The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1905-02-24
A Plea for Terrorism


quiet gentleman oil the nntst Cultutc,
who has suffered Siberian exile and es- d
capped to land where political refugees
find libery and safety. His views are
extreme, but are shared by many, az Mr..
Swinburne's poems prove.-EDiroR.J
The slaughter of unarmed men,
women and children by order OF the
Gar, for no other crime than that
of peaceably assem- bling for the pur-
pose OF submitting to him petition,
has at last opened the eyes OF the
world to the fact that the Russian
Government is an incorrigible Asia
tic despotlsm. With one dishonor-
able exception, even the ioreigu
press agents OF the Gar have stop
ped their talk Of peaceful reform
Ii ia universally conceded that with
out freedom OF speech, without a.
free press, without the right oil as
SEM bly,, without the right OF petition,
nothing short of a revolution can rid
the Russian people Of the rule OF
brute force, typi6ed by autocracy.
Still in our conventional world
there is correct style for fevo.n'|
tons, as for every thing else. he
revolutionary ritual approved 10 the
/ school books prescrioe- armed
"mobz," bsrricades, with the red
: flags in the hands oi Tue standard
, bearer, or small companies a e-er-
rilIas hiding IN the woods 4 was
not until lew hunifei q -spairing
workmen erected barrie ides IA tue
/. streets of st. Petersburg that the
Q newspaper correspondents annoupc'
}. ed the beginning OF the Russian
;. revolution. The fight OF the ter
!. rorist organization which had led 10
e the recent public demonstrations
was denounced as "anarchy."
. Hopeless, indeed, would be the
, pros poets of the Russian revolution
liz it's success depended upon popu
D lar victory over the troops OF th'
!. Gear 10 a regular battle. A wei
disciplined standing army, equipped
IL with Il 9 modern implements OF war
s more than equal to any revolutl
ia onary uprising OF the masses
lie What then? Must the people fcr
ever submit to the rule OF an IRE
ne sponsible autocrscy? The RUSSIA
te revolutionists say, "Nol' The da
ot of the barricade and OF the guerrlll
oils past, but modern science has de
ut vised new weapons which necessltat
ne new forms OF revolutionary warfare
va The object Of a revolution IL
overthrow the existing government
20 Wny, then, fight the troops, wh
are but a tool in the hands of u
IS Cars Government, when it is mu,
upI more to the purpose, and easier
il. we'll, to strike at those who dire,
the tool? The bomb thrown at Va
on Plehve put an end to his regime
effectively as if he had been owe
thrown by a popular revolt, excel
40 that a battle with the troops woul
'he have cost thousands OF human live
whereas the actual casualties OF Il
an. affair we're only two dead and tv
J. wounded. Surely, from q human
ur tartan standpoint, the terror
ntr method is preferable.
pill The stock argument against te
ns, rorism is that assassination accor
the plishes nothing but change
low individuals in office; the system
the aovernm mt remains intact. III
iInt holds true Under 40 elective form
to government, where The officer mere
de represe nts the will OF the malorl
wss of the voters; so long a. the nal'
bylity remains Of the same mind
phs policy OF the government cannot
ally affected by personal changes.
ALE Russia. on the contrary, the pol
hare of the Government is dictated by
rad personal views OF the heads OF
re administration. The only way
9 on effect change CT policy is to
tain move the person. responsible tor
'rror policy. The familiar definition
'tion the Russian Government "a "a
new potism tempered by asssssinatiC
his is borne out by recent his ory.
that The last years OF Alexander
were devoted 10 the undoing o'
the liberal reforms that had
introduced during the first bal
tax his reign Reaction wa rnrT
Itlon mad until February IL, lSS), "
aleo a dynamite explosion cauFel by
te terrorists destroyed the dining
wa in the Winter Palace ard X
fifty three soldiers Of the el
The Imperial family nnrrowl'
,o,a, capped the same fate. The war
III q vas needed Toy the Car. e
y" - L.oris Melikoff, kaown as q
"a, "a. rate liberal, was made dictator
= rigor of the autocratic regime
somewhat relaxed, the prison
!. ~ we're unlocked for many pol
,ffsnders, the press was gran
~,.~o 20 graadnnn and a ar