Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-31
FOR A FREE RUSSIA.
Sergius Stepniak, the Famous Mill
ist, Arrives at New York
TO HELP WORK UP PUBLIC OPINION
Constitutional Government What He and
His Followers Want.
FORCE USED BECAUSE 1T is NECESSARY
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM To THE DIsPATcH.i

NEW YORK, Dec. 30.-A loosely Dullt
man of medium height, in an ill-ftting gray
suit, sat in a room at the Everett House this
afternoon smiling, gesticulating and chat
ting about Nihilism in Russia. Occasion
ally he ran his hand lightly over his curly
black beard or barely brushed the top OF the
great fluffy mass of hair above his high,
round forehead. As he proceeded from the
general to the particular part of his SUBJ
ject, he leaned forward eagerly, with shin
ing eyes and flushed cheeks, then slid to
the edge of his chair and finally half rose,
with his hands clatched on the table as he
said with tremendous earnestness: "Yes,
the revolution in Russia must come. There
is no other way possible"
This keen. enthusiastic man with couvic-
ton in his every word, was Sergius Step
MAX, one OF the original Nihilists in Rus
sia long ago, the soul of the present Mill
istic movement West of the Russian border,
and perhaps the most courageous of the
members OF party that contains few save
brave men. He and Mrs. Stepniak were
landed at the Cunard dock from the steam
ship U mbria at 1850 o'clock this morning,
amid cheers and cries of Welcome,
Stepniak!' from the Russians who had
gathered there to meet him.
Greeted by Fellow Nihilists.
When he stepped from the gang plank
Mr.. Rosen5luth, of the staff OF. Free Russia,
addressed him in the Socialistic-Anarchis-
tic-Nihilistic fashion as "Comrade Step
MAX and said: SIT is with the greatest
delight that am here to-day as the spokes-
man OF the American staff of nurses oil your
5-month-old baby, Free Russia, to greet you
and say to you, Welcome L am happy to
be able to bring you the very good and ex-
ceedingly encouraging tIdings that out OF
the many thousands of citizens OF these
United States who read our journal not
word of disapproval toward its policy has
come to our notice.
"All classes recognize the justice of our
cause. We will show YOU a list of volun-
teers who have enlisted as workers for our
cause-some poor, some rich, some religious,
some agnostic. You will find both the clergy
and the laity represented; workingmen and
professional men. Enthusiasm for our cause
is daily growing in the hearts of the Ameri-
can people, who will help to free. Russia
from the scourge of despotism.''
why He Comes to This Country.
Mr.. .Stepniak was seen later on at his hotel.
He said his trip to this country had two
aims: One to secure financial aid in plans
for public agitation in favor of freer
Russia, and the other to make directly the
desired publ: opinion against the Russian
Government
You see this is the only way we can
reach the Russian Government and the bet
ter class of Russians who read newspapers
he said. "In Russia nothing ohjectionabl /,
to the Government can be generally circu-
lated, and so public opinion cannot be
massed. But the making of opinion
abroad adverse to the Government is tre
mendous thing, for a nation. like an indi-
vidual, is sensitive to what is thought of
it. The programme for which we agltate
now is first: Representative government
with a Parliament, Constitution and uni
versal suffrage.
"After this come, as secondary matters, our
other demands for reforms: Local auton-
only, naturalization of all land, probably
woman suffrage, and religion as private
matter. The naturalization of land is not
a radical proposition in Russia as it would
be here, because the village communities al
ready own the land about them. All the
peasants favor land naturalization. The
other reforms are mild enough from the
American point of view. Do we want any
central government? OBJ, we'll. 1 am re-
publican, but we do not object to the mon
archy if it is constitutional monarchy, in
fact we do not object to the continued rule
of the Gar. i: he only rules with a constitu-
tion and parliament"
Force Is Needed in Russia.
As regards the use of force in the Nihi-
listic movement Stepniak takes the same
position as Liebknecht, the leader of the Ger
man social democracy. 1t will be remembered
that when Sophie Gunzberg, just before her
last return to Russia, asked Liebknecht for
his opinion as to bomb throwing, the German
Socialist answered: SIN countries where
there is no other hope, yes." This is Step
niak's position as he defined it to-day.
''If there is any other way out, 1 object to
terrorism he said. ''But then YOU must
not look at violence in Russia from the
American point OF view. II mans sister
is fogged to death here, if his brother is
crippled for life by the brutality of the
police, there is redress in your courts With
us there is none. The whole people are
insulted. and angered, and oppressed by
| abuses and torture without sufficient cause
and without opportunity for legal reparation.
Whole classes are wrought up to a frenzy
by the utter recklessness and Calling
brutality of the Government.
"Yet ] disapprove of violence, however
bad the abuses, so long as any other way is
open. PadIewski's act was wrong, because
| in France public opinion is great power
and might better have been appealed to.
| Nevertheless am glad Padlewski escaped.
consider the killing of Seliverstroff
| political offense and do not believe that
Padlewski had any accomplice or fellow
conspirator in the deed"
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