Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-01
RUsSIA'S MESSAGE. The True World
Import of the Revolution By Will
liam English Walling. Illustrated.
New York: Doubleday, Page & Co.


Import of the Revolution. By Will
liam English Walling. Illustrated.
New York: Doubleday, Page & Co.
- UOTING the pronouncement OF
Anatole France: ION the banks
of the Neva, the Volga and the
Vistula the fate of new Europe
and the future of humanity are
being decided" the author of Russia
Message analyses the present situation
in Russia. He states that. by reason Of
:, her peculiar position among the nations
of the world, it is in Russia that the flu
ture of humanity is being decided With
a system of government and industrial
religious and social conditions that have
L been arbitrarily imposed upon her from
without, she is without the framework OF
material and political conditions by which
other nations are bound. I'VE have the
judgment of one of Russia's greatest his
torians and sociologists.' says Mr.. Wall
ing, Ito the effect that Russia is indeed
without any national religious or politl-
! cal traditions in the trueSt sense of the.
word" 1t is for this reason that when
the revolutionary forces. at present seeth-
ing In apparent impotence. do finally break
their bounds she is likely to lead all the
nations of the earth in her solution OF
present day social and political problems.
= The author of this very important work
has prepared himself for an authoritative
treatment of his subject by two years
residence in Russia, during which time he
became acquainted with majority of the
most important leaders of all parties and
elements Of the Russian nation. The
reader cannot fail to be impressed with
the honesty and conScientiOuSneSS with
which he has pursued his Investigations
Therefore, whether Mr.. Walling's conclu-
Sions be accepted or not, they must be
seriously weighed by any one who wishes
to be informed to conditions in one of
the most unhappy quarters of the globe.
Beginning with the recital OF the long
f course of oppression which has created
the unbearable suffering In practically
every part of the Russian empire today.
the author discusses the various attempts
at revolt as we'll as the answering shows
of reform in cZarism and duma. He shows
r the steps by which the great revolution
: airy party was created. party which at
this time comprises practically all of the
active elements in the national life eXclu-
sive of the privileged classes fighting. with
the car, for existence He then ana
lyzes the principles for which the revolu-
ttonary party stands, principles which he
believes will ultimately prevail. The
+. reader cannot fail to be impressed by the
light in which Nicholas II is made to APP
pear Mr.. Walling does not exonerate
him from full responsibility in the recent
massacres and prosecutions of the Jews
and other defenseless elements in his
: country To the contrary, apparently ir-
.-TeIutdDle PROOF is OHereQ tndI me car IS
: in full sympathy with such 'reactionary'
policy. The mere comparison of punish
ments melted out by the car to suspected
revolutionists and to convicted leaders in
bloody "pogroms" is convincing in its dis
proportion. That the peasants themselves
are of this opinion is generally true.
There was time" they say, when we
, considered the car the god of the earth
: and the greatest of all benefactors. Now
the newspapers have opened the eyes of
us common people We see that he is only
oil all vampires. The blood that he has
drunk will some day flow from him
again."
Russians in general" says Mr.. Wall
ing, "even conservatives are agreed that
the great movement that is gaining pos
session of the nation means not merely
a chance of the constitution, but-to quote
from a private conversation with Michael
Stachovitch, one of the most moderate
tions. of all life. of everything" The
) belief that is common to such socialists
as Tolstoi. Karl Marx. Maeterlinck that
destruction of the existing state Of society
is the only possible course Is accepted in
t Russia. There 1t is received. not as In
other countries. as new, startling and SEN
sationa1 but rather as a perfectly accu-
rate and'true expression of what the Rus
slams already feel. And this Is Russia's
message. And 1t is the intelligent dis
: cussion of the application of these social
? istic theories. together with the incredi-
BILE abuses that have led up to their gen.
/, feral acceptance that constitutes the great
: interest of Mr.. Wallings book.
POEMS FOR TRAVELLERS. Compiled
by Mary r. ]. Dubois. New York: