Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-01-14
KEENAN'S REVELATIONS OF RUSSIAN
CRUELTY.

LAiS Vi tHS leuSSlstl ItSNOlutlOnlStS. Inc
order is in keeping with the uniform policy
OF Russia. 1t Is possibly wrong to blame
her, since il is unquestionable that the
facts are as Mr.. KEENAN, recites them, con-
corning the treatment Of political prisoners
in Russia, and the tortures, cruelties and
outrages visited upon suspects" Were
they untrue, the Russian censors need to
entertain no fear of the circulation of the
papers i'll Russia, where their untruth
would be laid bare by the people.
Mr.. Remnants statements are the result
OF long observation, visitation to the penal
colonies, fortresses, prisons, castles and the
mines of Siberia, and of Il vast amount of
testimony taken at various periods in
widely separated places, and under circum-
stances Treeluding the possibility of coIlu-
sion between the many witnesses. These
evidences are largely fortified by citations
from official documents and statements by
officials themselves We have failed to
discover any evidence of passion in his
papers. The statements in cold English
are enough to stir the blood to white
heat, aud rouse Indignation to the highest
pitch.
No wonder that the articles are attract
ing so much Of attention; they are as ju-
dicial and calm and guarded in their tenor
as the opinion of a supreme tribunal; yet
they are as thrilling as the most sensa-
tional drama, and as provocative of the
indignant protests of humane freemen as
any recital of inhumanity, torture, inius-
tice and political tyranny can be-
If one had not before clearly understood
from what the tap roots of Nihilism draw
sustenance in Russia, he could not labor
under ignorance after perusing the articles
the Russian Government has Endorsed and
given emphasis by exclusion. In Under
ground Russia" by Stepniak, and half
dozen similar works, much the same facts
Mr.. KEENAN, reciteS are given. But the
latter details them dispassionately, while
the Russian Nihilistic writers are intem-
perate in their heat, and awaken incre-
dulity by their vituperation and dramatic
intensity.
The key note, and the chief conclusions
of the KEENAN, papers, are that Nihilism
is as naturally the result of Rus sian des-
potiSm as that cold is the absence # heat.
and that so long as political tyra,-ny ex-
lists in the land of the Cars, Mill Il will
be known, and assassination of ofiic' ais and
police surveillance will continue. There
is deplorable liberation in the social realm
of nation where any one of its human
units, upon mere suspicion, perhaps born of
the malice of an undisclosed enemy. NAV
be snatched from the home circle-perhaps
II mere girl, or strip of boy, or 4 gray
haired patriarch-confned for from one to
three years without charge or trial, tor
tiIred barbarously to extort confession. and
then chained in line with thieves, assassins
and the yilest outcasts and driven on foot
beneath the lash of the knout hundreds of
miles over frozen ground through Arctic
rigors to the bleak steppes of Siberia, and
there compelled to wear their lives away
in darksome mines, or in mental service
or to rot in the dungeons of dismal fort
resses,
1t is no wonder that thousands of devoted
beings stand ready and proclaim themselves
on call prepared to assassinate Gar, Minis
terror police agent, with the certainty before
them that this declaration is equivalent to
the pronunciation of their final doom.
Whatever else we may call it; however
much we abhor the Infamous means the
terrorists and revolutionists employ, we
must admit that such self-sacrifce and de-
votion to cause that demands not even so
much as the liberty we enjoy in America.
have their springs and motives deep down
IN patriotic purpose, and that they must in
time prevail, or civilization turn backward
upon its course.
In the light of the cold and unembel
lished revelations made by KEENAN, of So
cial instruction and distortion in Russia.
which prompts men, otherwise humane,
kindly, afiectionate, of broad views and
sympathetic impulses, to practice and APP
prove the cruelties he describes, it is made
clearer than ever before how utterly fool
ish, cauSeless, and without an iota of ex-
cuse or defense, are the anarchical and So
cialistic agitationS in our own country.
The horrors of political torture and exile
IN Russia, the inhumanity of the admin
istrative process applied to the punish
ment Of suspects the cruelties inflicted
upon those who neglect or refuse to inform
upon their own wives, children. mothers.
and brethren-theSe are born of the
Russian system. They as naturally result
from the social instruction and disease. as
do suffering and death from abnormal
physical conditions But how is it in the
United States? None of these things pre-
vail; we have, and more, all the revo-
lutionists of Russia ask and are denied
and for which they resort to such
desperate, cruel and wholly indefensible
methods-that is to say, free speech and a
free press, recognition of inalienable and
security for personal rights, the right to
freely assemble, the right to criticise the
Government and propose changes in the
methods of its administration, constltu-
tional form of government, with repre-
sentation of the people in houses of legis-
lation and religious liberty. What shadow
of excuse, then, can be given for the dasi-
ardly doctrines and acts # the Anarchists
here, and the little less dangerous and In