The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1901-05-30
THE UNREST IN RUSSIA.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PART TAKEN
BY THE WORKING CLASS,

The characteristic feature of the
disturbances in St. Petersburg is the
participation of large numbers Of fac
tory workingmen in the demonstra-
tions led by college students. states
the New York Commercial Advertiser.
The dispatches from st. Petersburg
tell of "a bloody encounter between
Cossacks and workingmen." This is
new departure in the history OF
Nihilism. The movement which began
in the seventies by going among the
people" for purposes of peaceful prop
uganda, and which eliminated IN the
killing of Alexander II. in 1881, was al
most exclusively a crusade of cultured
young men and women.
The educated revolutionists started
out upon the theory advocated by
Nicolai Chernyshevski. the leading
Russian critic and economist of the
sixties, that the better classes owed
their superior position 70 the labor
and sufferings of the masses. and that
it was their moral duty to pay the
debt by working for the economical
and intellectual elevation &C the pleas
antry Accordingly. the carly phases
of Nihilism-a name, by tie way,
which is seldom applied to the Russian
revolutionists in their ON country
were of a purely educational nature
The first secret organization TO which
the present movement is directly
traced and of which Prince KTopotkin,
the scientist and anarchist. now lee
turing in this country. was an active
member, was started by man named
Chaikovski. The Chaikovt2. o. Chalk
ovists, originally confined themselves
to the spreading OF literature allowed
by the censor and delivering lectures
to working people. Prince Kropothin
and others we're arrested. Tho move
ment spread. Hundreds Of educated
young people learned TO speak the dia-
lect of the common people, and putting
on peasant garb went to teach the UNI
lettered to read and 10 write. and to
preach the gospel Of peaceful social
ism. The agitatOrs we're sent to 81
IBERIA by the hundred. while scores Of
them died of consumption or went in
sane in the political prisons of st.
Petersburg and Kha-kcff.
In 1879 the Russian socialists held
secret convention and split into two
factions, the majority assuming the
name of Narodovoltzi (Darty Of the
will of the people,, while the minority
remained faithful to the old policy of
propaganda among the peasants. The
Naradovoltzi favored 2 constitutional
s4n iph
would clear the way CT socialist agita-
ton. "In order to preach equality
and liberty one must first make sure
that one will not be buried alive for
trying to teach peasant to sign his
name" they reasoned. "All our eff
forts have been set at naught by this
barbaric government Of ours. and be-
fore we do anything let US secure some
freedom of speech and assemblage-
rights which the people of every civ
ilized country have been enjoying for
years.
AS an inevitable means to this end,
however, rs = "deDlorable necessity"
the will of the people started a series
of "terroristic" measures, expecting
to demoralize the government by kill
ing off it's more obnoxious officials and
thus to bring the panic-stricken car
to terms. In order to show that this
terror" was forced en- thcm by the
government, and was iustifable under
the peculiar conditions under which
the Nihilists had 70 work. the organ
of the UNDERGROUND party" printed,
birc If
James Garfield. condemning the as
sassin and expressing deep sympathy
with the mourning republic
The terrorists who staked their lives
by mining the tracks Of railroads over
which the car was to pass. attacking
the monarch in broad daylight, or
blowing uD his dining-hall, included
the sons and daughters Of some of
the highest families IN the country,
Thus, Sophia Perovskaya. the young
woman who gave the signal to fire
the fatal bomb upon Alexander H.,
was the daughter of a former gov
ernor OF a province of St Petersburg
and the niece of a cabinet minister.
The last issue of the paper pub
lished by the terrorists was printed
in 1886. Since that time the party of
the Will of the People has been dwind-
ling in numbers, gradually giving away
to "the Social Democratic party"
The underlying principles of this or
ganization are identical with the dec
larations of the socialist parties of
| western Europe. Like the German fol-
lowers of Karl Marx. for example, the
| Russian Social-Democrats are bitter
| ly opposed 70 anarchism in principle
as well as in practice. and if they
| justify. in exceptional instances. "the
| terror" they refer the student of their
movement to the special conditions
which call forth such departure
| from their general policy.
The basic idea of socialism in west
ern Europe is that the "co-operative
| commonwealth" is to come as the
| natural outcome Of tho growth ~ 20 n