New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-01-29

TIE RIOTS IN RUSSIA.
The Iols at Warsaw during Christmas week
have directed attention to the hidcouS scenes
Of persccuton which have been enacted in
Southern Russia during the last nine months.
The details Of this uprising against dctcftcd
race, as We find them rccOUntcd i'll the special
corrcspundcnco of the journal de Gen6re and
The Times LondCn) show that the movement
was deliberately planned 10y INSCRIPTIONS enc
mics OF the Hebrews. While the Christmas
services we're being celebrated i'll the ancient
Church of the Holy Cross, false alarm of fire
was raised, terrible panic was caused, and
many lives were lost. Now there was not the
slightest groand for the suspicion that the fatal
cry was uttered by an l>lacIte. Among the
swarms of idlcrs and pickpockcts seized 10y the
police outside the church there was not single
jew, and among the physicians who rendered
aid fo the sufferers there were several OF that
faith. Yet the crowd that gathered about the
doors, hearing above the uprOar strong voice
CRYING: Jews have sacrlnccd our brothers
and sisters in the church; then let our blood
be revcngcd upon them" acted Immediately
upon this hint, and rushed hcadl0ng for the
Hebrew quarter. For forty eight hours the
mob was allowed to do what 1t pleased.
Houses were pulled down, shops were sacked,
pcdlers were beaten, stripped and LETT bleeding
in the streets, moncy-changcrS were Hr>t
robbed and then bounded through the town,
hedchambcrS were ranSackcd and bedding and
clothing torn to shrcds, and every conceivable
form Of outrage and pillage WAS practScd.
The mob was composed mainly OF vagabonds,
thieves and boys, and could easily have been
dispersed if the police had exc'tcd themselves.
This they would not do until 5000 families
had been plundcrcd and turned oat of doors,
and the hundreds of rioters who were then ar
rested were speedily released.
The impunity with which this mob was
suffered to wrcak its vengeance upon a de
spised race is ii startling proof OF the lndllcr-
encc with which the Government looks upon
the cructicS 81 w-baiting. TIE police with
the regiments at their backs could have cleared
the streets in a few hours, but the officials only
shrugged their shoulders and declared that it
was not worth their Will To protect Jews.
What is even more cquivOcal, the Imperial
Government had directly promoted race
antipathy by appointing commissions of cX-
pcrts to determine what Expressive measures
were required against the ISracltcS. NolWith-
standing the widespread prosecutions in
Southern Russia, extending from BcSSarabia
to Astrakhan and even into Siberia Poland had
remained from April until December a safe
refuge for at least a third of the Cars Hebrew
Subjects I'm Warsaw alone there were
100, 900 Jews engaged in trade and money
lending, and living i'll such amty with the
Poles that they seemed to be amply protected
against the fanatical hatred to which their
brethren in the South were exposed. Yet III Il
moment the passions OF the Christian pOpula-
ton are kindled, and those who do net join in
the dccstable work Of persecution stand by and
smile while the Jews are hunted like dogs
through the streets on the bare suspicion that
one of their number has caused Il panic H. 4
crowded church. The rabbe itself and the
willy leaders who directed It's movements seem
to have assured themselves that the local Off
Gals would not make any haste to assert their
authority, and that the movement would excite
little displea,urc in the Imperial councils.
The notorious fact that many Of the Nihilist
band Of a>sas,ins have been Hebrews has UNI
doubtcdly encouraged the lower CLASSES in
Russia to believe that they can safely maltIcat
and plumber a lace whom they at once envy and
dcSpiSe I'm agricultural regions, where the
landed proprietorS are heavily in debt AMI the
peasants are too ndocnt and incorporate to
profit by industry, the moncy-lculers make
advances to both classes, and holding mort
cages on both land and unripcncd crops, are
detested 10y those who depend upon their AID.
In cities, where they invariably succeed by
habits of thrift and u>ury in outStripping
ucighburS with whom they are unwilling to as
sociatc except for purposes Of gain, the Hebrew
traders are naturally rcyilcd AMI cNccrated 10y
the lower classes. I'm town AMI country the
brutal instincts of race antpathy have tempted
the besottcl rabblc % display hostile feeling
which they had reason TO believe would not be
resented by the local authorities or by the I'm
pciial Government. The new Car has openly
courtcn the favor of the pca,antry. lie has
araycd the entire army in the familiar uniform
Of the peasants; he has set his face against
foreign Innovations and ha, assumed 20 bc "a
Russian of the Russian PEASANTS and GER
tainly dctcstation OF the Hebrews l. one of the
traits OF the elias, whose cause he prJle,>cS to
have made his own. The iistlc,sucsS which has
been shown by the authorities ia Poland and
Southern Russia, aud The discriminating acts
against the execrated race proposed by the