Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-02-01

| dence OF his sovereign. Unfortunately
| for Russia. these people not only had
| accompliceS in their evil deeds. but
| also had the means to spread their
| opinions among the public and the abil-
/ fly to make these opinions penetrate
\ into all the different classes of the ma
Il ton. They discredited the imperial
/ family: they discredited the government
I Of the day: they discredited the mon
| arch. until il became at last a political
| and l shall even say national neces-
sity TO suppress them. together with
/ the adventurer whom they had put for
ward and thanks to whom they had
been able TO play unmolested for SO
many years the most nefarious or
I games.
Russia's Enemies sdll Live
. Unfortunately. the Staying of Rasputin
did not destroy the persons who mao
used him II did not put an end TO the
many abuses which had brought Russia
To the sad state of chaos in when II
found itself at the moment OF us great
trial The man himself was but an
ensign. and the loss of an ensign does
not mean that the regiment that Ndi-
ried il about has shared its fate.
This war has brought forward the
hest and. at the same time, the worst
forces or the Russian nation. II mas
- to sneak. separated the bad ana the
sood elements which IL contained IL
has done away with many unsaNoIS
traditions. and il has taught the people
to RELY upon their own strength ana
10 trv to break through the tradition
that their only salvation lay in uphold
ing an old and superanuated system oil
government IL has also brought hus-
sia into contact with the rest OF the
world. and especially has drawn IL near
er TO England and to France, the two
countries who have carried the nag Oh
civilization further than any others nave
done since the world existed. Russia
was in need of this and II Is dues
tiou. whether it would ever have been
able 10 develop itself according to the
necessities of the present age IT IL had
not been forcibly compelled TO get INTO
touch with tn ancient refinement OF
Europe of which, up to the war ohly
its upper classes had appropriated the
advantages.
When judging the vast empire OF the
tzars, one generally foTgets that up TO
the other day. when the most terrible
Of national crises brought it nearer TO
its western friends. il was but the en-
brvo of A modern state, and that It's Gull
ture was confined to A narrow circle.
The members of this circle were. after
all. not even able to lead the empire
into the regular path OF progress, be-
cause they had neither the experience
nor the energy 10 do So Nor were they
able TO break through the circle OF bu-
reaucracy which has been the bane OF
nv fatherland ever since the days or
Peter the Great and even befor his time
The war m a certain sense may prove
for Russia a mercy in disguise. II IT
brings along with il the blessing of a
constitutional government and does away
with the terror that this word has in
spired until now in certain people, who
only looked at il from the anti-revolu-
ticnary point of view.
1t is quite wrong to say that Russia
Is not yet ripe for a government of
this kind, and that, if it were granted
TO her. she would only misuse II. In
the great realm over which ruled Mich
olas III there are any amount of clever
men who know exactly the meaning and
understand the advantages as well as
the mistakes and errors into which a re-
sponsible goyernment-that is, responsi+
BILE before the nation-can fall, and they
would most certainly do their very best
TO avoid them and to give dignity to
any new institutions and privileges.
These men have been abroad; they have
studied the art of government as it
Is practiced in England and in France,
and they are quite prepared to face the
position and to apply themselves in grim
earnest to introducing that art into
Inelr own country.
Russia Now Linked TO Europe
have spoken of the want of contact
which existed before the war between
Russia and the rest of Europe, whose
institutions and whose liberal instincts
had remained a dead letter for the ma
jority of the Russian people. At pres
ent this state. of things has undergone
radical change. The Russian under
stands the Frenchman otherwise than
by the reading OF bad novels, and he
has learned to know the Englishman in
another way than as the eater OF roast
beef ard plum pudding. He has become
acquainted with England as well AZ
with France. and he has seen at last
what civilization as practiced by these
nations really means Today it is no
longer the upper classes who speak
with disgust of the thieving and plum
dering of the public exchequer by the
Z representatives of the hated class of
Tchinownikis which has ever been a
disgrace TO my country. II is the whole
nation, the soldier in the field and the
I laborer at home, which has at last real
/ ICED what il means to allow handful
of INSCRIPTIONS individuals 10 take the
upper hand over the sane and the hon
est elements of the country.
Rasputin was the last representative
/ of the old regime. His appearance on
i the horizon OF RUSSIAN Social Ire Was
I but the last flicker of a detestable past.
I During his time of favor and of sue
. cess the two forces that struggled for
supremacy in the land of his birth
I fought their last battle. in which he
was the stake. We must rejoice that
I il was not the force which he was sup
posed TO incarnate in his enigmatical
and mysterious person that remained
master of the field. Whether he would
/ have been killed under different circum-
stances is a question to which it would
be very difficult TO find a reply. Most
probably the spirit of mysticism which
| lies at the bottom of the Slav charac-
| ter would have prevented even his
worst enemies, let alone his simple ad
/ versaries, from trying to remove him
from the position into which he had
! been thrust. One would most likely
I have shrugged ones shoulder and wait
ed for that Intervention OF st. Nicholas,
| who. according to Russian traditions,
/ always arrives at the right moment.
TO put straight everything that has
I gone wHong.