New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-08-28
ought to be placed in the hands of every voter
in the land.
RUSSIAN MILITARY TRIAL

he ASSASSINATION Oh Iut tultl VI tbO CeiH
secret police in st. Petersburg is not the only
revolutionary episode that has occurred IN
Russia since the acquittal of Vera Sassu-
Itch. The chief of police at kief has
also been shot down in public
squares; arms and ammunition concealed
by the secret societies have been unearthed at
Kharkoff; in. the suburbs of Riga. the Social
lists have exchanged volleys with the gem
darmes; at Suren III the Caucasus there has
been a rot, in which twelve officers were
killed; the trials of the Non-COnfOrmists In
Southern Russia have aroused fanatical zeal ;
and, finally, there has been a scene OF blood
shed in Odessa. The last incident is certainly
as dramatic and, in some respects, as signiii-
cant as the acquittal of General Trepof's as
sailant after she had confessed her guilt.
Ivan Kovalevsky was the leading spirit oil
the Nihilists in Odessa. He had in his pos
session full lists of the members Of his own
and kindred societies; and in apartments ad-
Joining his own were cases OF type ana
several hand-presses. One night last January
he was engaged with six associates, two OF
whom were girls, in printing pamphlets Tor the
society. Suddenly he discovered that the house
was surrounded by the police. There was not
a moment to lose. If the detectives should
enter those rooms, the secrets of the central
society and all its branches would be laid
bare, and every Nihilst in the city would be
doomed 10 exile or imprisonment The
seven conspirators resolved to deteha
their hiding-place at all hazards until
their records could be destroyed. The
entrance to the clearinghouse was rap
idly loop -holed, and from door and win
dow the little garrison fired upon the be-
siegers A company of soldiers filed up the
street and fired volleys at the windows from
the opposite side of the way, but the five
men and two girls kept them at bay for
a long time; and it was not until n
second company of guards tore down
the door and forced their way into
the house that the garrison suTen-
dered. By that time the secret papers
had been burned, and although arrests were
subsequently made in every quarter of the
city, the Nihilists were not left at the mercy OF
the police The seven prisoners were tried
by court martial, the proceedings being
watched with feverish interest by all classes
in the city. Ivan Kovalevsky was sentenced to
be shot his principal associate was sent to the
mines for eight years; three young students
were condemned to hard labor for four years,
and finally the two girls. Alexandra Afonaseif
and Vaira Vitten, were eXiled for life and
doomed to nd their days in Siberia. When
these verdicts were announced at the close OF
the trial three weeks ago, there was COM
motion among the people outside the court
building Some of the cOnfederates of the pris-
oners were so exasperated that they fired upon
the soldiers and officials. The guard returned
the fire the crowd attempted to carry the
building by storm and it was not until four
teen soldiers had been killed that the mob
was forced back and dispersed.
This little band of Socialists, whose heIoism
in defending the secrets of their order, and
thereby protecting the lives of their associ-
ates, had inspired the admiration of all classes
in the community, were not tried by n
Jury, but by a court martial. The verdict IN
the case of Vera Sassulitch convinced the
Russian officials that the people were not to be
trusted when their sympathies were touched.
In that instance there was model jury IN
the box: nObleman, several university men
and seven honorable councillors; and yet with
one accord they acquitted and vindicated
tbe woman who had confessed her guilt.
Since that dangerous experiment WAS made
the revolutionary attempts of the Nihilists
have been treated as political and not as Grim
inal offences, and the jury system has been
dispensed with. Within forty-eight hours, in
deed. an imperial ukase has been issued at
st. Petersburg placing attacks upon officials
and crimes against the State under
the jurisdiction of military tribunals.
The frenzy of the mob outside the court
room in Odessa indicated that there
would have been similar miscarriage of JUS
tee, if these cases had been reserved for jury
instead of military court. Incidents like these
show how dangerous are the revolutionary i'm
pulses in the centres of population. But the
cities are few IN number and long way apart ;
and the agricultural classes, which form mne-
tenths of the population of Russia, are the
most inert element in Europe. The area of
discomfort is comparatively narrow.