THE NEAR EAST: Postscript

A treaty of amity and commerce and a treaty of extradition between the United States and Turkey were signed. These treaties replace one nearly a century old, signed in 1830.

Although never at war with Turkey, the United States broke off diplomaticrelations on April 20, 1917, and official relations have not been maintained since. The two treaties just signed at Lausanne will not be ratified until a settlement of “claims against the respective governments” is reached.

During the numerous conversations which preceded the present agreement, Ismet Pasha proved more than ordinarily recalcitrant over the question of minorities. He ironically suggested that Turkey should be the protector of racial minorities in the U. S. Said the wily Ismet: “The Turkish newspapers have the most ferocious accounts of lynchings of Negroes in the United States almost every week. You burn them at the stake. We stopped burning people two or three hundred years ago.

” You also have extreme Nationalistic societies like the Ku Klux Klan, which is constantly threatening Jews, Catholics and other minorities. You even have Presidential candidates making violent attacks upon Jews and other minorities.”

Naturally this was a little staggering to Mr. Grew.