The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1905-03-19
GOVERNMENT MAKES
!. REVOLUTIONISTS
Continued From Twenty-hfth Page

peace on the face of the earth and for
! the peoples thereof. All the rest of our
| tasks are in strict accordance with this
| ideal. 1t is our leading star.
We have not time to make ourselves
heard before our mouths are shut, and for
2 word we are sent TO prison or Siberia.
| of the articles. even the typographists.
know Of the sad life in Siberia. The
simple reading of our brochures is regard
| ed by the state as criminal We are per-
! ject to punishment for participation in
club meetings, where we discuss our tasks.
punishment. beaten with knouts. trampled
over by horses and fired on when we de-
cide TO come out into the air to declare
publicly our views and express our de-
We are debarred the protection of the
law We are declared interior enemies
OF the people and political criminals, al
though this is not one and the same thing
Yes, there is much force used, far too
much. but which side uses it?
consequently / state that when throw
ing the bomb at Mr.. Plehve did not think
that it would fall on the existing form of
government in Russia. 1 threw the bomb
at Mr. Plehye. not in his capacity as a
Russian minister Uhere are still many Of
them left. but threw the bomb at him
as certain person who in a certain way
filled the position of minister of interior
Mr.. Plehve in fighting against national
discomfort had resource to force He
committed the gravest of crimes.
| Then comes the long list of the deeds
of persecution and bloodshed for which
Plehve was held responsible, and the
statement goes on:
That IL why the party of social revolu-
tionists called its fighting organization to-
gether and gave to il the sentence OF
death on Plehve, and 1. a member of the
tionists,'' with the feeling OF deepest
gratitude for the great honor shown me,
sWore TO do my duty and carry out the
sentence. Personal motives for killing
Plehve had none. Although / am not
novice in socialistic propaganda; although
by experience can appreciate the awful
wrongs Of Russia. should not be able to
raise my hand against the life of a man
from personal motives. To this 1 might
add that enc of the crimes which was
committed in the time of the government
OF Plehve, and which took to heart as
much as If il had been directed against
me personally and against my nearest
relatives. was a procession of twenty
eight collins in the streets. an unlimited
number of wounded and two files OF SOL
dieTs. I remember the awful hecatomb of
inhabitants shot down near me and who
We're victims of the interior policy" of
Plehve.
How He Became RevoIutionlst
Now 1 would with your permission like
to relate how I, man by personal char
acter and py my birth destined for
peaceful and contented family life. was
undertook to kill the man. My family was
highly religious and monarchial and had
emigrated from village to town where
they became wealthy in the exploitation OF
the Bashkir forests. The spirit with which
/ was brought up while entirely under the
influence of my family was utterly oppoS-
ed to every kind of protest and discomfort
with the conditions Of Russian life Photo
graphs of the emperor and ikons orna-
mented the walls in the house of my
father. The school did not destroy the
fra difiOnS which I took from narantG'
house. but developed them even more (if
school can be permitted to make any
tangible impression on such young ideas).
School for me and for all my comrades.
without exception, was hated house"
There they stamped out all life, they ex-
tinguished systematically our spirit and
our young minds. Not only did the lat
ter get no answer. but the most interest
ing subjects of history were suppressed,
and the teachers openly jeered at the
Jews and Poles. 1t was not the fault of
the Russian teachers, they were used to
reading the lies which the government
own ideas and perhaps to former tradi-
lions. And so / was total stranger to
any general wants." and without any
formed ideas of the existing laws OF Rus
STA.
Doctor for the Poor
If had any sort of humanitarian opin-
ions, to these 1 am wholly indebted to
Russian literature. and school has moth
university yearning for knowledge with
the idea of passing several faculties so
that In the end could be zemskie doctor.
a doctor absolutely for the poor. ! was
compelled to offend my father seriously
because ! would not follow his advice and
enter some special high school In order
The word career was hateful to me.
The knowledge which l got in the univer-
sity and in the public library made total
revolution in my mind. - few months
ChanQQd nv former ideas BUT this
only an intellectual revolution.
My first year in the university I read
thought of revolution. and If did know
something about it, Ii was only from what
occasionally appeared In the papers:
took no interest in II and found the idea
to be not a correct one. In the year 1893
when the students were demonstrating
was absent from such demonstrations.
What the, students wanted 1 could not
did not go and only from pure friendly
feeling / refused to take the examination
for the second standard / was man
more or less of independent means and
I was ashamed to leave Rly friends on the
first standard who were involved in the
demonstration.
Opinions Become IdealIstIc
Only during my second year at the
university l happened to come quite &C
cidentally across questions of social cnar-
acter, thanks to reading books of politi-
cal economy and universal history. 1 was
part in the business of my parents even
while at school. That is why know by
what means riches are created. 1 can re-
gard conscientiously all questions which
are supposed to be social signs. AS de-
yeloped and my opinions took concrete
form my ideas became idealistic and lib
eral, In a humanitarian more than po-
litical sense. / did not read any more
with faith the Svet and Viedomosti.
Preaching of corporal punishment. and
hate of mankind revolted me. The second
year of life at the university passed very
well with me; I did not take part in the
meetings and did not know where they
had their clubs. About the question and
existence of labor problems in Russia
was ignorant.
Illegal literature / had never seen.
was SO naive that the acquaintance of
Moscow workman was not of any use to
me. This workman wanted to learn from
me poetry and arithmetic met him
openly and did not know that sucn kind
OF acquaintance could be called suspicious
and could lead to disagreeable conse-
Quences for both Of us. / taught this man
arithmetic, but ! do not remember ever
having mentioned politics to him.
Start as RevoIutIonIst
My revolutionary life began in the be-
ginning of 1901, when / took part con-
scientiously in the students movements
st. Petersburg students were sent to
serve In the army. At this time l was
neither socialist nor revolutionist. At most
l was Simply a liberal. The first Illegal
literature which came to my notice was
the students proclamations. Ny COM
was brought to take part in the protest
against the breaking of laws and the mil
itary service, which was forced on the
other students. l already knew that if