Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-08-20
SIayOuic Duplicity Exposed in Re-
cent German Konigsberg
Political Trial.
Illuminating REVELATIONS.
Statements Made by Russian Consul
General to Procure Conviction
At Any Cost.
Special correspondence.

has been disguised by the astount
Ing revelations made at the Kt
ngsberg political trial. just cor
Guided, of Russian dupliclty and IN
undignihed zeal shown by the Cierma
government TO curry favor with tn
czar by the sacrifice OF some Of its ow
subjects.
The prisoners nine In number wer
all men IN the lower walks OK life. Mos
Of them could neither read nor writ,
They live near the Russian border /
East Prussia, district from whlc
with the connIyance Of the corrup
Russian police, brisk business is don
IN smuggling goods into the dominic
OF the car They we're accused-hrs
~. with being concerned in a consph
acy or secret society; secondly, OF eli
culating books and pamphlets incitln
10 the murder Of the ear and the ovei
throw Of the Russian constitution. an,
thirdly, Of being guilty Of "lese ma
jeste" against the person Of Empero
Nicholas II by circulating these book
and pamphlets,
SIMPLY sMUGGLERs.
For nine months that were occnpie
in preliminary investigation the me
were kept close confined In jail. Dur
ing this period the German authorize
were m close communication with Rus
sian officials for the purpose Of procui
ing all possible evidence against then
Meanwhile, It was loudly proclaime
that the object OF the prosecution wa
10 stamp out n nest Of dangerous an
archlst and nihilist conspirators who's
| threats against the czar rendered the
determination desirable I'm the interest
Of law and order throughout Europ
But after "A trial lasting nearly fort
night. IN which the presiding Judge dis
played the bltterest hostility toward III
prisoners, all the major charges OF III
Indictment. which covered 200 page
were dismissed on the technics
charge Of conspiracy II Is true, six
the prisoners who were shown TO be
long "a a secret society, were cor
demned to terms OF imprisonment rams
ing from three weeks 10 two month";
As matter OF fact they were simpl
smugglers.
The prosecution failed ignominousl
IN its purport But the exposures mad
at the trial Of the deceit, lying, an
downright forgeries resorted to by tn
Russian officials to obtain the conyic
ton Of the prisoners have furnishe
an object lesson IN Russian judicls
methods which Germany will not 500
forget. And Russian institutions hav
been pilloried IN a manner which wi
effectually prevent for years the growtl
Of sympathy for the nelghboring stat
which the German government is seek
ing so assiduously to cultivate.
TRUMPET UP CHARGES.
The alleged seditious literature wa
all I'm the Russian tongue. A selectio
from the books and pamphlets seized
the police I'm the homes OF the pris
oners were sent to the Russian consul
general at Konlgsberg that he Nigh
translate extracts from them for III
benefit OF the German authorities. VI
took advantage Of the opportunity al
forded him to make the evidence
the crime" in accordance with the mos
approved Russian methods. He sen
back an alleged transcript OF certal
passages which would have fully JUST
fed the charge that the accused me
were engaged IN circulating printe
matter "incitlng to the murder OF tn
constitution" But he had not reckone
on the license allowed In cross-eXamin
alton in the German courts He wa
asked 10 point out IN the original tex
certain passages IN which, according
his translation OF them, terrorist
methods were approved and recon-
mended The sensation produced In tn
court can be imagined when, afte
fumbling nervously over the pages 10
SOME time he had TO acknowledge tina
he could not lind them. Further exam
nation revealed the fact that the mos
discriminating OF the quotations that b
had furnished IN his own handwritin
were pure fabricatiOns-ab absolute for
gerles In short. Others had been mutt
lated and distorted so as to coincId
with the Russian official view of revo
lutionary doctrines. For example, wher
the original text arraigned the absolut
ism OF monarChlcal government In Rus
sia, and condemned IL as a nefarious In
stitution the inventive genius OF tn
Russian consul had substituted the per
sonal designation Of Nicholas II,
making II "lese majestic beyond
doubt. He left the witness box vir
tualy self-convlcted Of doing tina
which were he amenable to the laws o
any free country would send him TO jai
hm-of which there Is no indication a
prescnt-it win be not for forging an
dstorting evidence, but for maxim
such a mess OF Il that he WIS foun
out.
HUMtLIATGNG EXPOSURE,
In another matter in connection Wit
the trial II was shown that he had eN
posed the German government to We
merited rldicule and contempt Tn
proceedings against the German pris
oners for seditou against the czai an
his empire was undertaken on the un
derstandlng that reciprocal treatmer
would be melted out by the Russian gov
eminent for similar offenses against IN
German emperor and Germany. tina
being the essential condition or the va
lidlty OF such course IN German,
This Russian consul general supple
the German authorities with trans
laton Of the paragraphs Of the Russia
criminal law IN which this reciprocit
was alleged TO be guaranteed. But III
willy official omitted from his usnscrir