The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-28

Vladika vkaz In Caucasia comes the an
|nouncement that military discipline can
no longer be enforced among the troops
there assembled for the maintenance OF
order. At Kaluga the entire Ninth
Regiment Of infantry refused to do duty
until the members OF two companies
who had been arrested on account OF
their refusal TO fire upon an assembly
Of workmen should be released. All
inc infantry regiments massed at Mos
cow are said to be on the eve Of revolt.
and the loyalty OF the garrisons at Cron-
stadt and Odessa Is suspected on grave
grounds. A eliminating proof OF the
extent to which the army has been in
fected was given on June %, when,
according to a telegram from Berlin, the
Preobrajensky Regiment Of the lmpe-
rial Guards, which has a memorable
record for loyalty, and upon which the
reactionists have counted, refused to
obey an order to march to st. Petersburg
until a Grand Duke had assured it that
it would not be called upon to disperse
the Duma, but would simply be expected
to protect the person of the sovereign.
With such a warning ringing in their
ears, what likelihood Is there that the
most reactionary members Of the Court
would dare to fling down the gauntlet
to the nation? Evidently, the time has
passed when the Reputation Of the
whole programme of reform and the
resort to a dictatorship could be tried
with any prospect Of success. The
army was the staff upon which the Cars
worst advisers believed that they could
lean with confidence. 1t is now plain
that, for reactionary purposes, the staff
Is a broken reed.
Not only will the end OF June see the
national assembly still in session, but
obviously the deadlock caused by the
refusal Of the Goremykin Ministry to
resign must be brought quickly to an end.
The rising tide Of impotence and indig-
nation which is sweeping g the nation
and the army will soon impel the Duma
to seize the power which the bureaucrats
and their autocratic fgurehead have
hitherto shrunk from conceding. The
delay in yielding to the demand for the
appointment of a Cabinet responsible
to the majority Of the Legislature has
simply caused the centre of political in
f1uenoe in that body to gravitate toward
the Left, and thereby the chance Of
harmonious cooperation between the
sovereign and the spokesman Of his
people has been seriously lessened,
though perhaps not yet extinguished.
Even now a promise to accept a Minis
try composed Of men possessing the
confidence Of the Constitutional Demo-
Gratis might brace the tagging fidelity
of many regiments in and near the cap
ital, and postpone, if not avert, the sub
version Of the House of Romanoff.
All the signs are, however, that MICH
oLAs II. is even more disqualified for
coping with a tremendous political crisis
than was the vacillating LOUIS XVI. 1t
is probable that the Gear, like his Bour-
bon counterpart, would rather run away
than fight, and the others arrest at
varennes should warn him not to defer
his flight too long. We may hear any
day that NICHOLAS II. has left his coun-
try for his country's good. Then We
shall all comprehend the significance Of
the despatch sent from st. Petersburg
on June 20 to the effect that the imperial
family are planning a summer cruise
in the Finnish archipelago. AS might
have been expected, nc official announce
ment of the time Of the Emperor's de-
parture is obtainable.