Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-01-04
RASPUTIN --- Devil or Sal t.?
= By the Princess Radziwill =
(Convrght 1917 Public Ledger Company

perpetual forebodings concerning mis-
fortunes which seemed to be far away
from the limits of possibility.
Then suddenly things changed. Mack
ensen began his march forward, and
the grand duke, with his heart full OF
rage and despair, was compelled, owing
to the mistakes, the negligence and the
crimes of others, to make the best out
of a very bad job, and to try at least
to save the army confided to his care.
Even if he had to sacrifice towns and
fortresses, he had declared he would
never, and under no conditions what
ever, surrender to the enemy. The great
retreat began, and proved to be one OF
the most glorious pages in the history OF
Russian warfare a deed the gallantry OF
which will live in the military annals or
the world as almost as grand enc as
the famous retreat of Xenophon and his
10000 warriors. Russia appreciated it's
Importance; the world admired it; the
tzar, though he may have shed bitter
tears over it's necessity, felt grateful Tor
the talent which was displayed in such
terrible emergency People in Petrograc
began looking for those upon whom they
could fix the responsibility for this aw-
full disappointment which had overtaken
them. This was the moment for which
Rasputin had been waiting with the pa
JlenCe OF the serpent Watching AOi It's
prey, and of which he FASTENED to make
use with the Internal cunning he usually
displayed in all the evil deeds with
which he was familiar.
ATTACKING GRAND DUKE MICH
OLAS.
The secret police agents, who were
working with him, and thanks to whom
he had been enabled to make the enor-
nous profits that had added so many
millions to his fortune since the war
had started, began to spread the rumor
that the grand duke was plotting
against the tar and wanted to usurp
the latter's throne and crown, out of
fear of being called upon to render an
account of his activity during the nine
months of the campaign. Though 1t
was quite evident that the responsible
ity for the lamentable want of organ
ization which had eliminated in the
momentary defeat of the Russian
troops lay upon the war office and the
artillery and commissariat departments.
and though the war minister, General
Soukhomlinoff had been dismissed in
disgrace before being sent to the fort
ress of St Peter and st. Paul to await
there his trial. though strenuous Ell
forts had been made to punish those
to whose carelessness this mass of mis-
fortunes had been due, yet Rasputin
and his friends applied themselves TO
the task of representing the grand duke
as being more guilty than any one else,
and of having on purpose kept secret
the real state of things, out of fear that
he would be called upon, If he revealed
the truth. to surrender his command.
There was not one word OF truth IN
these accusations, because. Nicolas Nico-
laiewitsch had. on the contrary, worked
harder than any one to repair the
blunders of others, and had never shar-
ed the blind confidence in victory which
so many people who knew nothing ABOUT
the real condition of affairs professed
IN nurse. He had done all that it was
humanity possible to do, in order to save
a situation which had been doomed from
the first day that it had begun to de-
weldon II he had failed, this had been
in no way his fault. but that OF cir
cumstances and of fate which had prov
ed too strong Cor him.
The public, however, thought dlHeF-
emily, and Rasputin's numerous sup
norters helped it to come to the conclu-
sion that the grand duke ought to DE
deprived of his command by some
mea1s or other This, however. was not
such an easy thing to do, because the
emperor had sincere esteem and re-
spect for his uncle, and understood bet
ter than all those who criticized the lat
ter the extent OF the difficulties against
which he had had to fight. He refused
to listen to those who had tried TO
shake his confidence in the commander
in-chief He might have gone on Tor
a long time doing so had not Rasputin
succeeded in winning over to his point
of view several high ecclesiastical dig
nitaries, who took it upon themselves
to speak to the sovereign of the desire
and wishes of the nation to see MIN
assume himself the supreme command
over his armies. They assured him that
it was quite certain that the armies
would fight ever SO much better under
the personal leadership of their car
than under any other commander-in-
chief no matter how high might be his
military reputation, or how elevated
might be his rank. This was quite
new point of view. and Nicholas II had
to examine it with attention, the more
so as the empress. too, had been won
over to the idea, and was pressing MIN
to give to his subjects this satisfaction
for which they craved.
The military situation was then rec