The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1905-03-05
TREPOFF, TYRANT OF MOSCOW, LEAVES
RECORD AS MONSTER OF OPPRESSION
Used People to Make Cases Against Themselves
and Punished Them RuthIessy

unless matters were Strengthened out,
complications" with his own govern
ment would follow. When Trepoff ar
| rived on the scene he received a tre-
mendous Wigging for having failed to
appreciate the necessity of discrim-
linating between foreigner and Rus
sian in the exercise of his official func-
| tons. To teach him to be more eau
| tious in the future he was compelled to
| apologize to the manager, and was sus-
pended from his job for three months.
Meanwhile the strike had spread TO
| other works and got completely out of
hand. 1t lasted several weeks, the
workmen losing $4,000 in wages and
gaining no advantage whatever from it.
On another occasion Trepoff fell foul
of a foreigner and suffered discom-
nture. He has a mania for furious
driving through the streets, and woe
betide the poor Russian who has the
misfortune to impede his progress. He
expects everybody and everything to
| make way for his august person. One
dark, night-it was while he was still
chief of police of Moscow-the passage
of his carriage through a narrow street
was blocked by another vehicle, whose
occupant calmly disregarded his irate
commands to drive into a side thor
oughfare. He ordered passing police
man to arrest the insolent fellow. But
| thC IN Oul " NC dli
Englishman of high rank who, although
he could speak no Russian. had very
definite and decided opinions concern
ing the rights of Englishmen anywhere
on the public highways of the world.
Again Trepoff was reprimanded and
had to apologize.
AT another time, after cursing him
roundly, he caused the arrest of a de-
| crepit looking man who had the eff
| frontery while crossing a street to get
In the way of his carriage. II CHANGED
/ that the old fellow with the shaky legs
was Russian prince, an ex-governor
| general of an important province, and
various other things, and possessed be-
| sides of tremendous sense of his own
! dignity. Trepoff saved his job by apollo
| giving.
As chief of police of Moscow he was
not a success. Crime, drunkenness,
/ regulation of street traffic, and the or
! binary matter with which the police
are supposed to chiefly concern them
| selves in civilized communities, he re-
| garded as insignificant details beneath
ms dignity to pay attention to. But
| the stern measures he adopted to sup
press the student demonstrations in
Moscow showed him to be possessed of
| that Indifference to human life and cal
| lous brutality that are needed to Sus-
tain despotism that exists by crush
| ing freedom and terroriZing the popu-
! lace.
To give him due credit he is un-
| doubtedly brave man. He would
never take refuge behind a petticoat
| like his royal master. He does not
mind risking assassination, six at
| tempts having been made in Moscow
| to kill him. Twice he was stabbed and
four times shot at. The last attempt
on his life was made two days after he
| had resigned his office at Moscow. He
| did that with the avowed intention OF
going to the front.
Since l must be shot at" he said, in
| taking his leave, Il prefer to be a tar
| get for professional japanese soldiers
| rather than for dirty amateurs in Mos
| cow"
Among the troops he is known by the
| suggestive nickname of Iron Heart
! He showed the sort of stuff he is made
of when lieutenant by sabering his
| orderly, who had been guilty of some
trivial act of disobedience When a
| captain he was engaged in putting
down riots in Moscow, and is credited
| with having shot down five men with
| his own revolver. He is regarded by
the Russian bureaucracy as the best
| available man to deal with what one
British newspaper that ordinarily in
dulges in sober headlines termed Hell
| in Rebellion"