Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-18
More Jewish Massacresp
To the Editor of The Star:

10 the Eultor OF Inc star:
There Is especial significance just now in
the dispatch published Saturday about the
discussion raging in certain ST. Petersburg
popers over the question whether Jews are
COW ards. There are grave fears of another
outbreak of Jewish massacres all over Rus
STA, and just at this tickltsh time Gen.
M&rtynoff is allowed to publish In the CEN
sored press an article grossly abusing the
Jews and charging them with all manner of
poftroonery and treachery in Manchuria.
And the Novoe Vremya is allowed by the
censor to back up MartyDoff and make SIM
liar accusations against the conduct of the
Jews in Russia.
Shortly before the Odessa massacres the
governor of Odessa published what the AS
ISOLATED Press described as IAN extraordi-
nary proclamation, seemingly intended to
incite the Christians against the Jews"
He charged the Jews with being RESPONSE
BILE for the mutiny on the Kniaz Potem-
kin (Which had not a single Hebrew among
Its crew, and for all the other disorders
Yet he was not punished. And the commits
sion of inquiry has just reported that the
ODESSA authorities were guilty of criminal
negligence in making no effort to stop the
atrocities.
The late anti-Jewish riots broke out al
most simultaneously all over Russia, they
seemed to be everywhere conducted &C
cording to one preconcerted plan; and in
the great majority of cases they were car
ried on before the eyes and with the appar-
and the police No serious effort has been
made to punish these guilty officials. On the
other hand, nineteen officials who did their
duty and courageously defended the Jews
against the mobs, have been punished by
being transferred to remote and obscure
posts.
One of the demands which the zemstvoists
and moderates insisted upon as a condi-
ton of giving the government their support
and one of those which they were unable to
obtain, was that the officials implicated in
the massacres should be brought to fair
and open trial and punished IL found guilty
Only few days ago it was announced that
the minister of justice had resigned be-
cause their cases had been removed from
his jurisdiction and handed over to that of
a notorious reactionary.
It is the pretty unanimous conviction of
the progressive elements in Russia that
tho government itself melted the massa-
cres and means to inCite more. 1t may be
asked, For what motive? If a man has
abused a pack of dogs till he sees that
they are on the point of flying at him, he
We uld doubtless be glad to divert their at
tention from him, If he could, by setting
them to fighting among themselves. The
Russian government had so exasperated
its subjects by long course of oppression
that almost all classes seemed to be on the
point of rising against ii. Hence It had a
clear motive for trying to divert their at
tention from their common oppreSsor by
setting Christians against Jews, Tartars
against Armenians and the hooligans
against the students and "intellectuals."
And all signs indicate that this has been
ami is its policy. These violent anti-Jewish
articles in the censored press are probably
to prepare the way for more Jew batting
ALICE STONE BLACKWELL.
Dorchester, Mass.