The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-11-24
RUSSIAN NIHILISM.
A Split i'm the Nihilist Camp-A Party
of NIOderates.
Correspondence New York Herald.1

"A
of NIOderates. |
Correspondence New York Herald]
ST. PETERSBURG, Nov. 15.-The Rus
sian public is heartily sick Of Nihilism
and all the talk about it. Nihilism fright
ened the public so long as it represented
a mysterious evil, because it is always
more difficult to combat an unknown en-
emy. But now the Nihilists are no longer
the heroes and prosecuted martyrs of
short time ago. The great number of
political trials during the last summer
have brought to light the activity Of the
members Of the secret society, and conse-
quently deprived them to great extent
Of their chief prestige, viz, the mystery
in which they shrouded themselves, and
besides, the long accounts of these trials,
which still continue to fill the local news
papers, have bored everybody. In short,
Nihilism has lost all its SAVIOR of novelty.
it's followers are no longer believed in,
since it has been proved that they have
no decided principles of their own, but
are only going about babbling about
things they for the most part do not
themselves distinctly understand, and
plotting in order to produce popular dis
content, from which they would be quite
unable to reap any profit They are, in
fact, looked upon now as SO many OBJ
structionists, preventing the develop
ment of public improvement rather than
contributing one iota to the general well
fare. It is not to be inferred from this,
however, that the evil is removed or that
anything has been done to prevent the
recurrence of the events of last winter
and spring.
1t is not at all certain that the hydra
of Nihilism has been crushed; every
thing, on the contrary, concerning the
future movements of the leaders remains
in the same uncertainty as before, and it
is very probable that we shall hear of
Nihilism again before long as the great
principle of it's adherents is that they
must always maintain certain agita-
tion among the public in order not to be
forgotten. For some time past there has
been nothing new to be registered con-
cerning the activity of the "Secret Socie-
ty' in Russia, but another clandestine
printing press was discovered on the Sd
inst. in st. Petersburg, at a private
house, and the people there were caught
in the act of printing a pamphlet of Sc
ditious contents. The type and manu-
scripts of revolutionary contents were
seized, and seventeen men, together with
three women, were arrested.
| Many arrests have been made again by
the police among the students of the
capital, and it is said that another i'm
portant political trial is shortly to take
place in st. Petersburg. About twenty
five persons will be tried, and, as | am
informed, the preliminary examinations
have already been completed. But l
am, nevertheless, inclined to doubt
whether a political trial of such i'm
portance is really likely to take place
now that the Emperor is returning to the
capital. Some of the accused persons
are so much compromised that they will
doubtless incur capital punishment, and
it is well-known fact that the Gar
abhors the idea of such a thing, and
would not even allow Solovieff to be tried
and executed during the stay of the
court at St. Petersburg, in order to avoid
signing the death warrant himself
There have been some rumors afoat of
} late about split having occurred in the
, ranks of the Nihilists | mention the
gossip about that matter without, how
, ever, taking on myself the responsibility
az to the truth of it. As the rumor goes,
large party among them finally acquired
the conviction that their programme has
entirely failed to gain the sympathies Of
: the Russian people and serves only to es.
TRANCE the working classes from those Nj
hilists who preach the destruction OF
J property and society. These Nihilists
J deserted the camp headed by the EXEC
J utive Committee" of the secret society
and declared themselves as "ordinary re-
publicans," whose chief object is to fight
J for the attainment of the constitutional
liberty of the nation. A revolution and
the institution of q republic are the ex.
: treme limits of this new section of Nihil
lists, while the true Nihilists, who origi
nate from the Russian political exiles il
Geneva, equally abhor the constitution
and the republic as they do the absolute
form of government.
: The proclamations of this new party
in which they address the people and pro
fess their creed, appeared first placardet
on the walls in the streets Of Odessa, anC
2 many arrests were made in consequence
thereof, both in that and other cities
Among those arrested there was, as
hear from fairly trustworthy source,
correspondent Of the conservative Mos
:, COW Gazette, who was known at the Of
> fee of that paper under the name o
$ ''Nezlobin," but proved to be politica
: exile bearing the name Of DiakoF. FL
g is still young man for the past fey
D years he has been writing for the Month
:. 1y Review, edited by Katkoff, in Moscow
e In his article he denounced the foolhard
0 iness and incapacity of the Russian Nihi
e lists abroad, and finished by denouncin
: their Utopian and criminal ideas. Tn
fact that these articles appeared in tn
a organ of Katkoff is sufficient proof O
!, the moderate views adopted by their au
r thor.
: 1t is stated that Diakoff intended