The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1906-06-28
Feeding q Revolution.


try, as shown by the press, favors CON
sentative methods for men who, what
ever the name given them, seek to
change the face of things in Russia.
This Is the most noticeable because of
the natural impatience of the Ameri-
can people with every form Of political
oppression and social injustice. It Is
certain that we do not understand the
conditions In Russia as we do those Of
other countries, and modesty demands
that we take care not to shout with the
wrong crowd. Had Gorky come here
to give a sober account '<of the faith
that is within" him and the revolutions
lists for whom he speaks, we would
have listened eagerly and perhaps have
backed up armed rebellion against the
powers that be in ST. Petersburg. But
the fact Is that the government Of Rus
STA has shown itself capable of fighting
foreign war and keeping order at
and mongrel masses, and as things go
today the American public stands by
the system which does things.
If the Russian people were all in the
plight of some Of those races ruled by
the sultan Of Turkey and the revolu-
tion In CANCER of setback after being
hail Won, the American people would
be the first to push it along, as was
done in the case of Cuba. Russia is in
the process Of political transformation.
Her people and her rulers know and
recognize it, and there are parties
working blindly, not wholly convinced
that the way they have espoused is the
right one or that the way Of the oppo-
sition Is wrong. The best minds Of
Russia have spoken on the crisis within
the past two years, and not note of
despair worth serious attention has
been heard. The burden Of every great
speech has been that Russia is not
ready for radical changes. Surely the
men On the spot must know, and If
conditions are intolerable must know
that too.
Americans are as little acquainted
with the state of affairs In Russia as
they are with the dominions of the sui
tan. When stories Of Jewish massa-
ores, 'sbloody Sundays" and Cossack
whips are cabled over here the first
impulse is to say that the government
tolerating these monstrosities in the
twentieth century ought to be wiped
out as relic of barbarism. Russia's
commerce, her big cities, her lnstitu-
tons and her progress in spite of au-
tocratic rule are lost sight Of. 1t could
probably be demonstrated that, con-
sidering her vast extent, her mixed
races, her distance from the centers of
culture, Russia's progress generally in
the nineteenth century was fully equal
to that of the other great nations of
Europe. However that may be, Russia
Is now too great, too magnificent and
too promising to be given over to fire
and sword, to civil war and anarchy.
Her example of persistence under diff
6culties, even If she staggers on for
another generation, Is too good to be
lost. White surely Is not the one man
in all Russia for whom Roosevelt's de-
scription, "a splendid fellow" would
prove fit. Such men do not grow I'D
IN unpeOpled deserts. His mind has
played upon others and other minds
upon his. Splendid fellows are made
by rubbing up against other splendid
fellows, and the history Of fifty years
OF Liberal agitation and forward
march under the shadow of the autoc-
racy, from the emancipation of the
serfs in 1861 to the assembling Of the
douma in 1906, is proof that Russia
has no lack Of ''the men to make a
state" Revolutions are more interest
ing to look at and to think about than
mere transformations, but the secret
Of all lasting change lies In the words
OF Euripides, SLOWLY but surely withal
moves the might Of the gods"