The San Francisco call., 1906-05-01
SLAv GIRL
EXPLAINS
Her DEED
Tells Of Killing a
Cruel Russian
Official.
Mile. SpiridonoVa
Makes Complete
Statement.
Asserts the Acts
Of Man MeriJed
Death.

ST. PETERSBURG. April S0.-The
following is the Justification made by
Mile. Spiridonova, the girl who muir
dered Luzhenoffski, chief of the gen.
darmerie at Tamboff, to the court
martial that sentenced her to be
hanged The story which is in every
respect remarkable, follows:
Yes, l murdered Luzhenoffski and I
desire to explain my deed. / am a
member of the Social Revolutionary
party. The discomfort of the people
with the existing regime turned into
revolution a-metis resistance to the
authorities, attacks on officials and
open collisions with the, troops in the
streets. Instead of meeting the needs OF
the people the Government used guns,
bayonets and bullets, but it did not
succeed. Then 1t invented the mani
festo of liberty. But at the same time
it also invented alleged popular demon
Istrations by the organization Of the
Black Hundred outrages The mani
festo was only piece Of strategy and
nothing else. AS soon as the
bureaucracy realized that the. mani
festo could be overthrown 1t planned
tits campaign and returned to the ira
ditional method of suppresting the
people which was SO dear to its heart,
namely repression.
1.-THE horrors Of the, reaction were
worse than anything which had pre-
ceded. Over 200 men were murdered
under the guise of executions, the in
|telligenza' were crammed into prisons,
every association which opposed the
Government was closed, the press was
gagged, the armed uprisings were sup
pressed with machine guns and the po-
lice spies everywhere informed upon
guilty and innocent alike in their ef-
ment. The Bureaucracy deliberately
created conditions which made it i'm
possible for the peoples indignation to
reach the supreme power and the Of
fetal reports were filed with tranquil
llity, happiness and peace
I'm the suppression Of the disorders
! the work of the bureaucracy was espe-
cially splendid. It should be written In
history in golden letters. ] won't speak
Iabout the 'pacification' Of the peasants
in many Of the provinces.
II won't even speak Of the whole Of
the province of Tamboff, but will con-
fine myself to the bloody work of Luz
henoffski. Villages which he visited
he left looking like Bulgarian villages
after Turkish raids. In the village of
Pavlodar ten men We're killed by his
orders; Shcherbakof. three OF the fon,-
lily of Zeitzeff; Ostrovitinon, Dubro-
vim and others.
Young David Zeitzeff through the
elf-sacriffces of his family. had re-
ccived good education. He was an
honest. clean, enthusiastic young man.
He used to say. All of my learning
and knowledge l Will bring back to my
village for distribution among my
brothers He and his friend.
Ostrovitinoff. when I.uzhonofski
arrived. went to him rs the
delegates of the peasants and
Luzhenoffsk replied to their re-
quests with a volley from his Cossacks.
For four days Zeitzeff and Ostrovitin-
off were tortured-tortared until they
died.
"Luzheno fski's neethod of procedure
when he arrived in a village was to
order the peasants to be asserpbled and
undressed and then he would go To his
Fdinner and leave the poor devils shiv-
ering on their knees in the snow Pre-
viously while at me head OF the town
Ioe Borisgolebsk he had made splaa-
did exhibition OF his power He made
searches. destroyed houses. threatened
every one with death and boasted ri
an after dinner snaech that he hea
killed. siv neasarts with his own ha-4l
- tie eyes OF t!ia con1..a..t.ae OF he