Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-10-26
The Railway Strike Voices
Complaints Of People.
The Spread and Extent Shows
Well the Popular Feeling.
Promises Of Gar Through Count
White Must Be Satisfying,

st. Petersburg, Oct. 25.-121O P. NJ
More than half Of European Russia is
IN the grip of the striking railroad men
and the strike continues to Spread ran
idly in all directions. The roads in the
Nolgd region are at a standstill and,
today, a general strike was proclaimed
on the two remaining lines running out
OF -. petersburg. Before tomorrow the
capital is expected to be cut off from
the outside world by way of the conti-
nent. This Will also involve the sus-
pension of postal communication.
The League of Leagues has seized the
opportunity to come to the support of
the railroad men and has adopted a
resolution in favor of a general strike
of all professions. The telegraph
operators are joining in the movement
and the suspension of railroad traffic it
IS feared, will be followed by a COM
plete obliteratiOn CT communication
between interior points.
The situation is critical and pregnant
Of all sorts of dire possibilities. The
factories in the affected districts have
been forced to shut down for lack of
only food but water famine. For
tunately st. Petersburg will have COM
munication open through Finland.
The British ambassador, Sir Charles
Hardinse, who babe farewell to En-
peror Nicholas, yesterday, previous to
leaving st. Petersburg on a mission in
connection with the proposed Anglo
Russian understanding, was unable to
start for England, this morning, be-
cause no trains were running. He will
leave the capital on the first available
steamer.
Topographic communication between
st. Petersburg and Kharkoff is broken.
The wcrkmen of the Patiloff, Koljoino,
AleXandrovski and Nevski works
struck. today.
The Social Democrats believe they
have the government at their mercy, as
with the railroads stopped the authori-
ties are powerless to transport troops.
This is all the more serious as bloody
collisions have already been reported
at various places and a dangerous
agrarian movement has again broken
out in the government of Smara.
The strength displayed by the Social
Democrats has amazed the authorities,
who were taken quite as much by sur
prise at the evidence of their power as
they were at the time of the Capon re-
bellion.
The distress in the central provinces
is greatly increased by the enforced
suspension of the famine relief work.
Prince Hilkoff, the ambassador of
railroads, whose appeals to the strikers
at Moscow We're so unavailng that he
could not get an engineer to bring him
to st. Petersburg, but who with a fire
man stocking drove his own engine, ar
irving here black and dust-grimed is
not blamable for the failure Of the
government to keep its promises made
i'll the spring to increase the wages of
the railroad men. That responsibility
rests on the minister of finance.
Prince Hilkoff expects to meet the
railroad delegates here, but they have
already apparently burned their
bridges at meetings held, last night and
which continued until dawn. this morn
ing. A dozen of these of the most en-
thusiastiC character, were held. The
largest which was held in the Univer-
sity, was attended by about 10000 per-
sons including students who are max
ing common cause with the workmen
and whose leaders are making speeches
in favor of a resumption of the stu
dents strike unless they are allowed to
discuss policital questions.
The students Joined the railroad men
in passing resolution in favor of the
immediate Convocation of a constitute
assembly elected by direct universal
suffrage and demanding that the laws
governing labor be sanctioned by the
representatives of the people and the
immediate grant Of political freedom
and declaring that thus only can an
armed revolution be avoided.
These resolutions We're adopted after
a doputation which called on Count
White. had reported. The count re-
ceived the deputation as a private in
dividual. He spoke to them with his
usual bluntness and told them plainly
that some of their demands would be
granted while the granting of others
was impossible. Count White informed
his visitors that law permitting
greater freedom of meetings than al
lowed by the laws Of Italy and Austria
Hungary and providing for freedom of
the press had already been elaborated.
Martial law on the railroads, he said,
was an achronism which would be
abolished.
The demand for constituent assem-
Oily, the count said, could not be real
lied nor could universal suffrage be adj
mitted as all the people were not pre-
pared to exercise the right of fran