Los Angeles herald., 1905-03-19
EXPLAINS WHY
He SLEW PLEHVE
SAsoNEFF GIVES HISTORY OF
HIS DEED
Shows How, Destined for a Pesoefu
Family Life, He Was Driven
to the Act Of Ter
rorlsm
special .cable 10 rhe Herali.

ST. PETERSBURG, March 1S.-Be-
fore Sasoneff, the assassin of Minister
OF the Interior Won Plehve, was brought
TO trial he composed a lengthy state
ment which he intended to present to
the judges as a justification of his act.
His lawyer at the time informed the
Associated Press that the document
alone proved Sasoneff was not only
a man of superior intellect, but a
deep thinker. 1t runs, in part, as fol-
lows:
'Yes, I was a member of the Social
revolutionists and had the honor Of
being a member Of the fighting section
of the Social Democrats, and by the
latter's orders l killed Plehve. 1 do
not consider either the society or my
self guilty of the intentions of which
we are accused, viz To attempt by
force the overthrow of the existing
form of government and the social
conditions of the country. The So
ciety has no such large aims as to over
throw the form of autocratic govern
ment in Russia.
cannot say that the fighting section
is G secret society in the usual sense
of the word. The fighting organiza-
ton is not a separate body, but only
a part of the big party of Social revo-
lutionists and the fighting organiza-
ton follows out strictly the orders OF
the larger society. Therefore it is not
possible to talk about the fighting or
ganization' alone, but one must also
include the party Of Social revolution
lists.
There is one thing which the party
meets by terroristic acts, carried out
by members of the fighting organiza-
tion,' and that is to answer by armed
attack those acts of the government
wherein the lives and honor of Russian
citizens are not spared, not to speak
of the life and honor of the Russian
revolutionists.
I'VE are not a party of force. Our
party is in principle against all forms
of force and attaining their aims by
force. The ideals of the party, as are
also the means by which they agitate
for their ideals, are all of peaceful
character.
The Class Struggle and Its Outcome
'It is not we who agitate amongst
the various classes of society. The
agitation arises without our help. II
is not we who made the classes. The
peasants and workmen have one in
owners have others. We Social Demo-
Gratis support the interests of the work.
ing classes.
ut is our task to try to learn the
needs of the people, and also to learn
how they can be fulfilled. We So
cialists find that in society there ought
not to exist any exploitation on one
part of the population by the other
and that all the means of production,
such as workshops, factories and the
land, ought not to belong to individuals
but to society at large, and should
always be under the control and man.
agement of the people. Such is our
final ideal, which means 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.
1--WE try as much as possible to keep
the workmen and peasants from using
force, and to teach them to fight for
their ideals in a peaceful way. The
trouble does not come from what we
I,n
that they are in a totally different
position before the law from that oc-
cupied by the land owners and labor
employers The exploitation is pro-
tected by the law, and the fighting
against exploitation is to fight against
the laws. We Socialists do not insist
on the people taking our views. We
only want to tell them the truth The
means by which we agitate are of q
peaceful character. We express oul
views by means of the press and by
means of speech. We hate and despise
all kinds of violence. We are certain
that to struggle against a conviction
is useless, as you can fight it as much
as you like, cruelty 1T, wipe off the
face of the earth it's originators, but
it will always arise again, stronger
than before.
Governmental Suppression
Russian Socialists have learned by
experience that the right of speaking
ones mind freely is not to be had IN
the Russian empire. Consequently to.
gether with their other aims, the Rus.
sian Socialists have made 1t their duty
to try to attain such conditions in the
empire as will make it possible to talk
and write freely in accordance with
individual views.
But at present we are only preach
ing. Our weapons are the printing
press and word of mouth. Where is
the forclble doing away with the ex-
isting regime? Who is 1t that uses
force? We or somebody else? We
have not time to make ourselves
heard before our mouths are shut. and
for a word we are sent to prison on
Siberia. Our press is called Illegal.