Omaha daily bee., 1905-10-29
FROM BAD
TO WORSE
Cars Domain in State Of Turmoil from
the Baltic to the Caucasus,
CHIEFS OF STATE HESITATE TO ACT
RsvolutiOnists Grow Bolder with VsoillG-
RsvolutiOnists Grow Boldsr with VsoillS-
tion Of the Government
ST, PETERSBURG IN STATE OF SIEGE
Thousands Of Troops on Guard, but Orders
OF TrepOff Are Not 0bsySd.
NEW GOVERNMENT Is NOT PROCLAIMED
CzRr BRIkS at WtUtc's Demand Tor
Freedom of Speech, Press, Assembly
and Person, but VIII UItI-
mateIy Yield,

ST. PETERSBURG, oct. 2s.-Day after
day passes without the promulgation of
Russia's new governmental organization.
a responsible ministerial cabinet to bring
order out of the present administrative
chaos. Count Witte TO whom all factions
look to assume the premiership, has spent
almost the entire time Of the past two
days at Peterhof wrestling with the en-
peror, insisting upon conditions in con-
nection with his appointment which his
majesty was unwilling to grant. Upon
his return to st. Petersburg tonight Count
Witte announced that the cabinet project,
which has been lying signed for three days
on the cmperor's table, would not he pro-
mulgated tomorrow, intimating thereby that
his program, which is known to include a
species of constitution involving the grant
ing Of -four liberties freedom of speech.
freedom of assembly, freedom of the press
and freedom of the person-had not been
accepted"
II is felt here that the delay cannot long
be protracted and that it is only a ques-
tion Of hours when the emperor confdes
the fortunes of the dynasty and the gov
ernment to Count Whites hands
From had TO Worse.
Meanwhile the situation is passing from
bad to worse with matters at the summit
in state of unstable equilibrium. The
chiefs of state are at loss how to act
and the government is growing bolder and
more insistent in the demands made in
their speeches.
1t is true there has been no disorders
: in st. Petersburg and that General Trepoff,
Russia's other strong man. has taken
every measure to put down an uprising
In tie ffaaf I,,,N l. 4,
enough of his position to act boldly with
regard to the revolutionary meetings at
the university and has contented himself
with issuing warnings which, not having
been enforced are taken by the agitators
as evidence of lack OF backbone.
Another Meeting In UniverHity.
AS before Fridays giant meeting at the
I university. 1t was again announced that
any further meeting would not be per-
mitted there. but the college portals were
again opened tonight and the hospitality
OF the university was extended to a group
OF lawyers and other professional men,
one of whose orators. referring to the Rus
sian folk legend that the world is sup
ported on the backs of three whales said
that the autocracy rested on three cetacea
money, the army and the loyalty of the
people, but that Russia is now bankrupt
and the moral sympathy of the people
alienated and that the army alone remains
true, and this he predicted would not be
for long. Another speaker openly preached
terrorism and advocated making an ex-
ample of a number of high personages
Count Whites ally in the stupendous task
he is about to undertake will be General
Trepof, who. though all his life has been
| spent as an instrument for repression and
though he twice has escaped attempts to
execute the terrorists sentence of death,
has come to realize that the old order of
things is changing and giving place to a
new, and is now a genuine convert to the
policy Of giving the people a share in the
government Should Witte and Trepoff
now fail the best opinion is that nothing
will save the present government from
complete ruin. Many shrewd observers be-
lieve that witte comes too late.
city I'm state of siege.
The condition in st. Petersburg is that of
a city under siege, with an uprising threat
ened from within and its scanty store OF
provisions being rapidly exhausted. The
: garrison however, is overwhelmingly large.
General Trepoff has $4,000 troops under his
command which are distributed in every
section Of the city. There is scarcely a
( block without It's military patrol. Infantry
and cavalry are quartered In courtyards all
] over town, the barracks are crowded and
/ the watch fires OF the soldiers who are
/ blvouacking in the streets light up the
I thoroughfares where electricity has been
/ extinguished. NevsIy Prospect, the city's
! main avenue, which last night was in dark
ness. tonight presents a weird appearance
, A powerful searchlight mounted at the Ad-
! miralty tluminates the center OF the avenue
with binding light leaving the sidewalks
! in darkness Drivers in the roadway, daz-
zled by the glare, were unable to see where
! they were going and the throngs In OBJ
security on the sidewalks were in but a
little better plight There was constant
confusion which was augmented during the
evening by an attempt of the Cossacks and
I gendames to clear the sidewalks
/ Two hundred thousand men are idle.
/ Workmen's meetings held throughout the
/ city today unanimously favored continuing
| the strike. The lawyers during the after
noon stopped all the business Of the courts
strike General in Moscow.
! The situation at Moscow parallels that in
St. Petersburg The same paralysis has
1 seized Russia's second city. The strike is
I general. The people are defying all prohi-
bitions and are swarming to the universities
( and other meeting places. A provisional
government has already been organized and
| Is waiting to exercise it's powers. The uni
versty is barricaded against the troops The
/ populations of other towns are growing
more violent and reports OF disorders are
arriving in increasing numbers. but the At
tempts of the strike leaders TO hold the
/ people in hand thus far have been generally
successful. Troops are IN full possession
! in many places In the interior ana the in
1
relaxation TO the railroad strike, which has
| spread even TO Genital Asia. where the
Trans Caspian-OrenbuTg and Tashkend
lines are tied up. The strike on the Trans
Siberian railroad is interfering with the re-
turn Of troops from the far east The