The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-08-05

l 1ade in the background If strike in
 augurated today gathers suficient head
 way to endanger the life of the state l It has been virtually decided tha
 Grand Duke Nicholas Nichoiaievitcl will be named commander of all tn, ! troops in the Empire where niartia
 law exists" which would bs tanfamoun
 to the deereeing of military dictator ship.
 It is possible, however, that the Gov ernment will not be driven to this ax tremity, as the showing made toda, by the St. Petersburg Proletariat wal 1 not impressive Although nearly TO-, 900 workmen are reported to be out d nightfall. many of the men appear [,
 be entering the struggle with heav, l hearts.
 The srontaneity with which practi caliy the entire nation arrayed itsei against the old regime last fall is lack, i ing. The endurance of the people hal been sapped by the long strain. thu I sympathy of the more conservative lib. erals has been alienated by fear of . revolution and the lowest element oi i the population have been organized in l to what are known as .'Black Hun, | dreds" and are ready to enter the figh I on the side of the Government wher | the signal is given. Dfssensions also are rife among tho leaders over tht opportuneness of giving battle to tho Government but these probably will bt
 short lived as the response of the coun- 1 try shows that the nation as a whole | endorses the movement.
 Moscow and St Petersburg, or rather St Petersbrg. are expected to decide l the issue.
 Railroads upon which the initial strike depends although committed have not vet formally ordered q strike On the uItertor object of the FroIeta-
 riat leaders. which at present Is mask ed must depend the attitude of the troops
 If the military supports of the Gov ernment stand up as they did at svea- borg and Cronstadt. tie leaders ac- knowledge that the game Is lost; but even SC. they declare that defeat, if II forces the disaffected portion of the army to show its colors. will only pre- pare the way for final victory. The wagering of the artiiieftsts at Cronstadt and the attitude of . major portion of the crew of the armored cruiser Pamyat Azova. which remained nominaliy loxaf and which they belfevs would undoubtedlv have thrown It's Ies with the rebels if the rchelH had re- ceived expected support from the Revai fortress, they cite as being in their fa- vor; and they are confident that if put to q test, thousands of soldiers will re- fuse to fire on the people and that the
 weak spots will develop in the army.
 where the Government least expects
 them.
 While the authorities undoubtedly are
 anxious to manifest equal confidence
 that the army will not fail the Emperor
 in a crisis. and that the strike will
 rroye a dismal failure. Indeed the fac
 ton now in control seems to welcome
 an immediate test. in the conviction
 that 1t will be able to squelch the rev
 olution for a long time to come. The
 weakest point in the revolutionary ar
 nor is believed to be lack of compe-
 tent leaders.
 Tonight brought increased excitement
 throughout the industrial sections of
 the city Although the police are re-
 inforced by mounted patrols in the cen-
 tral districts of the city. all Is quiet
 there
 Tn the workmen's quarter. which the Associated Press correspondent visited. there was ferment. Dragons and cos- sacks were in evidence in the princi- pal streets and police pickets. armed with rifles. were at almost every cor ner. Nevertheless. the correspondent heard orators addressing crowded meetings at many places. The police displayed open sympathy with the men. turning their backs 10 what was going on.
 On Basii Island the workmen have begun closing the shops and have stop. ped cabs. turning the occupants out into the street and instructing the drivers to return home.
 Searchlights from a cruiser at the Baltic works and from the roof of the building. are sweeping the Neva and several torpedo boats built in the Unit ed States. are scurrying up and down the river No collisions of importance were reported up to midnight. There will be no newspapers publlshR1 to- morrow, except The Novoe Vremya, whose men do not belong to the union. The cabmen have agreed to strike Mon day,
 Probably not more than sO,0oo work men were out when the general strike went officially into force at noon to- day, 4
 The final decision to call strike was so hastily taken Thursday night, and the police since then have been so busy putting the ringleaders behind the bars that great confusion prevails among the various organizations, which were scheduled to begin striking at different places and at different times
 Therefore the inauguration of the strike lacks snap and 1t is evident that us success WILL uepeno on the temper of the masses. The leaders have been more or less demoralized by the energy displayed by the Government in break ing ID the workmen's organizations and unless the people spontaneously respond to the call, the strike must end in early failure.
 All eyes are turned on Moscow and the provinces. St. Petersburg. the Gov stronghold, is expected to be the last to suceumb to the state of an archy into which the revolutionists have undertaken to plunge the country.
 The battle cry of the strike, "a re- of Parliament for the fur pose of elaborating a law providing for a constituent assembly" does not rirg true and Is in fact simply peaceful slogan to be abandoned if the Govern. ment totters when the true coiors will be run up.
 The members of the workmen's Coun- ciI. in conjunction with the radical of the outlawed Parliament, have made definite arrangements to proclaim themselves a provisional gov if success. crowns their efforts. But unless the whole army sides with the revolutionists, those In control of the Government are convinced that the strike will end in failure.
 A prominent member of the Govern ment. who IS in complete sympathy with :he decision taken et P~terhof to light the revolution energetically, points