The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1902-05-21

representation or at anything like an
honest, though rather limited, constitu-
ton.
Still. it is quite possible that Lor1s
Melikoff meant well and that he chose
this .undersized constitution" of his as
the best sort of entering wedge. At all
events there is some reason to beleVe
that if the party of the 'Will of the
People" Ghe underground organization
which was responsible for all the polit-
ical assassnations and attempts of the
period had been aware Of the exist
ence Of such project the life of Alex
ander II. would have been spared. In
deed, they had declared repeatedly in
| their pronunciamentos as well as in
| the speeches of their leaders at the big
politica trials that they were pledged
| to abandon the terror" the moment
| the car granted the country free
speech. Although the project of Loris
Melikoff did not contain the remotest
alluSion to any reform in that direction,
yet certain privileges along the lines in
question would have followed, as a
matter of course. from the general
trend of the measure.
The project was returned to Loris
Melikoff with the approval of the czar
at II o'clock on March IS, 1881, for
further consideration by the cabinet.
after which March 16) it was to be
published in the imperial Messenger.
Two hours after the cZar returned the
document he was killed by nihilists
bomb on the Ekaterininsky canal.
Alexander ILL., read the same project
with much interest and wrote on the
margin of the paper. Very good" AT
the meeting of the cabinet at which
the measure was read Pobiedonostseff,
the curator of the holy synod, and sew
eral others took a firm stand against
the innovation. insisting on even
more conservative and iron handed pol
icy than heretofore. Loris Melikoff was
thus defeated, and things went from
bad TO worse.
Alexander III. proved less liberal
minded than his father. 1t was under
him that books like the works of Her
bert Spencer or Buckle were eliminat-
ed from circulation as dangerous to
the status quo. The gendarmerie and
the police had things pretty much their
own way. People were thrown into
dungeons and banished to the remotesr
parts of Siberia on the flimsiest suspi
cion. Student girls were driven to in
sanity or suicide by the treatment they
received for reading underground"
literature The reign of the White
Terror reached its height.
Pobiedonostzeff is still the great pow
er behind the throne. but conditions
have changed so that he is powerless
to keep the present car from granting
some reforms. The movement of TWEEN
ty years ago was mere childs play
compared to what is going on in every
town of the empire today. Instead of
"a mere handful of evildoers,'' as the
Terrorists of the seventies and eighties
were usually referred TO in official par
lance, the government is confronted
with situation that has justly been
described as the muttering of general
uprising of the people. Not a day goes
on but one hears Of some big strike.
These strikes. however, are not of q
purely economic character. The strik-
ers are so many revolutionists, and the
college men who participate in the uni
versity riots are their comrades. In
other words, the university riots and
the factory strikes are manifestations
of the same spirit of political discOn-
tent which is said to- worry Nicholas
Ii. even more than the assassinatiOns
by the Terrorists did his grandfather.
Should the car declare his intention
to introduce popular institutions. an
"underszed" constitution like the one
framed by Loris Melikoff will scarcely
mend matters. The people have learn
| ed a good deal in the course of the past
| twenty years. They know what is go
| ing on in England and the United
| States, and nothing short of substantial
| political concessions is likely to appease
them.
The present car is n weak, peaceful
man. and is wife is too fond of her
family to let it be in perpetual danger
Of assassination. AS to the revolution
| lists, they don't make the old time ter
ror" plank in their programme. but
the killing of the two cabinet minis
tiers. Bogolyepoff and Sipiaguine. has
convinced the court that the life of the
car is far from out of danger.
Balshanoff. the student who killed
Sipiaguine. had originally intended to
assassinate PobiedonostZeff. the man
who of all other high officials is held
responsible for the present regime.
That seems to indicate that the revOlu'
tionists are bent upon obtaining con-
stitutiOn and to get out Of the way
every one whom they regard as the
supporters of deSpOtism.
Sciatic rheumatism Cured After Four