The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-08
CONFIDENCE
 FAST WANING Russian POpulace Are
 Lo>S : Faith. PRF,.,s.R AT WITS ENDS - N s~ lack Made on the Credit of 7 the Nation. Effort Begins la St. Petersburg to Beat Down Prices In order That For
 eiEn Holders May Become
 Alarmed.

Dec. $. via Eydtkuhnen, East Prussia D--- I-Public confidence in the govern inents ability to weather the growing storm is waning fast. Premier Witte seems poweriess to cope with the ele- ments of danger which the Revolution is raising on every hand. New mutt nies among the troops are constantly reported and the lawIessness in the country IS increasing.
 Whenever the dreaded workmen's organizations present q united front as they did last night. the premier is compelled to strike his colors. 1t now appears that the comrades of Sokoliff. the railroad engineer of Sanara wnose condemnation to death threatened the country with general railroad strikee independently organized the strike on the trans-CasDian line from AIexdro- vosk to Tashkend.
 The Governor of Kurshka who exer- cises plenary powers on the Afghan frontier without consulting with the St. Petersburg authorities, convened q courtmartfal and sentenced Sokolofr to death
 The Premier as a result of the. action of the executive committee of the rail- road employees union in preparing for a general strike unless the sentence was reversed before midnight Decem- Der 5, was compelled to get M. Nem-
 
 tions. to employ the railroad telegraph to forward a stay of execution which fortunately arrived in time. Had the man been shot nothing would have pre- vented q universal strike. The danger for the moment has again been passed, but the weapon always hangs over the head of the Government as threat against any new arbitrary act.
 Attack on Country's Credit.
 The immediate d1nCar confrOuftuc the Government is a concerted attack on the country's credit. The public fear that the Government can be forced to suspend gold payments increase daily This would be the crowning achievement Of the revolutionists who financial crash the whole house would come tumbling down.
 The chances of driving the Govern ment into bankruptcy they profess to believe would be materially increased if the confidence of the foreign holders of Russian obligations was undermined and the news that the French investors who held four-ffths of Russian im- mehse foreign indebtedness were un- loading were received with jubilation by the revolutionists.
 At the time 1t created a veritabIe panic on the Bourse, imperial 4s fall- ing to 94 1-2, and the Government lot teries to 295. Banking and industrial shares went down with rush, Puttloff going from 9S to s6 and iron shares, like Kolomo and Moscow. which a month ago was quoted at $50. closing at 360.
 Runs on Banks.
 The savings bank was subjected to a run and at the State bank a long line of nervous men and women waited for hours to exchange paper money for gold. The bank offlcials did not at- tempt to dissuade hem and exchanged rolls of gold for bills as fast as the latter were presented
 Both the runs on the bank and the demands for foreign exchange were &C., celerated by circulars which the stri1- CTS and revolutionary organizations are spreading broadcast.
 At the Ministry of Finance 1t is es- timated that about $50,000,0O0 has thus Tar been withdrawn from the State bank The balance of gold in the Treasury and abroad now stands at S5S6,500. 900, and the outstanding paper totsls $553,- 5O0.00 leaving the Government a mar gin of legally issuable paper of about $45. .00O, ,000.
 The Government perfectly under stands the character of the assault on it's credit. At the Ministry of Finance the Associated Press was authoritative ly informed that the situation of the has not greatly changed or economically.
 All depends" continued the oflcial. 'on political developments. If the possessed thrice its pres ent reserve, it would not sutice to pre- vent the present scare, which like all panics. must run it's course. But we have ample resources to meet our an dthe present demands
 fa kA ks.NI ..( A~ defaulting the January cou- pons and of it's inability to take up short term treasury bonds sold to the dendelssohns which are due in Feb ruarY.
 Can Collect Taxes.
 Much has been made of the possi- l ble inability of the government to col lect taxes in many provinces. As 8 | matter of fact. the entire direct taxa tion in the cities and country is s67.- | 800, 900, and the tax industries $33,500,- | O0O If both were altogether lost it would be less than one-tenth of Rus | sia's total income
 The only break in the ranks of the | is reported from Kazan, | middle Russia
 Elsewhere all the governments att tempts to resume telegraphic commu- nication have been unsuccessful In l this city there has been a partial re- | sumption of mail delivery by means of but 1t requires two police 1 men or two soldiers to escore every carrier. In the postoffice the officials who can be spared are working in 1 other departments with volunteers. | some of whom are of high rank. Prin- | cess Oelensky, Princess Kofhubey, Morvinoff and Countess Oze- rolf are sorting letters in the mailing rooms.
 At one mail station the strikers stole a march on the military. The guard 1 of soldiers had gone to dinner leaving their rifles stacked outsides. The strikers raided the station and ham, nered off the breech locks of the ri- files, before they were discovered.
 At Moscow over twenty carloads of ln..nrn are dIafrihnfed