Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1881-03-23
CLEARFIELD, PA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 1881.

the presidency of the new Emperor i
was resolved not IN any way to inter
rupt the course of the war with the
Allied Powers. Alexander's first act
was TO issue o manifesto TO the natior
notifying his accession and declaring
in general terms his intention Of up
holding the glory Of the Empire as il
had been upheld by Peter Catherine,
Alexander and Nicholas-and almost
his second act was to sign the treaty
by which Bessarabia was ceded and
the Crimean war ingloriously brought
to an end. However, this immediate
failure to make his performance accord
with his promise was no fault Of his.
The defeat that he sanctioned was be-
queathed TO him and could not have
been avoided. Peace being establish
cd, he set himself seriously to the task
Of introducing into his Empire much
needed internal reforms. The army
was cut down to the lowest limits com
patible with the dignity and safety of
the State; vigorous efforts were made
to re-establish the shattered finances
of the nation and to promote COM
mercial prosperity, and an earnest pur.
pose was manifested to raise Russia
out of its slough of primitive barbar-
ism and to bring it abreast Of the civil
iZation of the nineteenth century.
THE EMANCIPATION OF THE sERFs.
The greatest OF all Of the reforms
that Alexander effected and that which
will through all time give honor to
his name, was bis emancipation Of the
serfs His great ukase of March 3
February 20, 1861, set twenty.three
millions of human beings free. Nomi.
nally, this emancipation proclamation
was issued with the unanimous consent
of the Russian nobility In point of
fact, very large majority of the no.
bility opposed it, rightly percelving in
il a great abatement Of their personal
powers. In issuing it the Gar reach.
cd the climax of his reform movement.
The i'll will that it excited was so in
tense and lasting that thereafter he
found his hands more or less tied. The
supplementary ukase of February,
1864, by which the Polish serfs were
freed was based upon a very different
motive, being intended solely as po-
litical move which would-and did
weaken the influence of the Polish no
bility. The two other important at
tempts at reform subsequently made
to secure popular education and to
found elective provincial assemblies
proved, practically, abortive. In name,
the public schools exist, but they are
so wretchedly managed that they fail
to accomplish any useful purpose. The
provincial assemblies, upon which the
Radicals OF the Empire founded high
hopes Of eventually securing a national
assembly and regular representative
form Of government, have proved evils
rather than blessings. Being perverted
to bad purposes, they have become tor
the most part fresh sources of oppress.
ion in one or two cases when they
have endeavored to abate local griev-
ances they have been promptly sup.
pressed by the Imperial Government.
However, it is probable that in both
these directions the Gar was honest
in his intention to do good that he
failed was due to the force of adverse
circumstances. Another good measure
that has come to very little is his in.
PRODUCTION of trial by jury. Jury trials
undoubtedly 60 on in Russia-but woe
to the jury that finds against the case
as it is presented by the Judge
MILITARY ACHIEVEMENTS OF TWENTY
YEARS.
But in one important respect the
reign of the Gar has been eminently
successful. When he succeeded to the
crown the army was a dispirited mob,
and a small mob at that he leaves it
one of the strongest and best disciplin-
ed of the armies of Europe. Under
his orders a general system of military
conscription was introduced, the actual
strength of the army was greatly in.
creased and its effectiveness vastly ex.
tended by its admirable organization.
The simple proof of this is foundin what
the army has accomplished during the
concluding twenty years Of the quarter
century of the Cars reign. Twenty
years ago began anew the advance
into Asia that was only suspended
during the Crimean war and that was
constituted the hereditary aggressive
policy of Russia from prehistoric times.
In November, 1866, the advance reach.
cd Bokhara in ayear and half that
Khanate was conquered and Samar.
cand was occupied by Russian troops.
In 1873 Khiva, the adjoining Khanate,
was annexed, and in 1875 the third
Khanate, Khokand, became a part of
the Empire. This brought the Russian
lines on the South fairly to theirontiers
of Afghanistan, and SO led directly to
Lord Beaconsfeld's invention, as q
precautionary measure, of the famous
Indian scientific irontier-that, in turn,
led directly to the Anglo. Afghan war.
In the East the Russian lines were
pushed forward with equal vigor and
almost equal success Twenty years
ago the advance rested on the Oxus ;
now il is far advanced into that de.
batable region known as Little Bucha-
ria or Chinese Turkistan, far down on
the eastern slope of the Continental
Divide. Finally, the army that Alex
andcr created wiped out the stain Of
the defeat on the Crimea by the con.
quest OF Turkey two years ago. At
the gates Of Constantinople the Treaty
of San Stefano was dictated to the
Sultan and Bessarabia was regained.
Had the Gar died then he would have
died q hero. Unfortunately for his
own glory no has lived two years
longer than his time-just long enough
to lose by diplomacy almost all that
he gained by war.
PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS ON THE czAB's LIFE
This last, and successful, attempt to
assassinate Alexander is the sixth that
has been made. Fourteen years ago,
April 1928, 1866, he was fred atSaint
Petersburg, just as ho was entering
his carriage, by an OK student, Kara
kosof The pistol was knocked in the
air by workman named Komissarof,
a native OF Kostroma--for which use.
ful attention he waspromptly ennobled.
Again, at Paris, June 6-ls, 1867, he