Daily Kennebec journal., 1905-02-21
1000 STUDENTS
CONTINUED from page ID

| unaNallInS. tpill wv '"'"'' '7'""N ~
| ,la;ors set the j naGlntlirn Oh thclf au-
ditors atlame with tn" spirit of liberty.
rusparinsly dennuncinS the course Of
| the government. declaring that promis-
| ,s could no longer arail and that the
| ONLY satiSfact ION would be freedom of
| sppcch conScirnc" AMI the press and
| the CoaVocatinn Of Il national assem-
bly. The majority coupled this with a
demand for ending the war. Almost
every orator went back 20 the French
revolution for parallels. Again and
again was Russia declared to be on the
eve Of revolution.
one of the stud. utS it stiibcG the af-
fair Of Jan. - which. he said. had at
last soiditied The interests Of the liber-
ais ana tnos,. Of the workinSmen. AmlI
cheers he announced that Il Continu-
auce of study was impossible while
such Il struggle vas in progress and
said it was the duty of the young men
there assembled and others like them
to return to their homes in the pruvinc-
* and spread the agitation.
Some of the professors tried to stem
the tide With moderate colnsels, advis-
ing the students to go back To their
studies. but their advice was hoWled
down. When Prof. Speranzi, one of the
speakers. revealed the fact that Gov.
General TrepOf had threatened not to
permit any student who left his studies
to re-enter any Of the big universities
the statement was receiVd with Il howl
of rage.
But the speeches III the auditorium
We're mild and temperate compared
with those delivered at the overflow
| meetings in the class rooms where even
the murder Of Grand Duke Sergius Mas
@,orilied. An attempt of Il few re1c-
| tionary students to hold an oppusi-
| tion meeting ended in a dismal fail
ura. Less than students responded
| to the call and the meeting was ADAM
| doned. The few foreign newspaper
| correspondents who We're admitted to
| the university were amazed at the in
| cendiary character of the meeting and
| the absolute freedom with which the
students, knowing that the auditorium
was filled with government spies bold
| ly made themselves liable to the charge
| of treason. In the minds eye one could
| almost picture out the Mirabcaus and
| DeSmOulinS and possibly DantOnS and
Robespierres of the future.
| 1t seemed strange with the soldiers
outside ready to crush anything in the
nature of a street demonstration that
such a meeting was allowed. 1t is ne
ceSSary to explain. however. that un-
der the law once meeting is author
lied, the police cannot stop it unless
the university directors call them in.
Iyr n'rlnclE u
was taken the whole student body be-
| gan singing the Russian "Marseilles." ."
which begins you fell victims of love
of your country"
A wild scene followed. The students
unfured a red flag on which was writ
| ten
"Hail to the constituency assembly,
With this flag the students began pa
| rading the auditorium and adjoining
| corridors.
\ portrait Of Emperor Nicholas was
also taken down from the wall and car
| ricd in the procession.
| The portrait WAS torn in a slight skir-
niSh. but this called forth a protest
from the vast majority of those pres
| cnt who We're careful to avoid even the
appearance OF disrcspect to His Majes-
ty. Many proclamations were distrib-
| uted.
| When the meeting reconvened it was
| decided to divide on the general ques-
| lion Of joining in the general strike and
vote first Oh the resolutions explaining
| the motives Of action of the students
and afterwards vote on question of
| strike.