Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-03


trail ground with the same tranquility
which he showed the eve of the battle OF
San Juan Hill. He put face to face the
belligerents with the same dfsdain OF diplo-
matte usages as when he charged at the
head OF his rough riders. red handkerchief
around his neck
Sergius Ioulievitch de Witte was born in
Tifis In 1S4e He II Of Holland and
French origin and completed his studies at
the University at Odessa. In 1889 he was
director in the department of railways. In
1872 he was gerant. or manager, IN the
ministry of ways and communications and
finally. through merit. q minister of finances.
In 1903 Nicholas II appointed him presi-
dent OF the council Of ministers. He is re-
lated to Corneille de Witt OF Dordrecht.
who served with distinction under Admiral
Van Client In the battle at the mouth OF
the Thames in 1867. A brother. Jean de
Witt, held high place in the council OF
state and signed for Holland the peace OF
Westminster. 1854. He concluded new
peace with England and the triple alliance
of $685. which prepared the peace of AK la
Chapeile. Henri Cornelius de Witt was
born in Paris in 1928 and died In 1889. He
was deputy to the national assembly and
the author of the History of washington
and the Foundation of the Republic or the
United States" and the Life OF Thomas
Jefferson" 1861. He married Mile. Pauline
Guizot, the second daughter of the cele-
brated minister of Louis Philippe. Another
daughter of Guizot Henriette. married Con-
rad de Witt, brother of Cornelius, and was
as secretary.
NJ. Sergus de Witte. like Napoleon. does
not need that he possess an ancestry, put IL
is none the less fact that when he has 1t,
it may be that he owes some of his great
qualities to them. Bon sang de Francois
ma jamais menti-Good French blood VIII
tell'-is a familiar adage.
The Russian statesman is a giant physi-
cally and mentally. AS minister of finance
he brought order out of chaos and raised
the credit of the state. He curbed the
rapacity of the tchinovnicks and wherever
he could endeavored to checkmate the
CRATER and introduce honesty and loyalty
in the place of dishonest and dsloyal meth
DDS of the bureaucrats.
M. White is a liberal a liberal Russian,
who believes reigiously in the government
of the Little Father The
W1tte bureaucracy which domi-
Liberal. nates-has dominated-at ST.
Petersburg is an incident in
government and stands for more nor
less than similar incidents In other govern
ments, whatever the form. 1t is known as
squeeze In Picking; pot de vim in Paris: graft
in Washington. The simple and unintiated
speak Of the possibility of republic In the
revolution which is assumed to be at hand
in Russia. The poorest and humblest peas
ant knows better; the heterogenity of the
Russian races forbids such an evolution.
Russia in form is what she will always re-
main, inevitably autocratic, but this does
not preclude the element of democracy
the two extremes that meet. The great
historian Guizot, from whom NJ. White de-
seconded, has inherited the lesson which his
ascendant taught in his Historic de la
Civilization en- Europe ct en- France.
The text of the cars recent manifesto
convoking the national assembly may be
cited in Illustration of the Russian spirit
of government. 1t commences:
1.-The empire of Russia is formed and
strengthened by the indestructible solidarity
of the car with the people and of the peo
pie with the car. The concord and union
Of the car and his people is great moral
force which has created russia in the
course of centuries by protecting her from
all misfortunes and all attacks, and has
constituted to the present time pledge
of unity, independence integrity. material
well-being and intellectual development in
the present and the future
Americans have had a glimpse of Rus
sian who, though but short month in their
midst, and under circumstances the most
cruel and extraordinary. has shown them
something of his genius and spirit. Know
lHS 50 tnuCH Oh the man VINO mas PROVOKED
our admiration, should we not seek to
know more of his nation? That we may
know Russia better we cite from writer
who knows the country and people because
having resided at the Russian capital in
1903. He says:
Russia Is at the turning point. Russian
thought has become stagnant pool The
liberals have not to a marked degree the
courage OF their convictions the
reactionaries dare engage in any too great
violence CD. We live from day to day, and
no one knows whittier one is tending. 1t
seems even as II people were delegated not
Of very slight Importance have been en-
acted But no one seems to have the cour-
age to attack the great political problems,
ripe for so many years. Life formulates Its
imperious demands. but the government in
Its inability to act. seems to wish to stop
up Its ears and close its eyes. Russia con-
tinues to Hnger along in superannuated
and nearly vanished institutions hardly
worthy of the enlightened century and con-
tinues to be an archaic state. The breath
OF no powerful and generous idea seems to
animate the country. Not single man,
no great character, no conspicuous person
atty appears to captivate the crowd and
to vibrate in hearts. The novel is reduced
to a superficial impressionism which paints
daily life exactly as II Is without In the
least attempting to interpret it. An atmos-
phere dull and gray pervades the whole.
There Is absolute stagnation.
"One event alone has been as q ray of
light in this dark and gloomy sky-the cir
cular of the oath of August, $685. and the
conference at The Hague which was the re-
suit Of 1t. Many people in Russia expressed
themselves on the subject of The Hague
conference with a pessimism both scornful
and ironical. This year Q9O3) the number
Of recruits called to active service Is greater
than last. And Russia has also experienced
a Renaissance in naval affairs-a more
foolish madness even than militarism.
For how long will this state Of things
1ast2 Ten. twenty, thirty years? Who will
be the deliverer? Who will come to drag
Russian society from its dull and lfeless
state? Alas! no one can answer this ques-
toni"
Yes. unless all signs fail In Russia the
hour has struck and her deliyerer come
When M. Witte has signed the Peace of
Portsmouth we shall hear of him again as
the Regeneration of regenerated Russia