The Wrangell sentinel., 1920-07-22

ceed, but to subdue the others and take possession of their territory, and the armed retalners, who were wont formerly to wander about as free lances, gave up their rowing mode of life, settled down permanently, be- came landed proprietors and sought to share as boyars the princes au- thority.
 The greatest of these principalities was Novgorod. Since the days when Rurik had first chosen 1t as his head quarters the little capital on the Vol khov had grown into great commer- cial city and brought under subjection a vast expanse of territory, stretch ing from the shores of the Baltic to the Ural mountains. Unlike the other Russian principalities 1t had a dem- ocratic. rather than a monarchial form of government. The republic of Nov gorod was the first and only flicker of freedom in the long night of Rus sia. and 1t glowed but for short moment.
 Noygorod had prince, but he was engaged by formal contract. He was merely the commander of the troops. All the political power remained In the hands of the civil officials. They had popular assembly which was called together In the market place as occa- sion required. by the tolling of the great bell. The maxim of the state was: If the prince Is bad, into the mud with him."
 In Moscow a different state of af- fairs obtained. There the supreme law was the will and whim of an autocrat. Democratic Novgorod and autocratc Moscow became bitter rivals. The fu- ture of Russia was In balance. The question was light or darkness day or night, freedom or slavery for the future Russians. Had Novgorod won out In the thirteenth century we might not have the problem of bol- shevism In Russia today. But 1t was to be otherwise, and with the success of Moscow, autocracy was enthroned. The Russian night came on.
 Tatar Eruption.
 Then came the Tatar yoke. The "Golden Horde" conquered Russia. The conquerors built their capital at Sari on the lower Volga. The Mongols pill laged and robbed. Tax gatherers kept the peoples backs bent in toll. The first trail to Siberia was blazed, the cruel road that was to play such an important part in the horrors of Rus sian history. Oddly enough the first wayfarers who journeyed on this road were Russian autOcrats, the degener- ate and corrupt descendants of Rurlk. The grand khan, the chief of the Mon gol empire, lived with the "Great Horde" in the valley of the Amur In Siberia Russian princes were puppets in the eyes of this autocrat of auto- crats. He commanded them to appear before him. Before making the peril ous trip the prince made his last will and testament and gave direction for the guidance of his children. Few ever came back. The road to Siberia then. as later, was a journey into the shad- ow of death. Some died on the trip. others found execution the reception at It's end. The few who returned es- capped the wrath of the great khan by sycophancy and bribery.
 The princes of Moscow were the most willing and pliant tools of the great khan. They outraged and robbed their own subjects to satisfy the Mon- gOl court. Muscovy grew strong under the Mongol empire. The betrayal Of the Russians was the price. This Is the taint In the blood of the czardom of Muscovy; out of this line the czars came. When the Russian princes be- came strong enough they turned on the Mongol empire. It was weakening. At the battle of Kulikovo, 1880. the Mongol yoke was broken.
 Three czars Ivan III, known as the Great, his son Basil, and his grandson Ivan ". called Ivan the Terrible. whose united reigns cover period Of one hundred and twenty-two years, 1462 to 1884, forged and fixed the shackles on the people of Russia, shackles which clanked until the exc cution of the last Romanoff, Nicholas. It was Ivan III who snuffed out the last spark of liberty in Russia, the democracy of NovgorOd. Ivan lF fin- ished the job; popular assemblies were abolished. freedom of conscience was killed. The complete doom of the Russian people began.
 Waat