Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1905-02-08
W0RKINGMEN
MEETEMPER0R
Had This Occurred Earlier, the Blood
shed at st. Petersburg Would
Have Been Avoided.
IT HAS A REAssuRlNo EFFECT
Great UpheavaI in Russia IL Not
stilIed-Action Of Manufacturers
Offer of the Strikers.

81. IcteISDuI x, FcD d. cI SOuul do
surances of his intention to, anchor
ate the conditions and remove the
causes, insofar as they are economic
which led to the recent strike, were
delivered by Emperor Nicholas yester
day to workingmen representing al
the leading factories of st. Petersburg
who, at his invitation jOurneyed tC
Tsarskoe-SelO and were received in
audience in the hall of the AlexadeI
palace, in which he has his winter
residence.
This interview, face 70 face with
their little father" in whom their
faith has not been shaken by the
events of the bloody Sunday of Jan
uary %. has had a far greater and
more reassuring effect than any num-
Der Of proclamations by ministers and
governor generals, and the workmen
of st. Petersburg are now generally
inclined to accept the promises of
Governor General Trepoff and Finance
Minister Kekovsof at their face val
lie. The gift by the imperial family
OF $4,000 to aid the families of the
victims of the conflict on January c2,
also has had an excellent effect, and
as the news slowly permeateS the la
boring class of Russia, it is expected
that it will make them content to
wait for the promised reforms.
Like wave caused by the falling
Of a stone the strike movement, how
ever, is spreading over the great sea
OF Russian industrial life, and while
st. Petersburg and Moscow, where
the troubles began, are now placid,
the wOrkmen OF Poland and other
provinces are not yet calm and the
ripple has reached to far-Off lrkutsk
and other Siberian towns.
Emperor Nicholas adopted the ira
ditiOnal fathery tone in his talk with
the workmen yesterday. He chided
them for allowing themselves to be
misled into engaging la a movement
imperilling the internal order of Rus
STA and aiding the foreign foe and for
attempting to demand by force what
he otherwise would be willing to do
voluntarily.
The WOrkmen received the royal as
surances of reform with cheers, and
after lunch at the imperial table re-
turned to St. Petersburg in the best
OF humOr to report to their fellows. as
enjOined. the words of his majesty. No
attempt was made by them to present
their desires, which already are
known.
The action of the ST. Petersburg
manufacturers in placing themselves
In the hands of the government in
the matter of adjustment of the main
points of the dispute and promising
to grant the men pay for the time
they have been on STRIKE not as a
matter of right, but as a favor, and
their contribution in aid of the suf-
ferers among the families of their
wOrkmen are expected to add to the
prevailing good feeling.
The current gossip to the effect that
N. Bouligan, former governor of Mos
cow. will succeed Prince Sviatopolk-
Mirsky as the minister of the interior
Is another straw tending to con-
firm the surmise tina, Grand Duke
Sergius' influence is the dominant in
tiuence in the grand ducal faction.
The appointment of General Trepoff
to the governor generalship of St
petersburg, who was Sergius nominee
narrowed the power OF the minister
OF the interior, and it is believed pre-
cipitated Prince Sviatopolk- Mirsky s
resignation, and that those who are
posted should pick another Moscow
man, and a friend of Grand Duke
Sergius, to receive this portfolio indi
Gates growing appreciation of the
influence of the emperor's uncle.