The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-04
The Portentous News From Russia.

The Portentous News From Russia.
In spite OF persistent attempts on
the part Of the Russian officials to con-
ceal the truth, we now know that the
mutiny on the Russian battleship kniaz
Potemkin has not been suppressed, but
that, on the contrary, the crew OF the
Georgei Pobiedonosets, the most power
full of the remaining vessels in Admiral
KRUGER's squadron, which was des-
patched from Sebastopol to Odessa,
Joined the rebels. Moreover, the Ad-
miral, despairing of being able to put
down the instruction with the untrust-
worthy material at his disposal, has
ordered the rest of his warships to be
dismantled, and has left the Black Sea
! littoral at the mercy of the mutineers.
1t is possible, according to censored
kilograms, upon which little reliance can
be placed, that the crew of the Georgei
Pobiedonosets, not alive to the impo-
tence of the naval commander-in-chief,
may surrender to the military authori-
ties at Odessa, but the kniaz Potemkin,
having obtained the supplies for which
she went to Rumanian port, will, with
| her attendant torpedo boats, be master
of every unfortifed harbor on the south
! ern coast of Russia The startling out
come of the mutiny will Of course, be
interpreted throughout the Cars do
minions as triumph for the revolution
lists, and it is significant that on Friday,
June 80, the mutineers landed men with
a telegram addressed to the Emperor, in
which the immediate concession of con-
stitution was demanded under the threat
Of a bombardment of the city. That
the revolt was engineered by revolution
lists is further indicated by the proclama-
ton which was attached to the dead body
of the sailor sent ashore at Odessa and
which ended with the slogan of the party:
Zone for all. and all for one 1t remains
to be seen whether the propaganda so
successfully conducted in the Black Sea
fleet may not have been prosecuted with
equal efficiency in the army.
There are signs, indeed, that stimuli
taneous uprisings were planned, for the
mutiny on the Kniaz Potemkin was
quickly followed by a formidable out
break among the sailors at Libau. on the
Baltic, in which naval station thousands
have been for some time quartered Since
then we have had reports of similar
movements at Reval, also an important
Baltic seaport, and even at Cronstadt,
which naval fortress, we need not say,
-, ha laoorihaI III
of st. Petersburg If any one Of the
Baltic ports could be held under the
guns OF mutinous battleshps the in
surrectionists would have a base for
military operations in close proximity
to the capital. For that reason the proof
that the spirit Of disaffection has spread
to the remnant of the Baltic fleet must
be even more alarming to the Cars re-
actionist advisers than the news from
Odessa According to recent telegram,
the War Office has suspended the execu-
ton of the order calling out the reserves
in the districts of st. Petersburg and
Moscow. Evidently the Grand Ducal
coterie breads the effect which the naval
mutiny may have upon their minds, and
deems it inexpedient to put arms in their
hands at this conjuncture. Whether, if
anylarge body of reserves should raise the
revolutionary flag, any of the regiments
belonging to the standing army, except
the Cossacks, could be relied upon to
fire upon them is question on the an
swer to which may depend the fate OF
the revolution. 1t was generally be-
lieved at the time, and the belief is shared
by many historians, that in France the
oncien regime might have been saved if
the military authorities had put down
the first signs of revolt with promptitude
and rgor. That was the conviction ex-
pressed by NAPOLEON BoNAPARTE when,
young and obscure officer, he watched
the massacre Of the Swiss at the gate Of
the Tuileries, and he acted on the prin-
ciple when, some years later, he was
called upon to put down the uprising
of the Paris Sections.
The leaders of the revolution doubtless
know whether they have been as sue
cessiul in infusing an insurrectionary
spirit in the army as they evidently have
been in the navy. twill be remembered
that the other day at Lode one regiment
refused to fire upon the people. That
its example would be widely followed
must seemingly be taken for granted in
Liberal circles at st. Petersburg and
Moscow; otherwise the zemstvoists OF
those cities would scarcely have VEN
tured to commit the defiant acts made
known by Russian correspondent to the
readers of THE SUN. We refer to the
manifesto in which Prince TRoUBETsKol
and other Liberal members of the recent
deputation to Peterhof made known to
their constituents that the Cars answer
to II er petition for reforms was unsatis-
factory and equivooal. This announce
mebt is said BY our correspondent to