The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-23
NOT THE PROPER WAY.
The Birmingham Age-Heraid looks at it in this way:

It was not the one-thousandth, part as bad. but that does not excuse as- sassination. Sergius richly merited the fate that was meted out to him, we have no doubt, but "the deep dam nation of his taking off" will not look any more favorable because of the killing of Russians in St Petersburg, Moscow, Warsaw and other places by the soldiery. There should be no tears shed over Sergius, but there should be general depreoation of the method of his killing. The Russian people will need the encouragement and sympathy of all liberty-loving peo- pie, but they cannot get it by assassi- nation.
 While in some respects the death of Sergius may be looked on as only an incident of Russian discontent and Russian methods it may also be con sidered one of the steps in what must be regarded as a forward movement towards better political conditions. That the Grand Duke was cordially hated is beyond doubt. Even the soldiers as he passed them in his carriage would say to each other. Look at his dogs face,p showing that they not only hated but despised him. He had made him- self a terror to the people of Moscow, over whom he ruled with rod and lash, his own will the law. almost without reference to any other power. There was hardly a trait in his character or an act of his rule that tended to win the love or respect of his subjects. They served him because they feared him and for no other reason.
 But hatred of nobles and rulers Is no new feeling in Russia. It always existed. at least during modern days. and has been growing and gaining strength for years, What we call human freedom is unknown in that country. They have as little real knowledge of it as they have of the blessed joys of Heaven. Glimpses of it come to them from the world out side of Russia. They sometimes hear of such things through others, but it comes to them as dim vision from another life. They know that they exist in a condition of barbarous slavery, and somehow feel that they owe their oppression and their suffer- ings to their rulers.
 Yet with all this hatred and discon- tent assassinations have been rare among them. Occasionally the life of an oppressor is forfeited but when we consider all the conditions and circum- stances our chief wonder Is that so few acts of violence occur. Therein lies the significance of the death of von P1ehve and sergius. If they and especially the latter-had been as- sassinated in time of peace and quiet we might have regarded the act as one of private hatred and vengeance, the putting out of the way of a ruler whose cruelties had become unbearable and whose tyrany had passed the limit of human endurance.
 Coming almost along with the recent widespread disturbances the killing of i Sergius has another meaning. In the language of The Chattanooga Times "of far greater importance and sig nificance Is the announcement of the employers of labor made to the minis- ter of fnance-contained in our dis patches yesterday--in response to gov ernment appeals that concessions be made to the striking working people to the end that labor disturbances be | nFl ha relieved of that embarrassing feature of the present situation. These em- ployes declare with emphasis that l ttle settlement of the labor ferment' isi beyond their power, that the strike, the whispered discomfort and disorder ly agitation is not because of unsatis- factory economic conditions, but are | due to grievances that can only be ad- justed by political reforms In other words the real ailment is not indicated by the manifestation of a mere tenn porary industrial disturbance, but lies deep in the very vitals of the govern ment itself, and will not be cured until the people have secured liberty and maintained freedom" This Is what seems to be evident-the beginning of a movement towards independence. To quote Byron:
 For freedoms battle, once begun, | Bedueathed by bleeding sire to son, Though baffled oft, Is ever won. l This is what the death of Sergius ap- parently means. Dispatches from Russia indicate that the spirit of un- rest and discontent, so far from hav- ing been put down, is spreading and growing throughout the Kingdom. The indications also point to disposition l on the part of the Czar to make im- | portant concessions and to grant privileges which 1t is hoped will satisfy the people. It would be infinitely bet ter for the people, the government and all Europe if by tolerance and justice the present autoccratic government with all its odious features could gradually and peacefully give way to something like free government. If that change could come without revolu- ton or bloodshed the world would be better off, and the Russian people themselves would be in far better con dition. If they should succeed in overthrowing the present government by violence only chaos and anarchy gu Ao