Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-31
RUSSIA'S TURMOIL.

A
Revolution in Russia is manifestly APP
proaching the end. 1t was not created In a
day. and what with the cium-
4 HussfAn sly and disjointed machinery
Puzzle. of government, disahected
bureaucracy and defeated
army. considered invulnerable, there Is small
wonder that the anarchist under the title OF
revolutionist should profit by the opportu-
nifty to annihilate. not government particu-
larry. but anybody or anything.
Formerly when men or things were In
comprehensive. intangible. they were
dubbed Chinese puzzles" hereafter they
may be entitled, with more truth. RUS
sian puzzles"
That which has surprised US most, and
more than all. the anarchist or revolu-
| ZIONIST, who counted much thereon. is the
| fact that neither Poland nor Finland has
cast its fortunes with the revolution.
Poland. as 1t has boon already said, has
become closely attached to Russia
through her commercial and Industrial
| 1ntereste. Also D German army watches
| on ner frontier for an opportunity to In
| terfere. Better. then. q thousand fold. the
1 paternal rule Of the csar than the mailed
nst OF the aeTnan , kaiser shs 5es,des; rs rs
conquer her liberty and emancipation
Poland, perhaps. lays the fattering unc-
ton to her soul that this contamination
may be effected through commercial In
| terests rather than through the doubtful
| force of arms. Such, we are told, are
| some of the reasons of Poland's apparent
indifference to the revolutionary disor-
Finland, on the other hand, Is in posses
sion. in fact. Of the liberties promised by
the peace OF 1900. From the seventh to
/ 4,
object of a long war between Sweden and
Russia Of NOvEorod. The treaty Of 1923
attributed to Novgorod the territory of
| Oesterland or Finland. The treaty OF Stol-
| Of Corelien Kexholm ION the Ladoga) to
| the profit of Finland, under the protection
| Of Charles TX (1637-166D. Henceforth Fin
| land became the objective point Of Russian
| ambitions, as attested by the treaties OF
| Nystadt d72D and dAbo u74s). After re-
peated efforts the conquest Of Finland was
| effected by Alexander /, and consecrated by
| the treaty of Fredrikshamn Q600). Under
| the reigns Of Alexander II and III large
| concessions were made to Finnish pride OF
| race. and under the Car Nicholas Finland
has adhered Loyalty to policy OF pan-Slav-
| list reaction.
| Since 1880 Finland may claim to pos
| sess national literature. which up to that
time was mainly manifested
F1nn1sn through the Swedish Ian
Culture. Euage. But in 1885 Elias
Loennrot collected and pub
| lished the epic and lyric songs Of KalavaIa
and Kanteletar (the daughter Of the &C.
thare) dS35-1S40). Among the Finnish
| poets are Ahlgvist, Krohn Runeberg and
| Toepelius; such romance writers as Paiva-
| rinta, Aho. and such dramatists as Hen
drick Erkko and Minna Garth.
| Novgorod, 1t should be mentioned. mas
| played an important role in the formation
| Of Russian policy. The city existed prob
domination Of Rurik. chief Of the vare-
CUES. bandits Of Scandinavian origin, Nov
sorod was the capital OF Russia, The Rus
SLAMS were converted to Greek Catholicism
| by Byzantine missionaries in the reign OF
| vladimir, 972-1O15, and Iaroslav the Great
was their Charlemagne. After this monarch
there was inaugurated q long period OF
| anarchy and civil war. IN which Russia
vasion. About this time, at the end of the
| twelfth century, Novgorod declared Itself
commercial republic. in connection and
In correspondence with the Hanseaic
| league, which dated from 124l.
| Reference is frequently made to the Han
seattle republics which had their origin In
this Hanseatic league, whose initial object
was to protect the commerce of certain
German cities against the pirates Of the
Baltic sea. That political and commercial
confederation which fiourished during many
centuries and extended afar Its commerce.
counted at the end Of the sixteenth CEN
fury sixty-four cities; possessed fleets an
army, treasury, and fixed government.
The league, as we have seen. extended its
operation to Novgorod.
History has always a lesson to convey,
and in Its eternal disposition to repeat It
self. there is a charm aside from the bene-
| fit of its significance To recur then to
| Russian history, the Princes OF Moscow. by
ruse and corruption, augmented the limits
Of their territory and became powerful and
united under the Romanoffs in 1913 The
most illustrious Of the cars was Peter the
Great Q689-1725), the conqueror of Charles
XII. the reformer of Muscovits civilization
and founder of st. Petersburg. In 1717
Peter the Great was at Paris, and pausing
beneath the statue of Richelieu, he said:
II would give the half Of my kingdom for
| such man that he might teach the other
| half how to govern ITSELF"
i
Why may not Nicholas II find In de Witte
the model minister that Peter the Great
found in Richelieu2 It is too
huss1as early. certainly. to conclude
Richelieup as to his merits. but the fact
that he seems to have few
If any, friends either at the palace or among
the many parties and cliques. is proof man.
;fest that his services are given to his
country and car, and not to men. Suspect
ed and despised by all, he has net been able
to obtain the support even of the liberals.
Nevertheless, we have seen the Grand Duke
Vladimir. who commanded the troops at st.
Petersburg; Gen. Trepoff, chief Of police.
and NJ de Pobedonostzef. the despot!c
counselor of the czar, abandon their posts
undoubtedly at the suggestion Of NJ de
White. While awaiting the re-establish-
ment of order and law the minister pursues
the even tenor OF his way. strong in the
confidence of the car, who has given him
a. sort of provisional dictatorship for the
pacifcation Of Russia and to preserve the
state from the terrors of civil war. The
horrors committed by the so-called revolu-
tionists do not constitute civil war, but are
the demoniac acts Of a faction confined to
the cities. The peril. and at the same time
beacon of safety for the maintenance of
the ezardom, resides In the country.
Neither the car nor his minister contem-
plates appealing to this element for aid,
because Of the terrible reprisal 1t would en-
tail and Of the impossibilty to control the
deluge of blood, A Russian correspondent
from ST. Petersburg, writing to the Journal
des Debats of recent date says:
'aThe peril Is not In the cities, but in the
country. where Ivan Ivanovitch Ghe SIM