Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-03-27
The Disturbances in Russia.

ne UlStuTUdUCcS w UuSSto.
The rebellion of Russian university
students, resulting in the arrest of
500 young men and women, must not
be regarded as mere outbreak of I'M
dergraduatc enthusiasm. 1t is some
thing far more serious than Il college
prank when thousands of students cx-
pose themselves to the assaults of
Cossack troops and are put to death
in numbers so large that the totals are
not given to the public. American
readers familiar with undergraduate
escapades in our own colleges and uni
versities, cannot understand all his.
for though our students make un-
limited noise and on special occasions
are apt to eXasperate the police
authorities more or less. they seldom
shed much blood and never put the
government on defense for its ex-
istcnce.
But neither Russian universities and
students, nor much of anything else
that is Russian. can be judged by
American conditions. 1t is not strange
that the internal troubles of that great
empire are but little understood by
the outside world. They are not re-
Elected in parliamentary debates, and
the press is so fettered and censored
that it can tell but a small part of the
truth. There is no organized public
r. opinion. And the relentless rule
which covers the political sphere ex-
tends over the educational sphere as
well, keeping the sharpest scrutiny
and the closest restraint upon all stu
dent activities, and forbidding clubs
and organizations This espionage is
designed to detect and check the
spread of any revolutionary opinions,
but instead of preventing the growth
of Nihilistic disorders these meas
ures promote them. The restraints
make the students FESTIVE and re-
bclliouS until the limit of endurance is
reached, and then follow such out
breaks as that of last week, resulting
in the loss of many lives and the i'm
prisonment and suffering of hundreds
The st. Petersburg correspondent of
the New York Times writes: ITO
form a correct idea of the existing
Russian university system, all pre-
conceived ideas derived from the
American system. and. indeed. the
British or the German system, must be
put aside. The Russian autocratic
form of government is reflected to an
extreme degree in the code of dis
cipline prevailing at the state unirer-
sites. An inspector is appointed by
the government to keep a close watch
over every university. This inspector
is assisted by small army of as
sistants. whose duty it is to act as
spies over the students, to note their
daily manner of life and to ascertain
their political opinions. They are not
allowed to form clubs or associations
of any kind or to hold public meetings.
The students are all drawn from the
poorer classes of the population, and
this explains why these higher in
situations of learning have always
been. more or less, centres of Nihilism.
I.atterly the government has been
striving to remedy this evil by en-
couraging the sons of bourgeois faml-
lies to enter the universities. and also
by improving the material condition OF
the poorer students. 1t was time. in
deed, that the government came to the
rescue of the latter. many of whom
live i'm the most abject poverty. on 4
or ) kopecks a day. or about l cent OF
American money. Is it surprising,
under such circumstances. that
Nihilism should flourish among the
Russian educated classes"
Various reasons are given for this
latest outbreak, one of them being the
recent accommodation of Count
Tolstoi. but we can safely assume that
the real underlying cause is the arbi-
trary character of the government
which prevents freedom from existing
anywhere in the vast dominions of the
Car. The condition of the masses in
Russia is undoubtedly better than 1t
was a generation or two ago. but they
arc still so far from being lifted above
Ignorance. superstition and abiect
poverty as to be essentially barbara
The comparatively few individuals
who rise above the mass become r@Vo'
lutionists and agitators, and in thell
bitterness and desperation take tt
violence. BY it's despotic interference
the government alienates most of the
Intelligent young Russians whose
loyalty should be cultivated. Bu
such outbreaks as that of last week are
only rash and futile after all. The
autocratic government with its srea
military power is quick to beat on
the sparks of revolution. and more
repressive measures will follow for the
students and all other unfortunate
subjects.
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