The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-23

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fhe eseltameHt shof l0,pf hut iepp'
hefe Nv ina eatifai 10 inhesefilet Ma. intans
aiAegt Nv The alrnoe, si~uurlsaNsB resigns
tim n the two ehipf Nlni<sefai b,t No
chief iefefeHf 10 centred On thS psHa8s
fuamhese ~ The trIfnH, vhn afa arriving
On evefS train That they ell ~ Tho
festufa n ouf infsne Parliament, both
nuHnaricsily AMI mresllv thefe ~ 10 NJ
Doubt. nor n tho tact that \, wili ~ hsfcelv
Opposition ail thryuah there afa onlV
twenty purely conservative m%efntefa'
were this opposition cosnponsd only ~
cultured and a.ml cultured 'inteiiectuala,'
80 should havs q 'tsIkina' Parliament
that 10 certain, and much NJ Ne vim would
b~ loat, would svaporate IN words Rut
Tho peasanis err ell good senesi they
know Just what they need, what thsy wantl
they mean BUSINESS and wtll stick to II.
The elections ara not quite completed yet
s'ill. va can nov form q clear idea % what
the Duma will be like. ZIP 10 May 0 $40
members wera elected. Of these 100 are
mobiles u every grade. . priests, % burGhers
Ctownamen, tradesnen, 4cl, i0i peasants
and ~ what Ia called 'nondesoript.' %
tho iei peasants iiS are actual tillers of
the soil. Some are workingmen lin facto-
ries, mills. iron works. AcD.; hut on tbs
whole the proletariat In We kept aloof, more
or less demonstFatively; they are angry
at the precedence which will evidently DO
awarded to the %peanntry's grievances az
being the most urgent and vital. Only
three members are ilNterate. II Ia right
that this class. unfortunately On large,
should be represented. They will sit there,
side by side with scientists. lawyers. writ
erB, a living. mute reproof TO the Govern
ment. And who better. more authorita-
lively. than they can speak up for universal,
obligatory school education2
II IL amusing 20 watch tho manduvres
Of the different parties TO catch the
peasant members in the act Of landing on
the railway platforms. Each has its ennis
saries meet every train, exactly like the
commissionairas Of rival hotels in every
large city. The representatives Of one
party wear green bows in their b~uttonholes,
others brown, the radical Let's red. &c.
The most active are the constitutional
Democrats. A day or two ago / was
driving past the station Of the st. Peters
burg-Moscow Railroad and my cab was
stopped by quite n large crowd, In the
midst Of which a group OF bewildered
looking, bearded men in their village u
day best were being literally pulled
about by half a dozen wildly talking and
gesticulating young men. while half n
dozen others were taking their bundles
from them by main force and loading them
on hastily summoned cabs. Some words
reached me out Of that babel: you will
find your friends IF you go with him
you never will get land Comfortable
ROOM" "Telephones,' Don't listen to
them; they are disguised oospoda' (gentle-
mem, and 30 on,
What in the world Is this'' I asked my
driver.
why he said, 'they are meeting some
members who have just arrived with the
last train And some were actually car
ried away then an& there.
But those who imagine that securing the
members bodies means taking possession
Of their minds and votes will find them
selves sorely mistaken. In this attitude
there is still much OF the old leaven Of half
contemptuous ~patronlzlng with which the
man who has read some books mot so very
many, either, nor always properly digestedl
and patched up this or that theory out OF
them looks down on the man who has only
labored and suffered and thought, The
great mute Sphinx as Turgenieff some-
where calls our hundred million people, 10
preparing to speak-for mute" does not
mean ~"dumb"-and 1t will speak it's own
words, not borrowed ones. They will be a
great surprise to the werld and are already
to us.
They are now visiting mAtings, where
they listen intently and talk very little, and
holding their own c%auouses, to which they
are very chary of admitting strangers. But
those who AVE been privileged to hear their
debates or who have managed to win their
confidence enough 10 get them to talk
freely are amazed al their unanimity; at
the seriousness, amounting almost to awe.
with which they regard their responsibility;
the comprehension they bring to questions
which we're thought. with the usual absurd
superoiliousness, TO be beyond them.
To everybody's establishment, they are
by no means blinded to other questions by
the hunger for land and their battle cry is
not, as was generally expected, only land
but Land and Liberties"
Another subject on which they are abso-
lutely unanimous is that of the universal
amnesty which they consider imperative
as preliminary to work Of any kind. and
which they intend to demand and insist
on, absolutely and Internationally. 1t 10
evident from their every word that they
consider themselves as merely the mouth
pieces Of their constituencies, bound to
accomplish a certain mission, They will
not be drawn into discussing side issues or
utopian plans for the future. This is all
talk. they say, "and we are here for bust
ness. Let the essentials be settled and then
the rest will follow
1t is probable that soms remarkable
natural orators will be found among the
peasant members. 1t looks 30 from what
is heard now and then at their debates -