Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-01-22

honesty in our country"
This was the opinion of a sincere
Russian patriot. There is no doubt that
il was shared by all the best elements
of the nation, who had recognized that
in the crisis through which their Fa-
therland was going only one idea ought
to dominate everything, and that was
the necessity of imposing upon Germany
n peace that would at last give to the
world the assurance that il would never
he called upon again to undergo another
such catastrophe as the one under which
il was struggling. Mr.. Shurmer, how
ever was of q quite different opinion.
This was well known everywhere, espe-
cially in parliamentary circles. Mr..
Miliukoff made himself the echo of the
popular voice when he delivered mis-
famous Indictment of the prime minis
ter. The latter retorted by issuing
against the leader of the opposition
writ for libel, and applied himself with
renewed energy to the task of getting
out of prison the man who had been
the prime mover in the dark and sin
lister intrigue of which Rasputin was
the principal figure At last he sue
ceeded, and Manussewitsch-M aniuloff
was released on bail. Among all the
papers which had been confiscated at
his home not. one discriminating docu-
ment had been found, and the only
thing against him that could be proved
was the Matchmaking scheme against
the bank whose director had had him
arrested. He threatened. in case he
should be brought to trial, to make GER
tain revelations absolutely damaging
for more than one highly placed per
sonage. and he contrived to inspire a
holy terror even among the most eager
90 have him condemned for his numerous
. extortions and other shameful deeds. AS
soon as he was at liberty he set Ras-
putin TO working in his favor. and made
the latter display an activity that at
last exasperated the public against the
Prophet to such an extent that the
first thought of organizing a conspiracy
to remove him was started, and very
soon become quite familiar one with
more than one person.
Trying TO Snare Rasputin
To be quite exact, this thought had
already existed for some time. About
a year after the beginning Of the war
some enterprising individuals in Petro-
grad tried to get rid of the prophet"
by entangling him in some disgraceful
escapade which would have made il
necessary for him to leave Petrograd.
In accordance with this plan he was in
vited one night to supper at some fash
ionable music hall, OF which there exist
so many in the Russian capital. Bo-
hemian singers were called in and an
unlimited amount of champagne provid-
ed. Rasputin. who was rather fond OF
such adventures when he was not oblig-
ed to pay for their cost in rubles and
kopecks, accepted with alacrity. He
soon become quite drunk. Then, at the. \
invitation of one of the guests. he pro-
ceeded to show them the manner in
which the Khlystys, the religious sect
to which he belonged, danced around
the lighted fire, which was an in
dispensable feature of their meet
ing round and round a table that had
took off some of his clothes, just as
his followers used to do when they were
holding one of their assemblies in real
earnest. Some Of the assistants seized
hold Of the opportunity and hid the gar
ments of which he had Invested himself, !
then called in the police, requiring them
to draw up a report of what had taken T,
place. On the next day this report was /
taken to high authority, in the hope
that 1t would have a damaging effect on
the reputation of Rasputin. The re-
suit however, was quite different from |
that which had been expected, for the |
person who had brought the report to |
the authority in question Instead Of be-
ing believed was treated as libeler and
compelled himself to.retire from public |
life. After this it gas generally recog- I
nized that nothing in the world would I
downfall OF the prophet"