The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-07-06
GENEVA HOME GF
POLITICAL OUF6ASI

FROM the Philadelphia Public I#H
Switzerland tolerates more peiaeal sfa.
gees of all natona1ities than a#Hsr
country IN the world, and tbs faaI 3
directly due to her constitution saIaa
provides that strangers shall - rented
on the same footing as the srIss fhsis-
selves, on the simple conditioH ME- #ks
obey the federal and local Iars
The authorities reserve the 4lsnt fa So
pei from the country any straAssf aIHat
"a hours, but the term undesiasEie IS ao-
piled in the United States IS uDkn4a4
IN the Alpine republic and a foreigner
must have committed criminal act not
of political nature to be extradited
These stringent fundamental regulations
have OIL several occasions been the cause
of adverse criticism, but they have not
been changed in any particular for the
last decade.
OF all the Swiss towns preferred by the
political refugees Geneva has been and
is the most favored, probably because the
city has Il large foreign and floating
population and is on the frontier of sew
eIal countries and also because the au-
thorities are liberal in their ideas. There
fore Geneva has an underground world
like New York and ether capitals, with
this great difference, that the various
groups and associations are not criminal.
but political.
They represent such countries as Rus
| sia Finland, Poland, Turkey the Balkan
| states, Albania, india, Egypt, Servia,
Alsace-Lorraine, Georgia (Caueasus) and
| even Palestine, the last being due To the
Pacific Zionist movement. Every group
/ publishes its own paper, which is rarely
seen in Geneva. but Is send abroad to
the different countries. being smuggled
| across the frontier at much risk and
great expense.
1t is Russia far more than any other
| country that complains against the Swiss
liberal la Ms and against Geneva especial
| ly, for 1t was here that the principal
plots were hatched--without the knowl-
edge of the Car and his ministers, and 1t
was in this city that the chief Russian
revolutionists met-Paris and Berlin being
too dangerous-to consult and take meas
ures before the Duma was elected.
Fr. Gapon, Azeff. Sazonoff, to mention
only three persons whose doings occupied
the press of the world for long time,
| worked from Geneva during the most
critical times of their lives. The order
for the murders of the Russian ministers
and Durnovo went forth from Geneva.
| Plehve was condemned to death at
large meeting of Russian reyoutionists
held secretly on the Swiss-French from
tier near Geneva, the INSTRUMENT was
chosen BY lot and the plan was carried
out with success a week later. Durnovo,
| the ministers OF the interior, IN 1907, was
travelling In Switzerland and was pursued
from town to town and hotel to hotel by
Mile. Tatiana Leontieff, aged 20, pretty
Russian terrorist of good family.
She overlook Durnovo at leading In-
terlaIsen hotel, but mistook a Frcnchman,
| NJ Muller, who greatly resembled
1 Durnovo, for the Russian minister and
shot him dead at table d'hote in the midst
of fashionable throng.
The Russian girl was sentenced to 10
years penal servitude, and Durnovo, who
had a narrow escape returned hastily to
st. Petersburg. Mile Sarah Ravitch, aged
q, known as the Russian Rose, took part
in the bomb outrage at Tiflss in 1907. by
which % lives were lost and G30,O00 taken
from a bank by terrorists. She escaped
to Geneva. where she rented a large villa.
On the deraand of the Russian govern
ment, Sarah Ravitch was arrested sew
eral months later by the local police, who
seized such a large number Of revolu-
tionaTy documents that four cabs had to
be employed to transport them Eventu-
ally the young woman was extradited and
is row in a Siberian prison.