powers to honour the promises of freedom and
independence they had given to the Armenians when they
wished to induce them to fight for their cause.
Why does the League of Nations set up committees to see
whether anything can be done, at least for the homeless
Armenian refugees ? Is it meant as a salve for tender con
sciences, if any such still remain ? But what is the good of
it, when the proposals, made after conscientious inquiry and
recommended by all the experts, cannot secure the support of
the Governments of the Powers ; and when the Powers
coldly refuse to make even the most modest sacrifice to relieve
the destitute refugees for whom they have promised to do so
much ? The usual answer is that it is unreasonable to expect
people to make sacrifices for others in these difficult times,
when it is all they can do to look after their own affairs. But
ought not the Powers to have thought of that before, when by
their golden promises and pledges of honour they induced
these unfortunate people, who were far worse off than they
were, to sacrifice not only their money and goods, but even
their lives for the cause of the Entente ?
Mr. Stanley Baldwin, the leader of the British Conservative
Party and present Prime Minister, and Mr. Asquith, the leader
of the Liberal Party, sent in September 1924 to Mr. Ramsay
MacDonald, the then head of the Government, a warm
hearted address urging that Great Britain ought to give a
large sum to help the Armenian refugees in Greece, the
Balkans, etc. The reasons why this should be done were
summarized in the foliowing points :
1. Because the Armenians were encouraged by promises of
freedom to support the Allied cause during the war, and suffered
for this cause so tragically.
It is recalled that as far back as the autumn of 19 14 the
Armenians at their National Congress in Erzerum rejected
the alluring offers of the Turks, and refused as a nation to
work for the cause of Turkey and her Allies, though they
were willing to do their duty ; that partly because of this
courageous refusal they were systematically massacred by the
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