New-York tribune., 1880-03-02
TgF cz4pS AYAIVEPSARY.

TIE CZAL'S ANAIVEPSARY.
Tho tventv-6ftb anniversary of the acces-
sion of Alexander II. TO the throne Of all the
Russias will be celebrated to-day with 1ear
and trembling The apprehensions caused
! by the plots and threats OF the Nlhlllsts can
not be dispelled by glitter OF pomp or ailecta-
| ton Of loyJlty. The ehOul at the Imperial
barGnet in the Winter Palace will not he eX-
orcscd by flourish Of trumpets within or 10y
drum. beat and fireworks without. The
Government having once given way to ITS
panic terror, finds it impossible to regain Its
sclf-pOssession. The army is untainted WIN
treason and the peaSantry is too inert 10 De
| influenced by revolutionary ideas, but the
disaffecton OF the townspeOpe and the educated
class is steadily increasing. Authority Is now
grounded on intimidation rather than the ira
diional devotion of the masses Tor the
sovereign, and after two years Of reac'lonay
zeal and military compression the Government
finds itself too limp to stamp ont dIs."yaIiy'
After rcgning for quarter Of q ceutpJ, inc
Car virtually confesses his inability to govern
his subjects any longer, and. casting about
for suitable proxy, invests the son
of an Armenau merchant with the
absolute power Of a military dctaior.
Himself the victim of melancholy
which has dnrkcned the lives of 40 many OF
his ancestors. he shIinks back rom the WIN
dows of his palace, and orders mis- soldiers to
ransack the cellars for dynamite II is sorry
anniversary for Alexander the Libe@tor.
For on this day il must not be forgotten
that no Sovereign Of modern times has under
taken so many and such radical reforms as
this same Alexander the LibeIator He not OILY
set free twenty millions of srris md endowed
them with the rights of citizenship III the
cnmmunes. but enabled them to become
landed proprictors. In no other reign and IN
no other country has an experiment OF equhi
magnitude in political and social science been
made. In the United States the freedmen
were given the right OF suffrage, but m RUSSIA
emancipation was accompanied 10y radical
change in the conditions Of land tenure. At
the same time trial by jury was established,
the judicial tribunals were lifted above the
level of provincial administration and every
department of the government except the
secret police was reformed from tie bottom
and while parliamentary institutions were with
held, the pca,antIy, which formed nineteenth Of
the Dopulation of the Empire, were allowed 20
exercise all the functions of local scli-rulc.
The Car was a practical rrlogmcr az tame
when reforming zeal was running not, and IN
the early Yeas of his reign au era OF national
rcecu-raiion seemed 10 lee opening. Twenty
five years have gone bv, ard The monarch who
was once q Liberal OF the Liberals heading
the movement for free labor. local iu3cpcud-
cuce and administrative reform, is low plis-
oucr in lis own palace, with q military d'cia-
tor outside.
It may be that the Gar viii recall to-day
wh9t hi. father tha iron-h1uGod Nichoas. Is
reported to have said almost "ith his last
breath. Ny ucccs-or may do a. ic plca.cs,
"but cannot change" The humiliation. OF the
Crimea did not modify lhc theory of absolute
monarchy and military compression 90 which he
had adhered for Thirty yca1s. He died as he
had lived, with his faith in thc efficacy Of mill
tary despotism uushakeu. Iiio successor did
n, he pleased and left nothing unchanged
but it has como to pass that he has abnu-
doned Liberalism and reverted To his fathers
methods OF intolcIlnt Administrations The
illusions Of reform have been dlspc.led The
scrls whom be cuiIaucli-rd have not been
transformed into sober and thrifty farmers.
The people whom be sought 10 serve and
bless with remedial measures are disap-
pointed and uneratelul. If the father placed
too implicit reliance upon ob-oluii,m. the
sons expectations OF Che immediate results OF
a reform policy were overwroueht and illu
sivc Yet were those reforms beneGcent and
euligh 'encd. If Russian regeneration has not
been accomplished in quarter Of a century,
it is because nations are doomed to work our
their salvation with fear and tremblng-not
with the panic terror and vacilation mani
Tested in the EmperoI'S Councll-chambcr, but
with a wholesome dread of economic coudl-
tons and race Impulse, and with a rcsoutc.
determined efiort-somctimcs an aSoDizing
struggle--to promote the progress of cyiliza-
ton.