The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-11
TOLSTOI IS
 DISGUSTED Famous Author Writes Of
 Governments. ALL SEAMS. IS HIS IDEA Describes Chief Calamity of
 Russia. Pri,eaDsl rrssbs is the aRecs1sesb DissracsfaL Cruel War, I.sts- gated by Score ef Immoral
 Isaiv1Anals.,

London March 10.-Couut Tolstoi h a letter which will be published to- morrow will say that he regards not only the Russian Government. but a1l governments as intricate institutiouS sanctifed by tradition and custom for and with impunity the most dreadful social crimes.
 He therefore thinks the efforts of those who wish to improve social life should be directed to the liberation of themselves from all government whoee futility is obvious This object could only be obtained by the unique means of religiously and morally perxectine separate individuals. The idea is pre- yalent that the evil accomplished by the present particularly coarse. crueS. ment' is due to the fact that the Rus sian Government Is not organised on the model of other existing govern ments which are similar institutions for the committaI of all kinds of crimes against their people" For the pur- pose of correcting this the people had used all means at their disposal. imagining that an alteration of the external forms might alter the es- sence.' Such activity. Count Tolstof says. Is fnexpedient and unreasonable in that the people assert rights which they do not have. Violent strife by external means on the part of an in- significant handful of men against a powerful government defending its life is only comicai from the point of view of the impossibility of success, and piteous as regards the unfortunate misied individuals who perish in the unequal strife.
 .'The Russian Government has no right to claims which do not appeal to the great mass of the people. One hundred million of the peasantry need nothing of these demands, their one desire and expectation being the Iibera- tion of the land from the law of pror- erty or common ownership of land. matters which are entirely ignored in liberal positions and speeches and anly incidentally alluded to in the revofu- ttonary socialistic program"
 Concerning the representation de- mands, Count Tolstoi says:
 Representation Demands
 The people in great mass still be- Iieve in autocracy both by reason of inertia an dbecause they believe that only through autocracy and through the Czar can they attain this cum munalization of land. The present &C., tivtty is pernicious because 1t destracts the people from the moral perfection
 
 only can be obtained the objects towards which those who are fightinf the government are striving.
 One cannot participate in political action. which draws the people into intrigue. subterfuge, strife and spits extending to murder. Political action not only fails to contribute to the liberation of men from the violence of governments, but on the contrary  that vigor which only can liberate them.
 Light minded people. judging super hcially happily are those upset by the butchery in St. Petersburg, though the chief cause of those events lay in the despotism of the government and if the autocratic, monarchial form of the Rus sion Government Is replaced by q con- stitutional or republican one then such events could not be repeated
 But the chief calamity from which the Russian people are suffering is not the St. Petersburg events. but the reckless, disgracefuI. cruel war in- stigated by @ score of immoral in- dividuals. The war, which already has destroyed hundreds of thousands oe Russians. imposes an enormous tax upon the labor of future generations. That which took place in St. Peters-
 
 parison to what is taking place in Manchuria-"
 In conclusion Count Tolstof says that in America. France. Germany. Japan and England the pernicious character of the governments Is so marked that those belonging to these nations point to events in Rassia and naively imagine what is dofe in Russia is done only in Russia. while they enjoy complete freedom and need no improvement of their positions.
 But" he adds, ''they are in the most hopeless state of slavery--the slavery of slaves who do not understand that they are slaves and pride themselves on their position as slaves. The fact is that every coercisive government is in the essence a great and unnecessary evil. Therefore, the extreme of both the Russians and of all men should not be to replace one form of government by another, but to free themselves form