Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-15

Now you see why the revolution sue
ceeded. why it was unanimous"
Equally unanimous is the conviction
in Russia that the great upheaval
found its inspired sponsor and steward
in this spare. lean limhed. hectir man
who is today the idol of his people.
What sort of individual is this who
has made himself benevolent dictator
of Russia? Probe into his brief but
busy life and you find the ideal formu-
la of democratic leadership. kerensky
incarnates every principle of democ-
racy. He Is democracy.
So rapid was his rise to fame that the
human interest historians had great
difficulty in placing him. He was born
at Simbirsk. where his father was prin-
ciral of the local high school He re-
ceived hrs first instruction at Tashkent,
where he completed the high school
course. after which he was graduated
in law Mt the University of Petrograd
He could not afford to embark at once
upon the uncertain sea of a new legal
practice. so he became assistant to a
commissioner of oaths and subsequent
ly became one of these officials himself.
While at SCHOOL Kerensky was known
FOR his ready speech and fervid ora
tory, which let loose at the slightest
provocation When he finally took up
his law practice in Pctrograd he i'm
mediately allied himself with the labor
party and, at once made his presence
felt. In his practice he specialized in
political cases and on more than one oc-
casion defended his clients with such
impassioned force and with such unre-
strained condemnation of reactionary
methods that he narrowly escaped pros
ecution himself. Despite his reputation
for more or less irresponsible declama-
ton. he showed real strength of char
acter. and. when this quality was put to
the test at the supreme crisis of his
life. 1T stood revealed like pure gold
His attitude in the fourth duma, to
which he was elected from the govern
ment of Saratoff, heightened the i'm
preston that perhaps this young
fDread-eaglc orator, who had a speech
for every occasion, was something of a
man after all.
Such was the brief and unadorned
approach to that great hour when ke-
rensky was to stand disclosed as the
real republic maker. His contact and
association with the revolutionary
Workmen groups enabled him to keep
IN close touch with everything that was
Transporting during these momentous
weeks in February and early March
when hunger. irritation and the long
smoldering protest against iron des-
potism were slowly but surely bring
ing revolt to a head Although he was
Il member of the duma. his real inter-
est and association. born of every bond
or birth and conviction, was with the
extremists.
When the revolution broke. he found
ton. The conservatism of the duma
claimed his loyalty, while. on the other
hand. the fierce and unrestrained radi-
calism of the socialists and their allies
In the council of workmen's and SOL
diers' delegates appealed to his fervor
and his imagination. Never was a ma n
so beset. He might have allied him
self with the reds, become their fam
ing leader and gone straight to the
presidency of the rampant republic they
were proclaining.
But Kerensky cast his lot with rca-
son, and. with the great decision-it
was merely part of his destiny-he be-
came Eussia's handy man. With his
colleague. CheidZe. he formed the link
between the radicals and the duma dur
ing the days when dissension and dis
cord threatened the very life of the
rev freedom. He dominated every sit
uation: faced all the crises that crowd
ed so thick and fast.
1t was Kerensky almost more than
any other man who put the respect of
justice into the heart of the revolution
and made the restraint. which was one
of the miracles of that miraculous hour.
possible. He dictated the policy that
abolished capital punishment. He made
himself responsible for the safety Of
the royal family and urged clemency
for the reactionaries. Thus 1t followed
that the arrests of men like Sturmer and
Protopopoff and others. who had de-
bauched the nation and made the reign
of reaction one long agony for the Rus
sian people, were blood1ess.
The arrest of the arbitrator Suk-
homlinof, who. as minister of war, sold
the war secrets to the Germans that