Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-26
OTHER LANDS THAN OURS.

suppressed the agitation for a rational re-
form Of the electorate by applying the
mailed hand. In doing so II has doubtless
merely deferred the day Of evil for itself.
The demand Of the socialists and liberals
was a reasonable one. They asked for fair
representation, nothing more. Their claims
should not be COMPOUNDED with the extreme
demands OF the anarchists. II these had
been acceded to the party in power would
doubtless have been dislodged from office,
which is now held through a majority vote
cast by a minority Of privileged electors
The Belgian government is behind the age
II It thinks seriously that such a condition
can be indefinitely maintained. The pres
emit fiction OF universal suffrage will have
to give way sooner or later to the genuine
article, when class privilege will disappear
in the exercise Of the right to vote, and
every elector will approach the polls on
equal terms. Leopold II might have recov-
cred some OF his lost popularity had he ia
vored the change now. As Il was he OPP
posed the proposed reform and he will, as
a result, be more heartily hated now than
he ever was before by the majority OF his
subjects.
The Prussian prosecutions Of the Poles in
the eastern provinces continue. Proceed
ings were recently taken against a number
Of Polish children who sang Polish songs
on the way home from school. Not only
did they sing Polish songs, but they dem
onstrated' against other scholars who sang
German songs. The offending children we're
placed in the dock and forty-six witnesses
were examined against them. The prose-
cutting counsel insisted that the children
1 should go to prison. Fines, he said, were
no punishment, as money could be collected
in Germany and abroad to pay the fines.
An example must be made which would
strike terror into the agitators. The court
finally acquitted the children. Nearly sixty
Russian Polish students, most OF whom
belong at the Technical college at Chariot
tenburg, have been expelled from Prussia
on the charge Of political agitation. The
most extraordinary thing about the affair
is that the exiles have found asylum in
Russian Poland without any objections be-
ing made by the local authorities, notwith-
standing the fact that the Prussian press
has constantly warned Russia against 'nur-
turing such reptiles at her BOSOM" In
contradistinction to the account of this in
cident, which was published in the Polish
Kuryer Poznaski (Posen COURIER, the Ma
tional Zeitung learns hat only those stu
dents were expelled who had been caught
"a oSNASN NNNAh6 IL Il OAAoh JONA
nal stated that all the non-Prussian Polish
students. whether politically compromised
or not, had been thus summarily dealt
with.
In his recent passage through Russia
Colonel Marchand talked freely with vart-
Gus Journalists of the future Of China, Civ
ing utterance to the most p~essimistic
views. He said that he expected the recent
outbreak against foreigners to be repeated
within the next four or five years. II is his
opinion that the Chinese in their profound
admiration for the dowager empress and
their blind confidence in her will be drawn
into the gravest complications by this
ambitious, energetic and daring woman"
who, while pretending to have resigned
herself to the new situation, has not lost
her hatred of the foreigners or ceased
dreaming Of sanguinary revenge, for which
the colonel thinks she will make great
preparations during the next few years.
He is persuaded that the Chinese people,
opposed as they are to all idea of friendship
with Europeans, will easily allow them
selves to be dragged into fresh hostilities
against them at what they may deem a
favorable opportunity. Colonel Marchand
spoke in terms of admiration of the ST.
berian and especially of the Manchurian
railways, and Of their great value in the
event Of Russia, the advance guard of Eu-
rope in the far east, having to repel a
Chinese invasion. 'That is why" he ad-
ded, "all European countries are themselves
interested in the maintenance and the Sc
curity Of these important railways, for the
protection of which Russia has organized
very efficient measures" He declares that
the Russian soldiers intrusted with the pro-
| 4.zAgz- - ~ IEno1 INt, an arCoI1opf foEuna
will the local population, but does not ap-
pear to have heard anything about their
impending withdrawal
Mail details continue to Justify and en-
phasize the cable reports OF the ever-in-
creasing seriousness of the student ques-
tion in Russia. II appears that, In addition
to the 600 Moscow students who we're exiled
or sent to prison at Archangel, a large
number of their associates are still in con-
fnement in the city. The feelings Of their
relatives toward the government may be
imagined. There seems to be some uncer-
tainty as to the origin of the petition that
was sent TO the American consul in Mos
cow. This purported to come from the
mothers and sisters OF the imprisoned stu
dents, and warmly protested against the
cruelties to which the prisoners were sub
jected. The car, 1t was added, must be
ignorant OF the facts Of the case, or he,
with his we'll known kindness of heart,
would at once put a stop to the conduct Of
the local authorities. The consul, as the
representative of the free and enlightened
American nation" was begged to make
known to his majesty the c~ruelties that
were perpetrated In his name. 1t must be
remembered that all the punishments in
hicted upon the students have been i'm
posed by administrative order" without
trial or examination. In some cases It is
known that perfectly innocent youths have
been sent to prison, including some who
refused to have anything to do with revo-
lutionary proceedings. A correspondent Of
a London paper writes that such sympathy
as ever existed between the authorities and
the middle classes has been destroyed by
these occurrences.
The French government recently issued
an important decree recognizing the whole
system Of the coast naval defenses Of the
country. Instead of the director of sub
marine defenses having the control Of the
torpedo boats, each port is to have an indie
pendent authority subordinate only to the