ANARCHIST PLOT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1235, 18 September 1911, Page 5

ANARCHIST PLOT.

SHOOTING OF M. STOLYPIN.

ASSASSIN A POLICE SPY.

SPECIALLY ADMITTED BY THE

POLICE

By Tcleiraph— Press Association—Copyright

(Rec. September 17, 5.5 p.m.)

St. Petersburg, September IG. M. Kokovtsoff, Minister for Finance, is discharging the duties of Acting-Premier. M. Stolypin is less seriously injured than was at first supposed. The bullet is lodged in the muscles of his back. Before entering tho body it struck a crucifix which M. Stolypin was wearing, and in its passage' slightly grazed his liver. The Tsar visited the Premier's bedside. Tho Tsar's action in facing tho audience after the shooting, undaunted by the fear of a possible lurking assassin, has aroused general admiration. The assassin, Bogroff, is the son of a well-known property-owner at Kieff. On being interrogated, he confessed that .St Petersburg Anarchists had deputed him to kill M. Stolypin. Bogroff secured admission to the theatre by telling tho police that an Anarchist was coming to kill the Premier, and offering to point out the assdssin if admitted. The police thereupon gave him a stall. Inquiry has revealed that Bogroff, like tho notorious Azelf, combined terrorising methods with detective service. He was employed as an agent of tho political police at Kieff for two years, and was specially assigned to protect high personages. In his confession Bogroff said that while he was entrusted to watch over the Premier's 'safety, ho had intended to attempt tho murder of a more exalted personage, but was deterred, fearing that the outrage would bo followed by a massacre of tho Jews. He joined before making the attack ia greetings welcoming the Tsar. THE ATTACK DESCRIBED. PATIENT PROGRESSING. Lo'ndon, September 15. Eeuter's Agency in St. Petersburg has supplied further details of the 6hooting of M. Stolypin, the Russian Premier, while the Tsar was unveiling a monument to Alexander II at Kieff. M. Stolypin was leaning over tho ledge of a front seat when his assailant, a welldressed man, approached and fired twice from a distance of two paces. The Premier then put his hand to his cliest and fell back on his seat He was carried out amid shouts of reprobation from the audience. The Tsar advanced to tho front of tho Royal box, and tho artists on the stage sang the National Anthem, all kneeling. Tho audience joined in the singing, and then gave an ovation to the Tsar, nntil his Majesty, with his daughters, withdrew. M. Stolypin is in a hospital. ■ In a messago he assured tho Tsar of his readiness to give his life for him. Ho has wounds on ono hand and near tho spine.. Ho suffered violent' pain, and passed a restless night. There is an improvement this morning. Later. M. Stolypin is progressing ilyCONVALESCENT IN THREE WEEKS. (Rec. September 18, 0,50 a.m.) St. Petersburg, September 17. M. Stolypin is making satisfactory progress, and if this continues ho will be convalescent in thrco weeks' time.

EUGENE AZEFF'S DOUBLE LIFE.

The double life of Eugene Azeff, as told by the English press, is astounding. For years he organised revolutionary conspiracies, while' at the same time revealing them to the police, who paid him largo sums; and he might apparently have continued this fearful occupation for all time had not someone betrayed him to the revolutionaries. Azeff is said to bo a Jew. On the one hand he had control of the revolutionaries' funds, and his free use of tho same is said to have at times aroused the suspicion of his dupes; on the other hand he drew, as agent of the secret police, a salary of ,£4OOO a year. At one moment a promoter of assassinations, at? tho next a hunter of assassins, Azeff is said to have been in both capacities always calm and self-possessed, attired in tho height of. fashion, always full of energy, will, and resourcefulness. "The Borgias," says one of the Terrorist leaders at Geue'a, "were almost angels when compared with Azeff. He has massacred at lease 1500 of us, and sent threo times that number to living death in Siberia." Treacherous to his comrades the revolutionaries, Azeff seems to have been also treacherous to his employers, the police. Evidently he did not tell them all. For instance, he is credited with having planned tho murders of 11. de Plehve and the Grand Duke Sergius, and his connection with both these crimes cannot have been unknown to the Russian police. Tho general assumption at St. Petersburg is that they paid him mainly, if not exclusively, to give information of plots aimed at tho life of the Czar, and wero indifferent to what ho did or instigated in other directions. It seems clear that even after he entered the service of the police ho remained to a largo extent genuinely in sympathy with tho revolutionary movement. Nowhere but in tho peculiar conditions of Russia could such a chameleonlike character flourish. And what of the police system that maintains such creatures? The Russian police maintain that they cannot detect Terrorist plots without information from within; but declare that thej; ,do not tolerate such agents being active within tho revolutionary circle. "We cannot frustrate dastardly plots, an oiEcial of the police department explains, "unless we contrive to obtain timoly information about them. This involves the employment of individuals who are members of the circles where these plots are fabricated, and this necessity wo consider an unavoidable evil. But connivance at crimo we vigorously eliminate from our system in- theory and practice. A reason of State cannot justify lawlessness; therefore, if any agent perpetrates crime he will be dealt with as a criminal."