Minister Pearson to
the Secretary of State.
American Legation,
Teheran, April 29,
1905.
No. 115.]
Sir: I have the honor to inclose copy of a
letter from Dr. I. P. Cochran, dated April 17, 1905. I request special
attention to the following statement in said letter:
In this connection may I also put on record my belief that it is
not wise nor best to execute any of the Kurds arrested, even
though we are sure they are the criminals, because of the blood
feud that these savages would have to observe.
This deliberate expression of belief coming from the recognized leader of
the American missionaries at Urumia, and urging not a postponement, but
a permanent and radical modification of the terms of agreement with the
Persian Government, emphasizes the necessity of giving the positive
instructions which I have heretofore requested for my guidance.
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure.]
Doctor Cochran
to Minister Pearson.
Sir: Having come to this city to escort
Mrs. Labaree and her children and my daughter thus far on their way
to America, I find His Britannic Majesty’s consul-general,
Wratislaw, has reached the same conclusion that we Americans have in
regard to the Kurds of Dasht, and I wish to report the same to the
legation.
What we would choose as the very best thing for the interests of our
own case, as well as for all the population on the border, would be
to have the Dasht Kurds very thoroughly punished—absolutely
broken—and after that several of their chiefs be held in the service
of the Shah or Valialed in Teheran or Tabriz as security for the
good behavior of the rest.
The next best thing and the only alternative is to come to terms with
them for the present at least. So far as we can judge there is no
hope that the Persian Government will or can be made to carry out
the former, and since the present condition of affairs is
intolerable we would respectfully recommend your excellency to
consider the wisdom of the alternative and to initiate the steps
necessary to the accomplishment of some terms of peace with them. I
am inclined to believe that Mr. Wratislaw would undertake to carry
out such a proposition if instructed to do so from Teheran. The
daily and nightly danger that we and the English missionaries have
to live in is becoming quite intolerable, as I have said, and as
time goes on conditions are assuming a worse state rather than a
better one.
The retention of the chiefs in Teheran has made the rest desperate,
and all who know the Kurds know that they will not hesitate to take
revenge if they are allowed any chance to do so. In this connection
may I also put on record my belief that it is not wise nor best to
execute any of the Kurds arrested, even though we are sure they are
the criminals, because of the blood feud that these savages would
have to observe. The indefinite retention of some of them in Teheran
or Tabriz might very wisely be one of the conditions of the terms of
peace proposed. * * *
Respectfully,
- J. P. Cochran.
- W. S. Vanneman.
