The morning news., 1894-11-02
Death Of the Car.


ander III. whose death is announced ir
our dispatches this morning. will be ex
/ pressed. By some it will be said that
4 he was thoroughly good man. broad
minded and progressive. and that his
chief object in life was the welfare ana
/ happiness Of his people. By others it viii
I be held that he was a tyrant, narrow
minded and bigoted. and that he was
well aware Of the horrors Of Siberia and
approved them, and that he authorized
the persecution of the Jews and the Poles
The truth may be between these two
extreme opinions.
1t is hard to believe that so good and
devoted a husband and father could be
naturally cruel and wholly Indifferent to
the rights Of others. He was noted for
the purity Of his private life; for his
strict attention to his religious duties.
and for his love for his wife and chill
dren. His home life excited the admira-
ton of all of Europe. In the domestic
circle he was a devoted husband and a
loving and loved father. He was never
so happy as when engaged in games with
his children or devising ways and means
to amuse them.
His governmental policy was radically
different from that of his father, Alex
ander H., who had emancipated the serfs
and was preparing for a much more lib
eral administration of the government
at the time he was assassinated by the
nihilists. Perhaps the fate of his father
convinced him that the Russian people
were not prepared for the reforms that
his father proposed to inaugurate, and
that the safety of the empire demanded
repressivo measures.
Whatever may have been the reason
he did not consider the proposed reforms
of his father wise. it is certain that he
reversed his fathers liberal policy. The
press was allowed no freedom, educa-
ton was given no encouragement, Sibe-
ria became the scene Of horrors that
shocked the civilized world, and the Jews
were subjected to a bitter and malevolent
persecution. Could all these things have
been done without the cars permission?
To say they could is to assume that the
czar knew very little Of what was 60
ing on in the empire.
The reasonable supposition is that he be-
lieved they were necessary, and that a
milder policy would have resulted in weak
ening the empire, and, eventually. in its
destruction.
The Russians are peculiar people. A
liberal government might not be the best
for them at this time. The dissatisfied ele-
ment among them was not satisfied with
the liberal movements that Alexander II.
inaugurated. His concessions were made
the excuse for demanding stiu greater
concessions, and it is a question whether
the policy of Alexander II. would not have
led to a disastrous revolution had it been
continued by Alexander III
The dead czar was man OF great per-
sonal courage. He was fearless in the dis
charge of his duty and he exposed him
self to danger whenever the occasion
seemed to demand that he should do so.
In the war between Russia and Turkey
he was among the bravest of the brave
and, though he was in constant danger of
being assassinated, and nihilist plots for
his destruction were frequent, he never
hesitated to appear in public. He believed
he ruled by divine right and that those
who opposed him were in rebellion against
God. The vast majority of his people
loved him, not for himself but because he
was the czar. He could have depended
upon their devotion and loyalty to any
extent.
What sort of ruler Nicholas, the new
car. will be it is impossible to say with
any degree of certainty. He is in his twen-
ty-seventh year, and he incurred the dis.
pleasure of his father often by his lib
eral tendencies. Some authorities say he
is stupid and will be ruled by his counsel
ors, but who can say that such an opln.
ion does not come through prejudiced
sources? By time alone will it be deter,
mined whether or not he has the qualltie:
of a great and wise ruler.