The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-10-27


When I left Russia, my beloved country
some portions OF the great empire were III
a state of revolt Murder. street brawls'
executions, terror. false accussauohs'
threats and embitterment on one side,
hatred. rancor. sacrifices on the other' many
OF my feIIow-citizens were I'D in arms
against each other. ready to do murder and
commit almost any crime at the shsh'esl
excuse or without provocation.
am not unhopeful that the riots Will
he nut down without compromising the
crown. but what OF IL II you cannot sup
nress the spirit that leads 10 popular re-
volt IN Russia? That spirit will lire by
virtue OF your own shortcomings. and will
break forth time and again with ever-in-
creasing strength, creating worse sufferings
and crimes than those under which the
Russian people are bowed down to-day.
WHY should this be so when the reoccur-
renee OF popular demonstrations of that
kind might be avoided?
I appeal to all in whom worldly power Is
vested, the Gar. his unces, mother. cous-
ins. to the Imperial Council of State, the
ministers, governors and to the authorities
in general. 1 appeal to you, not as an
enemy of the institutions you uphold. but
as a brother. Yes. are all brothers.
whether you recognize the relationship or
not We are made Of the same clay and
our sunerings cannot help being a source
OF perturbation and disquietude to you, the
more so as you must feel that you could
have alleviated our agony IL you had but
wanted to.
FALSE PRECEPTs.
You, or the majority OF you, think these
popular uprisings due to handful Of mall
Gfn1
the regular course OF events You hold
these. and only these. responsible for all
that occurs and conclude that, to restore
order, it is but necessary to tame the mall
contents.
OF course. that is nonsense. II national
dissatisfaction, If the general vexation OF
spirit and soreness pervsding Russia were
attributable to nobody and nothing but
bakers dozen OF excitable or bad men.
their arrest and execution would suffice to
restore order.
Ii Is a fact. however, which / shall never
cease 70 deplore. that dissatisfaction is
constantly on the increase in our country,
that millions Of laboring men express this
feeling secretly or openly, that the major
ity of our people smart under unjust
system-this, despite the other fact that for
thirty long years you have arrested, i'm
prisoned, executed and banished thousands
of so-called leaders or malcontents.
The circumstances related prove beyond
question that popular dissatisfaction is not
caused by bad and unruly men, but by
somebody or something else. 1 pray you,
gentlemen OF the government, to pause a
moment and consider whether the old-time
maxim Of the ruling classes. that order can
be restored by powder and lead. is not
sham and base deception. Then, IL you will
follow me little while longer, will show
you the real cause of popular dissatisfac-
ton. and why it's growth is steadily en- the
increase.
Thirty years ago a group of iI-advised
men, or bad men, If you want 1t so-surely
unhappy men, creatures OF circumstance
impulse and accident-thirty years ago an
insignificant group OF such murdered the
Czar-liberator. This event, deplorable
Samnable and wholly inexcusable, made
abe government OF Russia stop on the road
OF progress. 1t never recovered from the
shock, and autocracy, then already a
dead issue that had long outlived its useful
ness, was declared a permanent, unaltera-
BILE institution. For the last twenty years.
gentlemen. you have been backsliders;
your policy has been one of retrogression,
pure and simple you have been seeking
10 fntrench yourselves behind crude meth
DDS Of government that In a civilized state
should have been abolished years ago. and
by rhis conduct you have antagonized the
oeopIe and thrown cold water on It's just
demands
WHERE THE SHOE FITS.
Popular discomfort. then, is not the result
of the preachings OF a few bad or mis-
guided men, but is directly and emphat-
icalIy due 20 your own action, or lack OF
action. gentlemen Of the government. 1
say this not IN criticism; 1 say it neither
IN wrath nor pity; say Ii to open your
eyes TO your own shortcomings. II you will
but recognize the real cause OF popular
discomfort the battle Is half won, for as
Christians and you will not hesitate
TO remove that cause.
Remember. gentlemen OF the government,
that the masses prefer love and concord
to hatred and battling for their rights.
will not deny that at present they regard
you as enemies. that they are ready to
fight you 10 the death. but this deplorable
condition is solely due to the fact that they
hold you responsible for the negation of
their sacred rights-liberty, education, free
dom of worship.
To pacify the masses, nay. all good peo-
pie. and to put a stop to all anti-govern-
ment agitation Il is but necessary TO grant
the people what is theirs by the law OF
God and man. and as this grant Is abso-
Iutely necessary for your own happiness
cannot conceive any reason why you
should withhold it. The thing to do is
this:
First-The peasantry must be put on the
same footing with city dwellers; there
must be no two classes of citizens. To
tho end il is necessary to abolish the
Il otto institute of land-supervision. favor
SUBURBAN SOCIETY NOTES.