The Washington herald., 1912-09-10

confession. which is causing such an up
heaval in Russia that members Of tn,
Douma predict 1t wilialave the most far
Preaching consequence
Azen confesses to having organised thu
assassination Of Grand Duke Sergius ant
Of the Secretary Of the Interior. vor
Pivhve; also to having sent hundreds o.
his comrades to the gailows for these ant
other murders, In which,. at the worst
they may have had a slight connection
as subordinate accessorieA or perhap,
not at all. Azeff has at last been un.
masked by a Russian revolutionist re.
siding at Paris, Vladimir Burtzeff By
name, who made his living there as Q
journalist after having been compelled
10 fee his native country through the
activity Of double dealing by Azeff
This affair will be the beginning In
Russia Of a great war Of indignation
against the terrorism Of the Russian
political tsecreD police. known and feared
as the "Okranja," which Is rotting al.
most every biz Of the social structure OF
the nation. The atrocious acts of the
| agents provocateurs." or secret inves-
tigation detectives OF the OkranJa. are
causing great injustice. and often lead to
the condemnation and ruin of innocent
men and women.
| This man Azef first was exposed by
the same Mr.. Burtzeff four years ago
when he fed from the wrath Of the revo-
lutionists. who dec-eed his death. The
Russian government at the time faced
an Interpolation in the Douma for en-
ploying such a tool in combating the
| revolutionists.
After his disappearance in 1905 Azeff
kept In hiding for three years. From
| time to time reports came of his being
| In Vienna. Hamburg, or some other Ger
man city. but the news always came too
| late to be Of service in an attempt to
locate him. He would mysteriously dis-
appear. At the end of 1910 Azeff wrote
to his wife, ordering her to discontinue
| further communication with him, which
she did In order not to betray his where
| abouts.
1t was at Zurich in 1880 at the Interna-
tional Socialist Congress that Burtzetf
| first met Azeff, a man of striking vet
banal appearance, repulsive. unscrupu-
| lous in the pursuit OF money. a bad COM
| rade. ignoble in his relations with
women.
To-day the name Is everywhere known,
but then there were few acquainted with
II. except in a little group of social
revolutionists- At that time Azeff as
an able conspirator among the terrorists,
had surrounded his person with a veil
of mystery. Even those who knew him
rarely knew him unier his own name
Azen was ignored by some and regarded
by others as a sublime hero. yet no one
as late as 1905 suspected him of having
delivered to NJ Stolypin, the Minister of
the Interior, for years all the secrets of
the movements OF the revolutionists until
shadowed by Burtzef.
There was time when the meeting of
crowned heads was looked upon as ush-
ering In new era Of peace and good
will. or at least Of a better ''modus
vivendi." between nations. But the sort
Of conversation indulged in on these oc-
casions is anything but political or for
the purpose OF settling momentous ques-
tions. Thus I am told that recently.
when the Gar and Kaiser met in the
Baltic on their annual summer cruise.
instead OF settling the fate Of England.
or Turkey, or Persia. or the Balkan pos
sessions. the Kaiser wanted to know why
Nicholas always drank cider. and the
latter retaliated by inquiring why Will
helm preferred baer. They then dis
cussed the beautiful eyes of the German
Crown Princess Cecilie. and how remark
able II was how the old man Of Venice"
was preserving himself and his activity
It is nonsense to Believe that kings do
nothing but talk politics when they meet
One OF the retinue of the Kaiser is au-
thority for the statement that when
Kaiser Wilhelm visited the Gar on the
latter's yacht, the STANDARD, the talk
was purely domestic in nature. Later
there was music. q luncheon. and a mov-
ing picture show. So there.
But under Nicholas I Russia and Ger
many were closely allied indeed. Here
is an instance: The only military service
rendered by one ally to the other was
rather an odd one. The Car fell a VIC
time to a complaint for which massage
was prescribed, and thereupon asked
Frederick Wilhelm " to lend him some
noncommissioned officers of the Prussian
Guards to massage him.
so long as / can look my Russians in
the face" Nicholas is reported to have
said. everything is well. But I will
not run the risk OF letting them work
away at my back"
The guardsmen We're duly lent, and
returned on the completion of the cure,
heavily laden with presents.
The Kaisers fourth son. Prince Au-
gust Wilhelm of Preussen, next to the
crown prince, Is the most popular. most
democratic Of all the Hohenzollerns. Any
one who addresses either of them may
be assured OF a friendly. whoie-hearted
attention in return, Both OF them are
fond Of mixing with the people without
as civilians.
One evening Prince August. accom-
panied ty the princess and a party Of
friends, went to the Jagerhof restaurant.
a popular but by no means aristocratic
on the shores OF Seddiner
Lake, near Potsdam. The party dined, |
afterward Joined a throng of young peo-
pie who were dancing in the adjoining |
pavilion, and enjoyed themselves to the |
utmost. Not only did Prince August |
dance with the princess and the ladies !
Of his party. but he selected partners |
from among the other guests, his ex-
ample being followed by his aid-de-camp |
and others Of his retinue.
Herr Rudolph Martin a former Ger
man state councillor. has followed up his |
book about the Berlin millionaires Tin |
marks) by the publication of a directory
Of the plutocrats Of the '.Hansestaedte," |
Hamburg. Bremen. and Lubbock Ac-
cording to the compilation, Herr Ballin. |
the shipping magnate. manager of the |
Hamburg-American Line and friend of
l.