Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-01
The CHRONIC CRISIS IN RUSSIA

Revolution. which has dragged its slow
length along until now, has apparently
| reached an acute phase In the
lncreaxtng imminent TALL OF the Goremy-
Teusio1. kin ministry. which. indeed. 10
virtually announced by late
dispatches, and the disaffectien In the army
n,anifested In the disorders at kravnoe-
Selo. On the 18th instant the Preobre-
| jensky Regiment Ellis Majesty's Own.
declared in favor OF the douma and its
agrarian program. Surely such an extra
ordinary manifestation should have caused
the scales to fall from the eyes OF the
| imperial colonel OF the supposed ultra
| loyal Preobrejensky. But the emperor
summoned the regiment before the fmper-
| ial palace at Peterhof on the following day.
| the 10Th ult. denounced its disioyalty, and
ordered that 1t be stricken from the rolls
Of the imperial guard and replaced. The
act of the car was energetic and cour-
| ageous for 1t was not without danger. 1t
shows him in very different light from
| the pale and effeminate sovereign his crit
| les have heretofore depicted him. 1t may
| be asked Just here II he is not preparing
by the lesson read to the Preobrejensky to
attract the confidence and rekindle the pa
| triotic fre in the army2
| From this distance Russian affairs are
viewed indistinctly. Indeed. this may be
| said with truth OF the reports OF those who
| affect to interpret them from the shadow
4 OF Peterhof itself. The dispatches declare
| that the morale Of the entire army Is
| shaken, and the emperor will be forced
| by this situation to dismiss the Goremykin
| cabinet and name its successor re-
| sponsible ministry.
I NJ nhodn nC%r aSP he Y,Yn
! general OF the holy synod. lifetime con-
servative, is reported as recognizing the fu-
| tiiity of resisting the inevitabIe-a response
BILE ministry-and has advised the emperor
| to accede to the demand as the only means
| of preserving his throne The conserya-
! tive group also, under Count Heyden. IS
| said to have accepted the agrarian program
| of the constitutional democrats.
Fhe hesitations of government have
served the revolutionary cause to gain over
| the discontinued peasantry who from de-
voted partisans of the emperor rapidly
| becoming members of the bands of agl-
tators
| ~
The government, 1t appears is quite rea iy
to make concessions and NJ. Stachinsky
minister OF agriculture,
| Wiling 20 has drawn plan which,
Compromise. while rejecting the prin-
| ciple of appropriation,
| nevertheless contains large concessions.
| The looker-on is left to wonder why such
| concessions are not urgently submitted. lie
| may conclude that tomorrow it will be TOO
| late. But the Russian will never do things
| in a hurry; it Is characteristic.
A cable from st. Petersburg to the Paris
| Herald of the 18th instant Is cited as per-
| tinent: ITO the intelligent Russian" says
| the correspondent. 1.-The present political
| position in the country is almost incompre-
| hensible. So 1t is difficult to imagine the
bewiiderment which it must inspire in the
| average foreigner. With cabinet divided
i against itself, discredited by the almost
| unanimous vote of the national repre,cnta-
| tfves, but still intent on maintaining once:
| with douma methodically initiating iesis-
! iat1on of the most drastic character tgnor-
I Ing the existence Of the ministry, and with
out direct access to the emperor, the situa-
| ton on the surface at least would appear
! to DE extremely complicated"
| The situation according to this CORE
| spondent Is not~so complicated as the pub
| lie are led to believe. but one In which the
! constitutional democrats play their role 10
| carry out their pledges made to their eject
| ors Nevertheless, it Is certain that the
| agrar1an movement is extending and has
| a.ready created upris1ngs in the provinces
| hynie and Potava. The doiIma itself ia
being used to foment agrarian troubles and
disanection in the army by incendlary
printed and disseminated openly fhrn,eb
out country and camps That such cond,-
| tionS nave not eliminated long ago in rev
o.a ,a should not be the subject of sur
PRISE. The situation, In view Of these cir
| cufnstances. Is not so complicated. for a
| Iact, ana may be readily understood the
Iussan peasant and soldier being. after
al. human, and not unlike men eynosas ~
IKE conditions elsew here Besides 1naro
IS another factor of discomfort in Rmss,a
sonc'ent OF itself to create revolt.
mere is famine in the land. which ar
~ Inc appeal signed by Princes
iroubetskoy, Lvoff and NJ
| ainine 10 Novosiitseff. exceeds in in
Widespread. tensity the record famine
s OF 1891 and affects about
o,000, 600 people Little wonder, therefore.
that the peasant party in the dourna l2s
members: eiamers as means of relief for
| their stricken electors for the transfer OF
land; he is also furnished for food. Count
Ioistoi has by voice, pen and example
SHOWN how government may accomplish
the dream OF the peasantry. writer In
the Westminster Review for June writing
on this subject says that there are not
| sumcient just men among the Russian no.
bilfty to save their country In Japan in
her time of trial. 1T was far otherwise The
great mobiles emulated one another in of
ferlng up to the mikado their titles, their
land and their wealth, and feudalism, which
had existed in Japan for over eight CEN
turtles, voluntarily extinguished itself. This
nigh souled patriotism" adds the writer
SUES Adi W eApistiH Japan astonishing
progress and her wonderful successes in the
!ate war But even in our own Christian
England such devotion is not to be found
much less in benighted Russia"
Men and things bad in Russia GER
tafnly, and there would seem to be little
need to paint them blacker than they really
are. Besides the American press EMPLOYS
ITS paint brush frequently these days to
paint Its own men and things black and
very properly A contemporary referring
to the recent massacre at Bialystok begun
June 10. cites as the actual compelling cause
OF a change of policy mist. Petersburg to-
ward the Jews the resolution Introduces in
Congress on the 22d instant by Senator Nc