New-York tribune., 1912-08-31

| cret police affairs. This knowledge would
! be useful in concrete cases involving gus
pected agents provocateurs as well as In
J a more general;way. For the sake OF OBJ
! tanning this information, Bourtzen over
came his repugnance toward meeting n
man whom he considered a monster, AMI
| guaranteed him immunity from the hand
of the revolutionists. Bourtzeff arranged
| the meeting on his own responsibility,
for when. eighteen months ago, Azcn
wrote his wife and the central committee
OF the social revolutionists that, having
been painted too black" he wanted
another hearing before the party tribn-
nal. no answer was made TO him by the
party authorities.
Vladimir Bourtzeff has lately written
the following detailed account Of his
personal relations with Azef and the
long fight he had TO expose this master
, spy OF the Russian revolution:
/ ut was at Zurich in 1898. at the Inter
: national Socialist Congress that | saw a
man OF q striking yet slightly banal ap-
pearance heard contradictory opin-
ions passed on him, such as that he was
an energetic young man, VINO was bound
10 succeed, and that he was most un-
sympathetic parsonage. To my own view
| he was repulsive. uuscrupulous In the
pursuit OF money. a had comrade, ignoble
! IN his relations with women. These sur
/ mises harmonized perfectly with his un-
sympathetic and gross exterior. his bru-
FuQslin
| This was Azof.
! To-day the name is everywhere known.
but then there were few acquainted with
It, except in a little group of s,cial reVo-
iutionists. Even at that time Azeff. as
an able conspirator among the terrorists.
had surrounded his person with veil of
, mystery. Even those who knew him
rarely knew him under his own name.
This Azeff was ignored BY some and re-
garded by others ~ a sublime hero.
Told All to stolypin.
who would have thought IN 1915 that
II was he who for the last two years
had delivered to VI. Stolypn. Minister OF
the Interior. all the secrets Of the move
ment and OF the organization of the party
In Finland? All at once the central COM
mittee OF the Socialist Revolutionary
party had to answer this question: What
is precisely the role OF Azeff? And day by
day this role became clear, the shadows
about great treacheries were dissipated
and 1t was recognized that Azen was not
only supreme agenl prOvocatcur, bat Il
rema arkabe statesman
When first saw him In 1896 instnc-
lively suspected him OF being a spy. But
] had no right then to accuse man
whom I did not even know. I did not see
him again during twelve years. knew,
nevertheless. that he had come several
times from Germany to Switzerland.
In 1897 began the publication. In Lon
don. Of my review, 'NarodovletZ.' Al
this time the great majority OF my COM
rades rejected my manner OF considering
the tactical questions OF the revolution
ary fight. They did not approve tho IDEAS
set forth in my review. ideas which were
later adopted by the party Of the Revo-
lutionary Socialists.
AT this time | received letter from
Germany assuring me Of warm sympathy
and lively appreciation. This letter was
sicned by Azeff. ] had then no accnsa-
ton 10 make against him. But he was
already so far from my sympathies that
, 7 d,s mot replv. Certainly Azeh did not
intend to help sustain the publication
which cost me an imprisonment or eigh'
teen months with hard labor for a jour-
| naIistic offence. on the contrary ne
soueht 10 gain my confidence for MS own
ienoble ends When ! came out OF prison.
having purged my offence. learned tha'
Azeff was playing n considerable part
among the Social Revolutionists.
| ct was astonished 10 learn the power
! u,bich no exercised In the movement but
NV surprise knew no bounds "hen' u
,oo4 T learned that the organizer OF the
.xecu,,on OF Minister Piehve was none
other than this Azeff. against whom nau
nourished persistent suspicious i"'o
| Azeff had met often at Paris at Geneva
7 had found myself near him IN 'arioue
n,aces more than once. but had aiways
avoided making his acquaintance.
His Halo Undeserved.
"His new revolutionary halo and n's
position In the party did not cnanse NY
sentiments. Ny incredulity and appfe-
benslon we're the same when ! went 10
/ ST Petersburg, where established re-
view, 'Byloe. after the amnesty IN MY
| capacity as a historian of the Czarist re-
action and the movement to free RUSSIA
/ had studied prison life, the worh oi
| the police and the deeds Of the proEoca-
| teur.
my researches had led me to under-
stand the terrible ravages made by provo
cation in the revolutionary movement IN