The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-08
RUssIAN n roLITICs.
II Has No sympathy for ihe Graz and Ne
Faith In peaceful Renovation"

~ ~ ~
Faith In peaceful Renovation"
ST. PETERSBURG. Aug. Ain these days
OF forbidden meetings and suppressed news
papers the watcher Of events here has the
time to consider that puzzle headed entity
the Russian army. Why do the great mass
Of the soldiers speak with contempt OF the
Gear and hIa tchlnovnlka. and why do they
shoot 80 readily at mutlneers and reyo-
lutionarlasf Surely not because the army
champions the third. the middle way, that
marked out by the sober mugwunp element
In the prosperous classes. the party Of peace
ful renovation lately the Octobrists.
No. the army does not fake Its politics so
solemnly as that. Yet the doubts about lts
loyalty which sometimes trouble the Cars
friends, equally with Its slowness TO respond
10 revolutionary agitation. are all In favor
OF the peaceful renovators. Anybody who
speaks well Of the Government h suspected
OF belonging to the secret police. yet a lot
OF people who thlnk III enough Of the Govern
msnt thank Providence that they are not
compelled TO shout for the -intelllEentzia. :
And the army Is dead against" the -lntelli-
Eent1ia." It's repulslon dates from the be-
~ginnGnEs OF that strangely named class. When
two generations ago the natural, Inevitable
result Of social life In Russia was to make
society more complex. an oficlal description
had to be found for the new elements. a de-
scrtption which was written on the bearers
passport, and which decided the extent OF his
civic rights and liberties and OF the fees he
had TO pay. TIL then II had been enough
that there were muJiks. hand workers. little
traders. large traders members OF mer-
chants guilds. land owners. Government
~offcials and member Of the armed forces.
The exigencIes OF growth In society called
for teachers, lawyers, newspaper men. peo-
pie who neither tolled with their hands nor
dealt In goods nor served the Garland
these new people were offcially styled the
-~lntelltsentsta.s They and their descend
anSs remained. comparatively speaking. q
class apart. Their mental habits inclined
wholly to European political radicalism, 50
much 20 that their enemies have made po-
lItIcal capital out Of calling them antl-Rus-
SLAMS. Their isolation from the great mass
Of Slavonic sentiment was and II shared by
the Jews, and for somewhat similar reasons.
Neither class comes under the benson Of the
old patrArchal democracy which was tho
abstract ideal OF the Gear governing abso-
lutely through functionaries who were to be
trained to do the best for his children,
Neither the -intelliGentzia" nor the Jews
would have anything TO do with this abstract
Ideal, which was an ecclesiastico-military
ideal Of humility and discipline. and in their
present proceedings 1t 10 not from too much
hum ility and discipline that the -lntelli-
RentEia' professors and Jewish lawyers OF
the Constitutional Democratic party are suf-
fering. Their reason told them that they
must above all have the active sympathy
and support Of the peasant and the soldier:
and they reasoned that by declaring for the
compulsory transfer OF private landed es-
t he so q sns Demand FOR Sna more OF oomfoTtabIe
life, they would have these two at their side,
and the, Government's army OF unarmed
the peaceful revolution OF the country into a
tystem Of free government; Their reason
Ing vas nearly ss|dY.I half ;iE tSs, but od the DTsssnSs
more BY his instincts than by his reasons.
Liberal friends read to him that the pums
had decreed the partition OF estates and that
he nae ds.E Rsi psS.I SRan' But sii the U White toR 81. oRa
marEed the peasant rlsInSs and military
eulks. suggested strongly that the peasants
ted tns them III ssa; . Their Libs 1rn tT,snd tSs could Son nGs
not walt for them even a little while. They
show signs now OF resentlng as q fraud the
admixtSrs, that Is blamed. so much is this
s &c SG ~ The SS% fnE RfiHSss eElaeI Is an shs actual sas G oSstscie
The materials for rebellion in the army
ment Is. quite apart from Russis's ~intsrnal
politics that an sutocTat has no right to loss
war; that q oeieateo autocrat ~ a contra
diction In terms; that the natural thing to do
Is 70 get, rid OF the top man who is identified
with failure. But TO whose goodp Not to
help the career OF the -intelligentlia" poll
tlcian, who the Russian officer teels.instinc-
lively IL not in politics for his health. IT. La
this absence Of a sincerely held joint pur-
pose, this hostile suspicion Of the cooperating
element. that renders pitiful the discrepancy
between the great appeal and the puny re-
suIt a. demonstrated in the "tntelligent1ia"
nvocatlons to revolt In the army. While
this feeling exists Il IL more natural to expect
that the army will prefer to do something
| Itself, without the aid OF the "intelligentzia, y
and for ends which are not the ends Of that
inherently anti-milltary element in Russian
| national life.