The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1879-05-08
The Condition Of Russia


and thifher BY The wave Of circumstance.
With men he humber OF to-day are the
exalted Of tomorrow. With nations the
powerful of yesterday are The pitiable Of
the now. 1t needs no stretch Of memory
70 recall the time when the civilized world
recognized with awe the overshaaowinp
sreatnessof Russia. and to day the most
Insignificant prorince outside her realm shud-
ders at the thought Of the future that awaits
her. Burdened with an immense foreign
debt and domestic financial arrangement,
with her social system putreed TO the core,
her people -wretched and desperate, her
fields laid bare and her homes made desc
late swept by flood and ire, plague and pes
lence, and faced by famine, she presents a
picture Of helpless misery. the equal OF which
the world has rarely been called upon to con-
template. The despotic eXercis.; OF a Il mporal
power by man has been supplemented. aud its
weight rendered almost too oppressive for
human endurance. By q frowning provi-
lence, and now the nation from centre to
circumference is IN the tl,roes Of rcvolu-
litii WiiSil tHINHAtfiS tilt N-hietNficc 81 tBC
antocratic dynasty. whilst ri the same time
her people. ike starved hyenas. are turning
one upon the other and mingling the de-
mand for political liberty with tie cry for
bread.
With each announcement that comes to
MS across the waters. the situation grows
more desperate. Political affections crop
out in defiance Of iaw. Mysterious assassi-
nations follow each other in swift success
sion. and although tie policy OF repression
is severe in the extreme, If bat serves TO az
grayate The delirium Of tlc fever that has
seized upon ihe pnhaH9E geop!e. FOR awhile
the revolutionary mans. seemed TO be con-
fined to that strange sect Of fanatics, the
Nihiiists- who aim at the levelng Of the
whole political ani social fabric, the aboli-
ton of time honoreJ Institutions and the
overthrow of religion, bit Of late tie same
spirit of eonoelasin seems to permeate and
pervade class hitllsrio regarded as conser.
vatissn, and ppweliui indeed by reason OF
It's numbers. \, yet there has been no out
ward demonstration by this latter class, but
WV tsitAA Nt.tAfl wv t4l tAl6LGHB Til cir
more violent brethren iustiles the belief
that bond OF nnion, unknown it nav be |
TO themselves. exists between them. The
most rigid restriction Of personal liberty. !
and aggrara1iIig espionage and extension |
OF arbitrary power on the part OF the Cars |
sabonlinaieS, have been met by an open de- |
tianae and reckless disregard of authority. |
which mast have proven aborive tad it not |
been sustained by the sympathy Of the |
masses. Last week st. Petersburg was pa
pered with solutions placarls, and although |
the city police al once tore down and burned |
the naiiifcsioes. there nevertheless ap- |
peaaed others in the very spot from which
an Instant before they had been torn. Pass.
ers-by stopped 10 read the bills ana in one
night the police arrested one hundred and
fifty people. The report adds: '.A:noug all
those taken the police faile, to find in a sim
gle case as mach as scrap of paper which
appeared u Have anything 10 do with the
proclamation. The secret bill-sticker.
on the other hand, went on with his wark
indefatigabiy, and the police could not
succeed in discovering him. The alarm at
last became so great that two comma MES,
under command Of Col. De Berg, mai ched
out and were posted at the entrances TO a
number OF houses aud in the street. but
when the guard had its attention called to
the right, bills were posted up on the Icfc.
and, after they had been torn down on the
left, there Oh the right again appeared
the mlnifestoes of the men OF the reyolu-
ton. Since the attempt on the life of the
Gar troops have been held in readiness dav
and night In every regiment two COMMA
MES in marching order, equipped with ball
cartridge and All accessories reoaisite for 40.
tive operations, are kept constantly under
arms. batteries stand ready horsed and
mounted IN the barrack yards, squadron
OF every cavalry regiment stands in constant
readiness to mount. ard day and night al.
visions OF Cossacks patrol the stn.a,s
On the lGtll peasant was arrests, j.,
whose pockets were found di>posi.iegs Tor
revolutionary troops. According to>this doc
ument active operations were to eor,pence
on the night between TIE 10Th and I7tb.-
instantly the government made the most |
extensive preparations for defense. The |
Grand Duke Nicholas TOOK up ms quarters.
with bis entire staff. "a HE offices OF the
general staff, opposite the winter palace. In |
the riding school OF tie guards the regiment
OF hussars of tie guards YVES chartered. wbile
the barracks OF the Pari0G and preoler,Sap
Ski regiments we're cgapsmed full Of aFo,os
and the whole artillery of the sssapels re.
eeiyed orders to hold itsell in reaairess for
action. The troops continued
several days and nights in she places as.
signed them, ouE the rsva}sslan did not
break out
Added to the political condition OF Russia.
md her heavy losses By HE late war, is the
failure ofcrops ard threatened famine. Last
year she suffered exceedingly FROM drought.
nearly one-thir,a Of her crops WAS ,les.
royed By beetles,and taarmots. 50 tina. the
ICED has been deficient, and field labor is
inadequate in consequence OF excess of fbo]-
days-aboat one hundred Il year-au,l The
widespread drunkenness OF The cora,non
people, Involving great wastefniness. A vood
says that grain which isthe chief
9faIcje OF export. w.iolA furnishes the means
II PAYNE taxes and getting all supplies. now |
GEMS insufficient fea home consumption.
lost OF the land Of the empire is mort I
aged o-5ashefs, and its owners arc scarce
abe opay their interest, much less the q
S'seir arrears being from twenty \
We to thirty per cent. Russia is a vast coun-
ry OF vast resources, bur she has drawn ON '
hem very heavily of late, and all indica- 0
ons are that she is approaching a crisis in
er fortunes which will require ,he fullest q
'isdom OF her Statesmen to meet. She an
ears to De socially, politically. Financially
nd morally disorganized, and eanans
much longer in her present condit ion.
whist the sympathes of the peonle
OF IN active accord With the Nihilists., .bey
e far from yieldinga tame sab,aiss1
le edlcts OF the ruling power, Tha
eeWeen these extremes must be, b 49,: :
mi