The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-08-02

draw to O close all the tremendous struggle
and the waste Of hundreds OF Thousands Of
lives would go for nothing. II. on the othel
hand. the revolution shall continue. even
though a generation be needed to overthrow
the autocratic regime and establish the
sovereignty Of the people. all the sacrihce
will be justified. Russia 10 willing to pay
high price for liberty. because Of the In
fanny of czarism. because OF the qualities
Of her peasant population. and because oil
the splendidly progressive character OF the
people OF her towns. Above all, she 10
making unheard OF sacrifices because OF
the great future that she believes lied
before her. A people that shall have over
come an enemy like czarism, backed by
the worlds money power. will not be apt
to shrink before the greatest social regenere-
ton the world has witnessed.
What has the author Of this book to tell
US about Nicholas IN. concerning whom
very different opinions have been and are
now CURRENT We are informed hat this
master o; q hundred and forty million
human beings was q most ordinary child,
That this ordinary person should have de-
veloped into q willing and perfect tool OF
reaction and an enemy OF progress Ii here
cited as q proof hat the day for expecting
liberty from Cars or benevolent despots
has passed. The upholders Of autocraoy
have read history Alright and are now OK
posing their despots to no risks. To pre-
vent his becoming better han those around
him Nicholas. like his unoles and cousins,
was scientifically corrupted in his youth.
He was at the same time subjected TO the
misanthropic and sinister influence OF the
fanatical ~Pobiedonostssff or the half
crazy mysticism OF Father John OF Cron-
stadt. II has been urged on his behalf that
Nicholas ii. 10 not be jud ged like ordinary
mortals. because he Is helpless against the
Grand Dukes, his family and the court.
1t was pointed out, however, TO Mr.. Wall
ing, he says. by the most respected and best
informed men in Russia, hat the Gar has
long since selected his own court II
chosen his W family favorites. A
autocrat," said our authors informant.
"can be formed by his environment for q
few years. but since the age Of thirteen
Nicholas has himself created his own envi-
ronment." He began by loving his old reac-
tionary advisers left him by his father.
but the revolutionists have taken those
men away. He next feared Won Plehve.
who, before the Gear had obtained a seoure
control OF the reins Of government. had
got a firm hold on the secret police. a
| position i~mpregnable in a ~despotism. In
| his turn, Won Plehve was removed by the
| revolutionists Within q few weeks Mich
| olas IL. became jealous of the popularity
| Of a successful Liberal Minister like Svia-
topolk- Mirsky. Witte the present Gar
always hated, but held to him for q long
while because, better than all others, White
1n,,ll n~N,,,ra cold In ynaf quantities from
France and Germany. The present favor
ties of Nicholas II. are all either discreet
r~eactionaries like Stolypin or shameless
r~eactionaries like Kaulbars. Even noble
leaders OF the Black League. expressly
organized for massacre. have constant
access to the court, Sometimes, indeed.
the present Gar tolerates a progressive
adviser for q short time, but he Ia never
really pleased with anything but reaction
toward his fathers absolutist regime,
According to one OF Mr.. Walling's authori-
ties, -the keynote to the Cars character
Is an inflated, hypertr ophied self-love,
az is natural and almost Inevitable with
an irresponsible and absolute monarch
This self-love Is the explanation Of every
it was nothing but the Cars sef-iove that
DTOuRhJ dDOut H Duiiio oiu tOW III
later took the Duma away.
III.
What Ia the exact relation OF Nicholas
III. TO the crimes and horrors that are perpe-
trated in his name? Is the Gar himself
primarily responsible. or are others more
to blame? To this question. which our
author put to Russia's most trust worthy
men, he received the almost unanimous
reply that the court is the centre Of the
'pogromists' and Black Hundreds The
Gar himself is the chief Of the '~hooligans.'"
Prince Urusoff, recently Governor OF Bes-
sarabia, places. as We know from his pub
lished book. a full share OF the responsibility
for the wholesale massacres OF 1905 directly
on the Gar. He testifes that "a word
from the authoritative mouth Of the EN-
peror or any action would have facilitated
to an extraordinary extent the mainte-
Y.nce OF order" Every effort failed to OBJ
tain from Nicholas any kin Of declaration
condemning the pogroms or even a mani
festation of unspoken sympathy with the
victims through some slight ~pecuniery gift
for their relief. From ieo3.' avers the
Prince. cit became plain to all the world
that the Car himself in thought and feel
ing il not also in action was an enemy to
the Jews"
To sum up our authors impressions on
this subject. Nicholas ii. is a criminal in
the eyes Of his people. In all sections.
among all classes. among rich and poor
townspeople and country people. educated
men, business men and priests. there Is one
dominating opinion about the Gar, namely.
that he bears to the full his share Of the re-
sponsibility for the monstrous system Of
crime and plumber called the Russian Gov
ernment. that he is neither better nor worse
than the average OF his predecessors, and
that nothing better Is to be expected from
his successor. since the Cars themselves
are products OF the czarism which Russian
Liberals desire to destroy. 1t is our authors
conviction that the Russian people have
no desire to wait until czarism produces q
ruler who is not a Gar.
Many interesting comments On Witte
and Stolypin will be found scattered
through the various chapters Of this VOL
ume. Thus we read in Chapter X. that
during the fifteen years Qsel- 1900 in which
Witte held one Ministerial Office or another
xrhot he oraataJ nm MT unara1xv ,1olitiool