Even though progress in trade in Western Armenia could not be compared with Transcaucasia nor with Eastern Armenia preceding the outbreak of World War I, it still bore witness to the diligence of the Armenian people, in particular in comparison with the Turks and the Kurds.
The Armenian community, who lived under unbearable conditions and were subject to the corruption and incompetence of the Turkish administrative system as well as the assaults of plundering nomadic Kurds, was the only active and productive element in the country.
Within agriculture, only a few years of safety and security allowed the Armenians to turn a decaying area into a flourishing region. In astonishment, Daryl describes the work of the Armenian peasants: "We travelled along the highlands towards the lowland. There I saw a white field of wheat which was so beautiful and so well sown that I thought I was in one of the best verdant places in Beauce, facing an exemplary farmland and in the middle of a perfect agricultural society." 27
Socially, there was a degree of cooperation between the Armenian peasants. In these districts, long before the Armenians reached the stage of development and progress of Europe, there were dairy farms where the peasants collected the milk from different farmers in the village and produced butter and cheese for the entire village.
In handicraft and the industrial products of the country, most success rested on the work of the Armenians.
Textile production was concentrated in Van and Shatakh, employing around 3000 people, a number remarkable for the time and region. The industry used wool from domestic sheep and goats as well as imported cotton from Persia. Carpet production was based in Van, Moush and Bitlis.
Erzurum was the centre of the food industry (producing various flours, conserves and meat), and of leather and metal products. The high quality of the Erzurum textile industry was so renowned that people occasionally sent fur all the way from Russia and Persia for processing.
The craftsmen of Erzurum were famous for their metal work, an age-old tradition. The manufacturing of firearms and other weapons, and knives, scissors and copper vessels were Armenian specialities.
Finally, there were excellent goldsmiths and jewellers in Van and Erzurum, who competed with each other for quality and craftsmanship.
Travellers noticed the difference between the degree of development of the Armenian working masses in comparison with that of the Turks and the Kurds, and observed with anger and disgust the treatment of this working force by corrupt and shameless rulers.
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