Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-26

WASHINGTON, D. G., Al
have prevented the GEAR from giving them
the lands. as they believe he intended to do.
/ There Is great deal OF piety, but COM
the peasants" continued Mr.. Milutine. You
| will notice that the drosky drivers and the
WORKING people generally never pass a
shrine without taking of their hats, kneel-
| ing and crossing themselves and you will
t-notfce their generation in the churches.
Across the street from the windows of our
| hotel is shop where religious pictures and
other church ornaments are sold. and from
morning till night we Can always see peas
ants kneeling in alteration before the show
| windows.
Advocates Of Equality.
Prof Milukoff. leader Of the constitu-
tional party. takes strong ground in favor
OF universal suffrage. He says that Russia
cannot afford to start upon her career Of
liberty by creating class distinctions among
the people by making educational or prop
erty tests for suffrage.
"One OF the principal objects of the pres
| ent revolution Is to abolish classes" con-
| STA are struggling for equality as well as
liberty, and what right have we to deny
| any of our fellow citizens a share In the
| government? We demand representative
| parliament but 1t would not be representa-
| tive unless every. citizen has the right to
express his choice among the candidates
| for mem bership."
| Prof. Milukoff Is also an ardent advocate
women of all classes in Russia are quite as
| competent to exercise the franchise as men.
| They have shared the struggles with US.
| he concluded, land they are entitled to
| share the results"
| All Of the twenty-seven college professors
| who were In the first duma take the same
position. They all believe that every adult
| men and womenin Russia should be
| placed upon equality far as civil,
| political and religious rights are concerned
| They have noble ideals which they are try
| Ing to realize.
Mr.. Stolypin. the new prime minister, who
| will have charge OF the next election, has
not yet declared himself. but before he was
elevated to his present position he fire.
quently expressed the opinion that universal
suffrage could not be denied because the
peasants in the country and the laboring
| classes In the city would try to enforce
their demands by riots, strikes and other
| demonstrations. 1t Is not theory, but a
condition that confronts him.
Ask About the States.
| Like every other American that comes
| here, I was asked many questions as to the
| operation Of universal suffrage in the
| population. particularly the negroes of the
south. have shown themselves capable Of
| self-government have noticed that in
almost every case my answer was unsatis-
| factory. The theoretical advocates Of uni
versal suffrage here will not concede that
experience Of other countries. Neverthe-
less, three-fourths OF the people Of Euro
pean Russia are less capable of self-gov-
eminent than the population Of the United
70 n0 Nnf 10 h,,y,1 ~AI an
Of them could tell what self-government is
If you could ask them; nor do they know
what constitution is. The peasant men,
bers Of the duma. who are undoubtedly
the most intelligent and experienced Of
| their class. had only the vaguest ideas on
the subject and can be deluded by any
plausible adventurer that Is able to secure
their attention. By close questioning 1 dis
covered that they want to be left to them
selves. They want to manage their own
affairs. and while they are eager for educa-
ton. because they think it will enable them
to earn more money, they do not want the
authorities to have anything to do with
their schools. Samuel N. Harper Of the
Chicago University. who has made this
special subject of inquiry during the last
six months, says:
1.-THE peasants ordinary idea Of govern
ment is that it has been imposed upon them
for our sins. e., that there must be a
government Ia czar) and that they only
need access to him to obtain all that they
want The peasant distinguishes between
the car and his ministers, and is dead
against the ministry at present. The car
will never approve what the ministers have
just read, one peasant said after the dec
laration of the cabinet in reply to an adj
dress from the duma had been presented
to that body Another one appealed to
me to testify that not once has an unkind
word been said against the czar in the
duma- All of them still believe that the
Little Father, as they call him, is looking
after their interests to the best of his
l..
stiles long ago had It. not been for the
ministry. who are opposing him. The peas
ant Is intensely interested in his own meas
ures, but is broad-minded enough to let the
duma draw up the needs Of the empire as
a whole. If his demands are put into the
program, he will accept 1t, no matter what
else 1t contains"
Peasants See Red.
The events Of the last year have shown
that honest, smple-minded peasants may
be organized into mobs and induced to COM
NIT the most inexcusable atrocities against
| life and property. They are not only SUBJ
ject to evil influence, but they become I'M
comfortable when they are aroused and de-
stroy for the sake of destruction. They do
not stop to consider what ails them, but II
any one promises them relief through vio-
lence they are ready to plumber, destroy
and murder whoever and whatever they
can reach without knowing why they do so.
They have attacked their landlords and
employers in q thousand cases, at the in
stigation of entire strangers, and have
committed the most barbarous cruelties
upon horses, cattle, sheep and other beasts
without the slightest conjunction. merely
because they were told by socialist agita-
tors that they were the victims Of great
wrongs.
A socialist orator goes into village,
usually showing an impresive-looking COM
mission signed by Nicholas II. instructing
him to look into the condition Of the people
and do everything in his power to relieve
their distress This forgery is written upon
parchment, illuminated with seals and the
Russian coat-of-arms and duly countersign-
ed by names with which the peasants are
familiar. After two or three days of con-
ference, in which they are given an oppor-
tunity to describe their wrongs. and to
have become very much excited over them,
the bogus agent of the car advises them
to take matters into their own hands, be-
cause the Little Father" Is powerless to
help them. He tells them that the mansion
OF their landlord and its contents, the fine
raiment and the jewels of his wife and
daughters. the books and pictures upon the
walls, the blooded animals In the stable and