Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-12-20

great excitement III 5IEe ClIy. ssi5 ssi5;5
b St Petersburg, Dec. so.---on account
of some confusion general strike was
proclaimed at Moscow at. noon today
instead Of tomorrow, with complete
/, suspension Of street railroad services.
The government enters on the new
struggle greatly crippled. The situa- Ia
ton In the Baltic PROVINCES is growing
steadily worse and in the Caucasus q
renewal Of the outbreak OF the Tartars
and Armenians has produced another
reign Of terror The inhabitants OF
Tifis and other cities arc begging the
authorities to furnish them with arms
for the purpose Of organizing militia
{ for self protection. At S'sbastopol new
!; ;mutinfes have occurred and 1900 SOL
diers have been disarmed and are un- :
der guard The troops at Kharoff have
revolted. The weather has become
very cold. It is believed a few days of
hunger and privation will easily drive
the people to desperation and provoke
uprisings, and attacks on the strikers,
and perhaps general pillage.
Proclamation OF general strike for
noon tomorrow created most intense
excitement. If It acan he successfully
inaugurated and maintained, the revo2
lutionaries are confident 1t will break
the governments back. In government
circles, confidence is expressed that
the proletariat organizations cannot eff
feet complete tie up and that the.
strike must be Of short duration. This
hope seems based on q theory that the
extreme program Of the reds has alien
ated the sympathy Of 9. large proper
ton Of the real workmeil and also upon
what they claim to be absolute knowl-
/ edge that the organizations are with
out funds.
Il, The governments calculations, how
( ever, have proved deplorably at var
lance with the true situation In the
past and strike leaders declare the gov
4Sernment is again hopelessly ignorant Of
the magnitude of the struggle confront
Ing ii. Their plans are exceedingly
ambitious. From the nature Of the
appeals OF the leaders to the troops, it
is evident they expect to precipitate a
crisis in the army. The central COM
nittee Of railroad men of Moscow,
which determined the issue last night
BY voting in favor Of 6. strike, has tell
egraphed over the railroad lines that
employees OF twenty-five roads are
ready to stop all traffic. The decis-
ion Is to close everything in the en-
pire ~ railroads, manufactures. whole-
sale and retail stores and all govern
ment works, except we.ter works Bak-
cries in the cities, however, will not be
their prices. Although the blow is tim
ed for tomorrow noon, on account Of
the difficulty Of communication, the
strike leaders do not hope to bring the
life Of the empire to standstill by
single stroke, but they will labor for
gradual extension Of the strike move-
ment.
The nature of the manifesto Of the
workmen's council Of Moscow to the
army is so inflammatory that even rad-
ical papers are afraid to print it. Dur
ing the strike it is proposed to stop all
papers and to print and distribute only
the organ of the w,,rkmen's council
The police are hunting down and ar
resting the strike leaders as rapidly as
they can be found. Comparatively few
captures have been made, as the lead
ers keep in hiding. The helplessness of
the government in this crisis is demon-
strated by the inability of the interior
minister Durnovo, last night to get
thru Instructions to arrest members of
the workmen's council of Moscow. He
attempted to use a railroad wire, but
the operators obeyed the dictumsof the
council and refused to send the mes
sage. The government is even unable
to forward Instructions to General
Linevitch, commander Of the Manchur-
ian army.
WHOLE DISTRICT LAID WASTE.
Situation in Vicinity Of Riga is One Of
Anarchy.
st. Petersburg, Dec. pa consul of
q continental power. who arrived here
from Riga this morning on train
heavily guarded by troops, says thru