The record-union., 1897-06-26
CZAR FAVORS POLAND.
Nicholas Of Russia Begins a Policy OF
Justice and Cancellation.
Polish Mobiles Allowed to Regain
Their Estates - Emperor OF
Austria's Wise Tactics.

From the time when Thaddeus Kos
cjuszko fought for the independence Oh
the United States as aide-de-camp anu
orderly officer to Washington, the peo-
pIe of this country have always mani
tested a marked interest in the rate OIL
Poland. All oppressed and doWntrod-
den nations struggling for freedom
meet with generous and whole-hearted
svnpathy on this side of the Atlantlc,
no matter whether they be Armenlans'
Cretans. Irish or Jews. But somehow
or another the case of Poland has ap-
pealed more strongly to the American
heart than that of any of the unhappy
people lust mentioned. Their fight for
liberty. which has continued almost
without interruption for more than one
hundred years, has been signalized by
so many romantic episodes, has fur
nished such remarkable examples Of
bravery, of patriotism and OF chavai-
rous self-sacrifice, that anything which
affects their welfare meets with keen
er appreciation in North America than
anywhere else in the world.
This being the case, attention should
be drawn to a remarkable feature OF
the new policy of conciliation Whlch
young Emperor Nicholas from the very
moment of his accession to the throne
of Russia has begun in the Polish prov
inces of his dominions. 1t is nothing
more nor less than the repeal OF that
iniquitous law which prohibited every
one processing any other than the Or
thodox Greek faith from owning or oc-
cupying land in the former Kingdom OF
Poland. Inasmuch as the Poles, IN
spite of the cruel prosecutions to which
they have been subjected on religious
as well as on racial grounds, have re-
manned fervent adherents of the Ro-
man Catholic Church, this was equiVa-
lent to debarring them from retaining
possession of such of their ancestral
estates as had been left to them after
7he wholesale confscation which the
Russian Government was in the habit
of decreeing after every revolutionary
movement, and even without any such
cause, but on the most frivolous and
trivial pretexts. 1t is worthy of note
that in spite of the reputation for ty-
ranny enjoyed by the first Emperor
Nicholas, and the renown for the pos
session of more enlightened and liberal
principles accorded by history to his
son, the ill-fated Alexander II, this
law was enforced with far greater Sc
verify under the reign of the latter
than under that of his father. Indeed,
there is no Gar of Russia beneath
whose rule the Poles may be said to
have suffered so much from persecu-
ton ard oppression Of every conceiva-
BILE character as that of the so-called
Iiberator Gar.
POLISH MOBILES REGAIN THEIR
ESTATES.
The present Emperor has changed all
this and has caused it to be made
known that not only is the obnoxious
law in connection with the tenure of
land in the western provinces repealed
but, moreover, that he would be glad to
see the Polish nobility once again oc-
Cupying their ancestral estates. Ever
since this has been understood abroad
there has been a steady flow east
ward of the Polish aristocracy, and
they are rapidly recovering by means
of purchase all those castles and do
mains with which the names of their
families have been identified since time
immemorial. Among those who have
already taken advantage of the Cars
new policy in this particular are the
Counts Potocki, Zamoyski, Starzenski
CzartOrislIi and about one hundred
more bearers of equally illustrious
names, who viii doubtless become in
course of time quite as loyal to the
Car as their fellow countrymen in the
Austrian portion of Poland are to EN-
peror Francis Joseph.
1t is pleasant under the circum-
stances to be able to state that these
Polish Princes and Counts are recover
ing their estates at a comparatively
small cost. For the old proverb. accord
ing to which violence and persecution
always end by inflicting more injury
upon the people who made use thereof
as instruments than upon those against
whom they were directed, has proved
true once more in this instance. While
the Russian mobiles who obtained the
Polish castles and estates either by
grant from the Russian Government
which had confiscated them. or elst
at merely nominal price at the com.
pulsory sales, are now in such a state
of financial distress and bankruptcy
that Nicholas has just been forced Il
appoint an imperial commission to de.
wise some means for their relief tht
Polish nobility have prospered to suel
a degree in exile that ere long they
will constitute what is to every mon
archial country a source of boundles:
strength, namely. a rich and aff1uen
territorial aristocracy. possessed of suf
hcient means to develop the latent re
sources of the country and, above all
to ameliorate the condition of tn.
peaSantry and masses for whose mate
rial welfare as their tenants they ar
morally responsible.
Had the reign of Nicholas II. beer
signaliZed by no other fact than tn,
beginning of this new and liberal polio,
toward the Poles, it would in itsel
have been sufficient to render it notabl,
and conspicuous in the history of Rus
sia- The present Gar and his adviser
have at length realized what has Ions
been apperent to every unprejudicet
student of statecraft, namely, tha
whereas an antagonistic and malcon
tent Poland must necessarily be
source of weakness and of acute dan
ger to Russia, a loyal and contenteC
Poland, on the other hand, would con
stitute a bulwark of defense to th