Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-23

sands of innocent men, and women even,
are now in prison and suffering meoleVai
cruelties for no other crime than the &C
ceptance in good faith of the cars prom
ises Of free speech in his October mani
festo. Nor does the government take the
slightest trouble to ascertain whether these
prisoners are guilty or not guilty. In dis
GUESSING this enormity with member of the
ministry the other day, l was told that the
car was not fully informed as to the facts
that he had so much else to occupy his at
tention that he had not been able to take
up this subject. 1 was assured that he was
a man of humane instincts, that his heart
Is so soft that he Is frequently anected 10
tears at the sight Of suffering. and that II
he knew the whole truth he would undouDt-
eddy have been more liberal in his response
to the demands from the members of the
duma for amnesty to political prisoners
No Truth in Sight.
But when 1 asked why some one did not
tell his majesty the truth, the minister re-
piled that 1 could scarcely expect one
member of the cabinet to act as informer
against his colleagues. And Immediately, in
the same breath, he explained that the i'm
prisonment of $4,000 or more people for po-
litical offenses during the last year or
eighteen months was due to the terrible
Durnovo. former minister Of the interior.
who Is no longer in Office and no longer In
favor at Peterhof. Durnovo. he said, was
guilty of revolving cruelties and acts of
barbarism that would have disgraced the
middle ages in order to create terrorism
among the people and justified them to the
car as necessary measures for the paclfl-
cation Of the country.
Durnovo Is responsible more than any
other man for the Jewish massacres that
occurred during his administration. He Is
now In disgrace and one of his former co.,
leagues told me twice. for 1 requested him
to repeat his astonishing statement, that no
body dared tell the car of the enormity or
his prosecutions. During Durnovo's admin
iStratiOn. even under the benevolent freo
speech. free press p-oclamations Of the
car. whenever a man took what the police
considered too active a part IN politics,
they locked him up. and he is still in Jail.
and nobody will take the responsibility OF
telling the car of the injustice and the
horrors that have been suffered by his sub
jects in his name.
1t was Durnovo who betrayed De White.
l have already told you in a previous let
ter of the anonymous circulars accusing De
White of all sorts of offenses that were
printed in room in Durnovo's Office, and
with his knowledge. If they were not actu-
ally written by him. Both we're members
of the cars cabinet. one as prime minister
and the other as minister Of the interior,
and yet / am assured that the ear is eth
ignorant OF that fact. Durnoyo was dismiss
ed from Office by Alexander III for dis
graceful conduct. and when Count de Witts
submitted his name a member of The
cabinet the car exclaimed:
That man Durnovo? Impossible! My ia
Their cashiered him for Cffenses that were
well proven. and he IS Ehwor.dy OF conf
dcpce."
De White still had faith in the man who
af.erward betrayed him, and explained that
he needed Durnovo's great ability The
car replied:
Very well; let-it be as you say; Blu. re-
member that you are responsible FOR him. y
And within six months Durnoyo had
driven his friend and patron into disgrace
and had broken up the cabinet. He was
intrusted with the police ma ;hinery
throughout the empire during the introduce
ton OF the so-called political reforms. And
yet members of the cabinet explain that o
one has ever taken the trouble 10 tell the
car the truth about him.
This Is one of the reasons why Ii Is i'm
That is one of the reasons why 1t Is I'M
or confidence in the Russian government.
Bureaucracy Is Rotten.
I came here determined to be impartial.
and to state all the facts that could find
in favor of the car and his government
Baron Rosen. the Russian ambassador at
Washington. one of the best and fairest Of
men, urged me to keep away from the rev.
dictionary element and to seek the infor-
nation l wanted among the responsible
members of the community. He was kind
enough to give me letters Of Introduction
to some OF his friends. who have high
rank In business and social circles, but