The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1904-09-03
THE CZAR'S MERCY.

All the world has been informed of the exceedil
grace and mercy of the ear shown to his subjects
the occasion of the baptism of his son, the futu
autocrat of all the RusSas. By imperial ukase, al
of his own will, as the sole source of human rlgh
in his empire he abolished the use of the knout, +
mited certain fines and relieved some provinces {
the punishment of the innocent for evaslons of mi
itary duty for which they We're not responsible,
The Russian press has hailed these acts of graC
with chorus of ascrpton to the tyrant of the en-
pire. says the Call. The rest of the world and e
peciay the people of the nations who are free, hay
received fine object lesson in the difference bewee
autocracy and freedom Especially in this countr
and in England the people have been long accus
toned to enjoyment of the rights of man, entrenche
in the law of the land and beyond the meddlng reac
of any ruler.
This came about by recognition of the exstenc
of certain nalienable rights in man, natural rights
which neither those who enjoy them nor those VIII
would take them away ALLEVIATE, limit, or destroy
The history of civilization is the history of this de
veopment of the law as a system to protect natura
rights and leave man secure in their employment
1t is system that grew from the people outward.
and upwardly and did not descend upon them as th
gift of man like themselves. But for Thousand
years, from Rurik to Nicholas, the people of Russif
have had none of the rights of humanity except a
gift from the ear Their homes are not inviolabe
their property is not their own their personal right
are limited and they have lived from age to. agt
subordinated, dependent and oppressed, sometimes
receiving from one ear privileges which another
ear has taken away.
The czar considers himself bound by solemn
treaties entered into by his predecessors to
the allegiance of peoples brought under the rule OF
the empire. In the grand duchy of Finland the
Firms were the beneicaries of treaty that left
them in possession of their ancient rights and that
secured the franchise of humanity They had their
schools and universities, their free press and secur-
ity of person and property They had judicial
system and the courts protected them in the rights
of man. But the czar who has handed out lean and
meager dish of mercy to his subjects revoked and
violated that treaty destroyed the last vestige of
Finnish freedom and put the grand duchy under the
hard heel the Cossack. If he had desired to do
things merciful he should have begun by dispensing
justice and restoring the ancient rights of Finland
guaranteed by his ancestors.
But meager as the gift Of the czar is it is not based
upon any merit or right of his people. If the few
things given them were theirs of right they should
have had them long ago. If they have the right not
to be fogged with the pnout for trivial offenses
that degradation should never have been put upon
them If all the restrictions removed were wrong
they were always wrong and never should have been
imposed.
They are removed now because son has been born
to the ear He had already three daughters and at
their birth and baptism had remained callous to the
sufferngs and obdurate to the needs of the Russian
people
Now the physiological accident Of sex in a child
has moved him to dole out these slender and INSULT
eient mercies. An event in his family that is Of
constant occurrence in the families of his empire is
made the occasion of doing that which should not
have been necessary or possible if his people were
regarded as anything but his personal chattels and
the footstool Of his power If the child had been
girl the world would not have been notified Of his
exceeding grace mace alHuenC Dy purely domestic
event in his household. The knout would still have
been cutting the soft flesh and drawing the blood
of his subjects and whole provinces would be given
over to the Cossack whips in punishment for ndi-
yidual evasions of military duty.
To an American the whole suggestion is revolving.
Here the people have rights that individual rulers
did not give, cannot enlarge and are powerless to
take away We are not looking beyond ourselves
for acts Of grace and mercy. The birth Of son Ii
any of our homes is the coming of man to be a