The herald., 1896-04-12

are miserably paid: in fact. the members
of all the three divisions are underpaid.
and as a result blackmail. bribery and ex-
tortion thrive in Russia to an extent un.
known in any other country tue world
over.
The second section is made up of the
rural police, the chiefs of which are ap-
pointed by the state and the ordinary Ofd-
GERS by the different villages. These are
the most rapacious wretches on the face OF
the earth. and the way they grind down the
helpless people in their control would bring
tears to the eyes of a man of stone.
The third section. whose chief is spoken
of in a whisper as the White Terror, is made
up of the dreaded special police. The or.
ganizatlon of this force is a we'll guarded
mystery. and therein lies its vas. power. 1t
is under the immediate control OF the min
lister of the interior, and its one particular
business is to ferre. out enemies of the czar
and of the imperial government.
Much has been written about the Third
Section, but no complete story of its or.
Ganization has ever becn told. Even the
cieverest and most relied upon detectives
in its employ do not know the real facts of
the matter. Americans who have lived in
the principal Russian cities and who have
written about it have only been able to OBJ
tain the bareSt skeleton of its formation,
but that is as much as any one knows.
Secrecy and mystery form its founda-
ton. How many men compose the force
is unknown. They may number 5000,
and possibly so, 700. The section includes
men placed in every walk of life. from the
humblest to the most powerful, the artisan
and the diplomat, the high army officer
and the common soldier. the laborer and
the society man, the merchant and the
thief. In every big city the world over are
New York, Chicago, Boston. Philadelphia.
and oil of the large towns of the country.
They swarm IN London. Paris. Berlin,
Vienna, Constantinople and the great capi-
tails of Europe. The cities of Asia are full
of them.
Those in the Russian cities have no regu-
lar hours for reporting for duty, as is the
case with members of the detective force
in the ordinary city. They are on duty al
| the time. This is regarded as a great ad-
vantage. An agent could be in the COM
| pany of nine other agents and not one in
the group of ten would know that he was
| in the presence of fellow officers. Their
superiors confer with them in secret. And
| they never meet at one place. 1t is an
| everyday occurren ce for an agent to turn
/ in report accusing another agent of sus.
pIcious conduct. The latter is simply fol-
lowing up some case, and the other, not
| knowing him to be secret officer, makes
his report. So elaborate, complete and ex-
tensive is this organized spy system that
little goes on that does not reach the eare
of some official.
During the coronation festivities at Mos.
COW the third section will be concentrated
at that point. In the great crowds which
flock to the ancient city, there will be
thousands of these secret agents. They
| will be present at every celebration, biz
and little, with the poor and with the rich
in every hotel, in every church, on the
street, in meeting rooms and clubs, an(
woe to the man, women. or child even, who
utters a word of protest against the czar OF
his officers.
The third section is hated by the people
of Russia, and they have made this clea
many times by assassinating the "Whitt
ierror'' in power. In 1878 General Mezen
zoff was shot dead, and a year later hi,
successor barely escaped with his life from
the knife OF another assassin. In 1873:
General Sudeikin was slain. and in 1896
his successor, General Seliverstoff, wa
shot dead. Hundreds of men and womel
have been sent to Siberia for plottini
against the lives of the chief police off
cials, but this does not deter others from
doing the same, and sooner or later on
succeeds.
At the coronation the czarna VIII wea
100000 gown, and the czar's carriag
will be drawn by six horses, whose har
, ness cost $50 900; but these empty glorie
will not harmonic with the evil worked b.
. the third section among the poor people
who must pay for the terrific extrava9ance
: and be exiled 'afterward for murmurin