New-York tribune., 1905-02-18
PTSSTA'S SENTENCE.

Horrors accumulate upon horrors In unhaPpS
Russia. and rise toward higher ana hishei
MARKS Bobrikoff was Seneral anu gov
or Plehve was one of the foremost tiniooei 0I
of state Sergius was one OF the chleL siahu
dukes Above him is the Gar NO Wohuei 'n"a :
tbe sovereign is terror stricken Ihe horror VI
the tragedy is rivaled by its ominous menace
of what may come next. Inc Wollu may Pio'
that such omen may be absent, but revolution
lists esneciallv those of the bomb throwing type,
nay small heed to prayers. There can be little
6oubt that the threat of a few days ago Is helng
fulfilled. A reign of terror is coming upon Rus-
sia. directed at the autocracy, ana thereIore at
the Gar himself so long as he is ldenuhed Win
tho autocracv 1t remains to be seen how it will
he met There are two ways One is repres-
sion. the other is concession. 1t may not be pos
sible to repress exploding dynamite. Ihere may
also be doubts of the sufficiency of concessions
now to tame the tiger of Muscovy" which has
broken loose.
With the personal characteristics or the late
grand duke we need not now concern ourselves
His traits were such as have been common IN
Russia since the days OF Peter the Great I'm
popular as he may have been, it was not for
revolutionsts to avenge the moral law upon
him with bomb Nor indeed was such their
purpose He was killed because he had admin
istered autocracy with harshness and because
he conspicuously stood for all that is worst in
the governmental system of Russia. Perhaps
we may add that it was also because he was
grand duke whose slaughter would more nearly
concern and more powerfully affect the Gar
himself than that of any man Of lower heredi
tary rank In such madness there is a deadly
method We must regard ii with detestation
and abhorrence. Upon no ground can such q
deed be justified. Such reflections are, however,
mere truisms, the multitudinous repetition OF
which would be vain either for consolation or
for rebuke and restraint The fact that deed
is atrocious in its wickedness does not count
for so much as the small dust of the balance in
the mind of a revOlutionist who has determined
TO achieve it.
There was, too, a dreadful delberation about
the thing We are told that Sergius was SEN
fenced to death two months ago. 1t was known
at the time. or soon after, by himself and by
the police that his death had been decreed by
some death dealing circle" Precautions, de-
fences and all else have been vain to prevent
the fulfilment of the decree. Nor was he alone
prescribed. 1t is said that the Grand Duke
Alexis, the Procurator PObiedonoStseff, General
Trepoff and even the Empress Dowager were
similarly sentenced. If so, they stand to-day in
the shadow of an awful menace. We may easily
believe it is So for it would be difficult to name
four persons in the empire more generally hated
by the revolutionists than they. After the deed
Of yesterday nobody would be surprised at any
fearful thing to-norrow's Russian tidings might
disclose. But where is it all TO stop? For twen-
ty-ive years the Russian autocracy has been
striving strenuously TO stamp out nihism. 1t
has not succeeded. nor even made progress. Its
letha enemy is still in existence, and more ac-
tive and potent than ever before. 1t is passing
sentence at will upon the rulers of the land and
is executing its sentences with ineXorable zeal
and with inevitable precision. Practically it is
a sentence against autocracy through the auto
Gratis themselves. The only reply thus far made
is a sentence of repression and Of oppression
against the Russian people. But surely there
must be some wiser course