The Labor enquirer., 1883-11-17
DENVER NovEMBER T

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events, eyenthe highest REPRESENTATIVE
lof the administratioh have lost thei,
heads and their feeling Of personal dig
nifty. / would not mind the trick Of hi
excellency if. for no fault Of mine he die
not aggravate my lot, whlch has already
exhausted my enduraQce.
aThe Alexis rayeln is . secret prison
No supervision is allowed there The
late commandant, Baron Meidei, used te
restrain, to a certain degree, the thievish
Warden Philimonoff. While fulfilling
his hard duty, he did not torture the
prisoners to crafty his personal cruelty.
But after that speech Of Ganetsky, the
thief, Philimonoff, took from us the last
crust of bread, saying that such was the
order of the eommandant. In order to
get in favor with the new commandant
the officers of the favelint have tried
their utmost to oppress politiealst prison
ers in all possible ways. For months
they have.kept me iHdny eel, without
permitting nae to see daylight Ganetsky
ordered that even the warming-holes in
my cell should be closed, on the pretense
that 4 might there get SCOT and makeink
of it. The upper pane of my window
was clean, and through it | could see a
part of the sky. 1t is necessary to expe-
rience the horrors Of long solitary CON
fnement in order to understand what
relief a prisoner gets from the sight
of passing clouds and shining stars.
Ganetsky closed that pane. The two
commandants, six of the gendarmes, and
even the chief of the supreme commits
sion, General Melikoff, while, visiting me,
saw the clean pane and did not think
the state was in danger on account of it.
Here the letter was illegible.] Ten
years already l have suffered here, The
further aggrayation of my lot cannot
proceed from any political consideration,
but from the eruelt y of the man to whom
you have intrusted the fortress. General
Mezentseh@was my personal enemy. For
two years he kept me in heavy chains,
and yet he did not shut me up out of
sight Of the sky. l had another enemy,
Genera, Potapoff. He insulted me in
words, and slapped his face. Ofeoufse
he hated me, vet lie did not take re-
venge. He knew that to take revenge
upon man who is bound arms and legs
would be an action fit only for a wild
beast, and General Potapof' was man
anyhow. Ganetsky enjoys the sight ef
suffering prisoners, Perhaps he expects
to bring me to state of despair in or
der to see tears and the passion of help
less madness, and to- listen to insane
shouts of rage from me like those B'hear
from a neighboring cell, where a COM
rade at the end of long confinement
has become lunatic. Oh, no. l. will
not treat Ganetsky to such pleasure.
hope he will preserve even Eundreth
part of the calm and self control L pos
sess when he shall be carried to the scat
fold.
I'm 1879 the government requested
me to express my views on the state of
affairs in Russia. In my memorial sent
to your la.e father explained that the
time of absolute power was gone, that
the unlimited monarchy was under
mined, and that liberal constitution
might yet save Russia from the horrors
of revolution. | insisted upon the
need of liberal institutions which, and
which only, could stop the series of dar-
ing attempts. said then that in a few
years even a constitution would be
too late. Subsequent events have justi-
fed my views. The reaction which set
in after the catastrophe of March 13, was
matter Of course. 1t was the nature of
things. But, being carried too far, even
the reaction will bring about quite unex-
pected results. I do not expect any re-
lief from the new administration. l
shall not be surprised if my lot becomes
still harder ON account of this letter.
Louis XVI. realized the horrors to
which the prisoners of the Bastile were
subjected only when he became polit-
ical prisoner. SERGE NErCHAIEFF.
I wrote this with my nail in my blood,
S. n" ....... =.
In December, 1882, Netchaieff was tor
tured by the warden, and soon after was
found dead. n .. III. e
r The grandeur of universal brotherhood
has not yet dawned fully upon mankind,
When the almighty truth is fully COM
pretended that an injury to one Is the
concern of all, that whatever tends to
the injury of the mechanic is direct
injury to the farmer, to the manufacturer
and that what Injuries the prosperity OF
- IL