The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-30
THE sun. SUNDAY. jury 50. 1903.

country have been 90 conspicuously ar
rsyed on ono side and the dead forces 10
oonspicuously on the other. For example,
the Government does not contain q single
Minister who can be termed powerful
statesman. When M. do Plehve was as
sassinsted It was as though the center pin
had fallen out Of the coercionist machine.
While the popular forces are steadily con-
ccntrsting-while Annensky and Hessen,
Gorky and korolenko and . score OF men
less widely known are rallying the Gull
tivated class, and a hundred Gapons up
and down the country are perfecting the
organization Of the workmen-the Minis
terisl bureaus In the capital are the scene
OF ceaseless intrigues. feuds Of official
mannikins, who seem not even to have
sense enough to see that. II they do not
hang together, they stand good chance
Of hanging separately. The great Tohin.
or bureaucracy, L. now divided against
itself, a. we'll - disoredited in the Dyes OF
the whole middle class. Its old supporters
in the moderate nobility arc estranged. even
when they have not, as In such cases a.
those Of Prince Troubetskoy and the Mayors
Of several provincial towns. gone over
openly to the opposition. Friction has re-
peatedly arisen between the police and the
troops and the various Ministries resemble
rival camps Of aspirants for the momen-
tary favor Of tho Gar.
Tho importance OF the attitude Of the
army. or rather Of that part Of 1t which
is left in Europe, Il not moderated In tho
book before US. No doubt the Govern
mont has In tho CHIEF towns large bodieA
OF ordinary police and gendarmcs at its
disposal, but these alone would DO power
less against such demonstrations a. are
now taking place. For some years past,
1t has been customary to call out the SOL
diery In times Of labor agitation. On sew
eral occasions Of this kind the troops have
refused to fire, but these occurrences have
been 40 infrequent that our author lays
no stress upon them In attempting to answer
the question: Can the soldiers be rolled
upon to suppress their fellows among the
peasantry and workmen. now that the flag
of revolt Is seriously raised1' There Is,
Mr.. Ferris says, little doubt that, for at
steady growth Of what Is called -seditious'
feeling in the army. although how deep
this has sunk into the mems minds he does
not undertake to determine. He has be-
fore him, he tells US. the text OF number
Of circulars. the earliest Of which. marked
most confidential, was issued as far back
as August. 1907 by Gen. Kuropatkin to the
Generals commanding the different mill
tary districts Of the empire. This circular
begins: 'The attempts Of political agitators
to carry on propaganda among the troops.
which were In former times comparatively
rare phenomena, have occurred more fire.
quently OF late and have become 80 bold
that they make 1t necessary to fix special
attention on Them Then followed details
OF about q dozen separate cases. In which
fly sheets have been circulated, sometimes
In considerable numbers among the offi-
GERS and men Of various garrisons, from
st. Petersburg to Krasnoyarsk In Siberia.
These manifeetoea erhorted the soldiers
not to raise their arms against their breth-
rem, the peasants and workmen.
In one case, said Gen. Kuropatkin. OR
ganized propaganda was detected among
the rank and file Of the Ekaterinoslav
Grenadier Guards" being carried on not
only by outsiders. .but even by the privates
themselves. At the head Of the organiza-
ton was q soldier Of the noble class. one
Alshansky. who concealed his privilege OF
serving for a shorter term in order to be
able to carry on propa ganda among the
rank and file for longer time. During his
service In the ranks Alshansky spread his
revolutionary ideas with much energy by
talk. as we'll as by disseminating large
quantities of pamphlets and manifestoes.
Some OF the privates became coworkers In
Alshansky's criminal activity, while others
showed connivance or were guilty Of not
reporting what was going on Kuropat-
kin's circular referred to another case OF
the kind, and suggested that given the
necessary caution and dissimulation in the
activity OF the agitators, many such in
stances have probably remained mdis-
covered"
Mr.. Perris AYERS that II there was some
cause for anxiety three years ago there Is
much more ground for It to-day, when the
army as we'll as the civil population Ia
filled with disgust at the disasters Of USE
less war. Even before the outbreak OF
hostilities the increasing frequency OF the
discovery OF subversive literature In bar
racks had given rise to further series OF
secret circulars. In which officers were in
structed to exercise the strictest surveillance
searches OF the soldiers quarters, and even
of their persons, and to limit as far as pos
sibie their contact with the outside world.
As a consequence OF these circulars
arrests have been made during the last
two years in Odessa, Kovno, Byelostok
and other towns. and even in the Imperial
Guards a number Of soldiers have been
tried and punished for reading and circula-
ting .illegal" literature. Our author holds
that the recent mutiny In tho Baltic and
Black Sea squadrons. the outbreak at
Cronstadt, the burning down Of the naval
arsenal at Sebastopol, tho incident Of the
Neva salute, when shotted cannon were
fred at church at time when the i'm
perial family was known to be therein,
and tho frequent resistance to the mobiliza-
ton OF reserves are sufficient proofs that
the discomfort Of the common soldiers and
sailors who are "only peasants and work.
men, once removed has become grave
factor In the situation. At Radon, FOR
instance, last November. the town had to
be Allied with troops before the mobilization
could be carried out, and even then 1t was
delayed for several days by the blowing up
OF two bridges with dynamite and by
street conflict in which an infantry COM