St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-05-08
The Address.

The Address
To the People of the United States:
Your senate has recently ratified an
eXtraditlon treaty which proposes to
surrender to the Russian government
all persons accused of making an at
tempt upon the life of the car or any
member of his family, either actively or
by connection with conspiracy having
such an attempt in view. AS this treaty
has not yet become law through the
| signature of your president, we, group
Of Russians living in the city of (blank)
| in Western Europe, who are we'll
! acquainted with the internal admins
| tratiOn of our country, have decided,
| at meeting held on this
| 10th day of April, 1898, to address to
! YOU few words of rem0nStrance. We
regard it our duty as Russian citizens
| to do this, and we feel assured that you
will give to our protest the same con-
| SiGeration that you have given to other
| protests against the action Of your SEN
| ate, end that as result OF such protests
public opinion in the United States will
be expressed emphatically in opposition
to the proposed law. The statements
made to YOU with regard to the condi-
ton of affairs in Russia by persons
who hold positions in the service of our
government is unfair, partial and III
many cases
Absolutely False;
and we beg you not to believe them.
! According to these statements Russians
are sons of Arcadia. where the peasant
| lives always in the most tender friend
ship with the landed proprietor; where
| the people, like children, look up with
reverence to their father, the ear, and
where everybody thrives and prospers
| under the fostering care Of the holy
| orthodox church. Such statements are
false. The Russian people are beaten
and driven like cattle by few persons
who happen to have power and author
| ity over them, and they are living, not
in happiness and prosperity, but in the
blacklist misery and the denSest ignOr
ance-and this in spite of their natural
industry and their innate intellectual
capacity Who is to blame for this
state of things Our rulers, and they
| alone. They have taken upon them
selves the guardianship of the nation,
and are keeping Russia in leading
strings, not allowing society to partic-
ipate i'll the government OF the coun-
try, nor permitting their authority to be
affected i'll any way by the Influence OF
the educated class.
The Revolutionary Struggle
in Russia has been, up to the present
time, nothing more than SkirmiSh be-
tween the advanced intelligence of
society and an antiquated, outgroWn
regime, which could only bring the
country into a state Of complete eco
monte atrophy. You know from the
newspapers how the Russian autocracy
dealt with the representatives OF this in
telligent class when they tried to free
the people from the inherited yoke Of
the Romanotf dynasty. And yet Mr..
Botkine, the secretary of the Russian
legation in Washington, assures you, in
printed article, that autocracY sis rs
natural and satisfactory in Russia as
the republican form OF government Is
in the United States"
1t is possible that you look upon the
Russian revoluti0nists as wild, blood
thirsty fanatics who have no regard for
the laws of society or Of humanity?
Read the descriptions Of them in the
works of your American travellers and
YOU will come to know them better.
You will also learn that terrorism was
the last means to which they had re-
course when they were absolutely de-
prived of freedom to live in accordance
with their convictions of duty and the
dictates of their own conscience. No
one in Russia would ever have thought
OF adopting the terroristic policy il the
government had granted constitutional
freedom to the nation. Without freedom
it is hard to live, and if some of the
most cultivated people in Russia finally
resorted to weapons, at the imminent
Peril Of Death,
it only shows how terrible had become
the tyranny of the government. Be-
tween such a government and the gov
eminent of the United States there can
be no comparison. We cannot expect
serious reforms in Russia from above.
Such reforms will not be granted, either
as result of financial disorganization,
or as a concession made in apprehen-
sion of war. The educated Russian
public can rely only on its own strength
and on the strength of the people, while
you and your senate. instead of helping
us, are giving your support to the
autocracy that Expresses US. LII
so doing you are obstructing uni
yersal progress. You can expect
nothing from a Russia that IS eX.
hausted and torn by civil struggle
which. despite the assurances of the
Russian secretary of legation, is still
going on. But Il free RuSSia-a Russia
emaucipated from political slavery
would be a true and ail-poWerful frienC
of America i'll the vast arena OF the Pa
citlc. that Mediterranean Of the fut-
ure," which is soon to be the scene O
an act in the great drama of the world.
history.
People of America, we are not polit
zeal suspects in our own country. anC
we are at liberty to return to it. W.
are not actuated by hatred nor by re
sentiment for personal injuries. Gu
only reason tor appealing to you is tin
, conviction that you cali be made to un
| derstand the terrible situation of tn
, people whose refugees ask protection
in your country, and who are persecute'
! for doing what YOU yourself would d