Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-26
THECzAR' SCHARACTER
Influence of Environment on
Russia's Ruler.
LIMITS OF HIS POWER
THEORETICALLY OMNIPOTENT,
PRACTICALLY A PRISONER.
Surrounded by Cabal Of Grand Dukes
and Adventurers-Dispo
of His Relatives.
BY VIM. E. CURTIS.

| By VIM. E. CURTIS.
Written for The Evening Star and the Chicago
| Record Herald.
| Theoretically the Gear Of Russia is able
| to do exactly as he pleases at all times and
| to exercise his own will in all matters con-
| corning himself and the 10000 600 souls
who occupy his dominions Theoretically
| everything within the limits Of the great
| Russian empire belongs to him, to use at
| his pleasure including the lives as we'll as
the property of his subjects. He can order
| armies and fleets to any part of the earth
| whenever he desires; he can declare war or
make peace according to his individual
| judgment; he can spend all the money in
the treasury for any purpose, and nobody
has the right to question his acts or his
! wisdom.
, Practically, however, the car is pris-
oner, surrounded by group Of relatives
and officials more or less honest, vicious
| and corrupt, who control his acts, his
| words and his thoughts by the various in
| fiuences they are able to bring to bear upon
| him. He may read the European or Amer
lean newspapers and periodicals.; he may
occasionally see book that discloseS the
condition of affairs in the empire, and
sometimes disinterested and candid sub
ject may secure an audience with him and
give him accurate information. But, as
rule, all of his knowledge Of public affairs
and every other subject is filtered through
groups of designing men, the most Of
whom have evil regulations and are be-
leved to practice habitual deception upon
their sovereign for their own benefit or the
advantage of their friends. At the same
time Nicholas II has better advantages and
greater opportunities for knowing the
truth than any of his predecessors, and his
personal responsibility for conditions and
events in Russia is greater than that of his
father or grandfather, or any other man
-bo Sat the throne of the Roman
offs.
The Cars characteristics.
There is decided difference of opinion
as to the personal character and disposition
of the car. Those who had an opportunity
to study him before he assembled the throne
and passed beyond the close observation OF
the public represent him to be sympathetic
affectionate, sincere, modest, conscientious
and kindly disposed, but with deep. mel
ancholy strain short memory, limited
moral courage a tendency to shrink from
responsibility. a weak will, inability to re-
tain impressions, easily imposed upon and
apt to be Influenced by the last person who
sees him. His strongest characteristic is
religious superstition, which me inherited
from his father and which has made him
the plastic tool of M. Pobedonostsef, pro-
curator of the holy synod, the Torquemada
of the Russian empire, the most bigoted re-
dictionary and the cruelest Of all the in
fluences by which he Is surrounded. Pobe-
donostseff would massacre all the Jews in
Russia; he would send to the stake every
man, woman and child who questioned the
divine authority of his sovereign, and would
consign to the icy mines of Siberia every
man who differed from his opinions.
The car takes a childish delight in the
superna tufal. He believes in miracles; In
the direct influence of spirits and for two or
three years has been receiving messages
from the invisible world through a French
adventurer, NJ. Philippe, who is both q
t-H ,a1i .rp, and hos >1oTy nd
upon his perpiexities and superstitions in
most extraordinary manner. Through
him the@czar has been able to obtain the
advice and counsel Of his father. the late
Alexander III, for whom he has the great
est venerat ton. and the spirits of various
other saints and ancestors in whose judg-
ment he has confidence. NJ Philippe pre-
dicted the birth of an heir to the throne six
months before that event of supreme graft
fication occurred and convinced the car
that it was accomplished through the inter-
cession of a certain St. Seraphim, a holy
man to whom barren peasant women pray
for children. Phillippe's influence surpass-
ed that of any other man at court; the
car would go nowhere without him, and
kept him busy communicating with the
other world until the charlatan betrayed
himself one day by having the spirit OF
Alexander III recommend the employment
of certain contractors by the government.
That suddenly ended his career: he fled
from st. Petersburg and has disappeared.
1t is generally understood that with the
gifts of the conspirators he served and
the generosity of his victim, he acquired a
considerable fortune.
Another adventurer, who is said to have
been largely responsible for the war with
Japan, is certain Captain Bezobrazoff,
formerly an officer of the Imperial Guards,
master of the imperial hounds and an illit-
crate but very shrewd and tactful man,
who in some way or other wormed himself
into his majesty's confidence and for
months was his most trusted confidante and
adviser
The Ducal Timber Syndicate.
Ii WAS Rezohrazoff who ORGANIZED the