TSARISM. RUSSIA IN CONVULSIONS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, Issue 78, 28 September 1907, Page 12

TSARISM.

RUSSIA IN CONVULSIONS.

A POWERFUL LETTER. The enormous body of Russia is trembling from the convulsions of Tsarism. Here and there the uniting tissueß are breaking, fne nervous system Is wrecked, the blood vessels are bursting. The heart and tne pulse are beating faster, the blood frequently rushes to the head, blunting the senses and calling forth de'irium and hallucinations. Of course these are not yet the convulsions of the agony of death. The end is far off as ,yet, and the disease, it seems, will be prolonged. Tsarism in itseu is tenacious of life, but aside from that it finds also to this day a sufficiently nourishing element in the organism of the country (writes George Erastoff, author of "The Retreat," in a New York journal). Human life has become dirt cheap in' Russia. The landowners come running from the depths of Russia, spreading alarm and confusion. Frightened out of their nests by the terrible pnantoms of devastation and slaughter, hurled away from their usual conceptions and views, not having joined (as #et) the Reaction, unfit for an active struggle, these people who have lost themselves, like a drove of cattle in time of a fire, toss about from side to sido, believing in nothing, and they stand out as the most striking representatives of the alarm and chaos which have come over Russia. TERRORIST ACTS. The Terrorist acts, without which not a single day Is passing — once the weapon of the heroic champions of freedom a weapon in the hands of men of great ideas and powerful wills, have now gone over to the dirty hands of carrions, who are inevitable in war and in revolution to the hands of senseless urchins and hooligans, \ replacing tho club of the robber and the highwayman, throwing society into a state of dread, thus giving the government of the Tsar an additional trump and a new '•legal" occasion to oppress the peopio and to 'mprison the champions of freedom, who are innocent of these robberies. An epidemic of suicides on political grounds, as a result of psychic shocks, of lack of work, of "the unbearable life," is leaving a black trail upon Russian life at present. Education it at a standstill, for the students, being impressionable, are carried away by the intoxicating atmosphere, and they aro unable to think of their studies. Thousands of undeveloped youths are forming the ranks of voluntary and aimless irrational 'victims 'devoured by the revolution. The patented guardians of learning are sitting in their government houses, trembling with fear lest they should lose the aame of "Academicians," and in order to justify the salaries paid to them by the Tsar they are writing dead works about dead subjects. These "dead" people look upon the storm raging about them with blind eyes, and from time to time they croak dully at the young men 4rt has become silent. Like a flower, it needs pure air and sunshine — with but a few Taint exceptions, it has proved Itself to be unequal to the task of reflecting tho revolution. Our literature has rushed off to supply the demand of the market, and thus well-seasoned tendenz productions are hastily patched up. Only in the better part of our literature purely creative 1 work is still being ' done, and here aty times a sort of mystic anarchism and the terrible face of reality penetrate the colours of the artist and tho songs of the singers. Tho free, courageous press withers 6re it has tirua to bloom, and the progressive press which has not yet been suppressed is carrying on a miserable existence between Scylla and Charybdis, marking every passing day on ijhe calendar with ( fear. Only the hired "publicists" are flourishing together with hired murderers and expropriators. A pilgrimage, tv be subsidised by the Government being planned by the leaders of the Black Hundred Unions — a pilgrimage to Palestine, to the gra-ye of tha Lord, for the purpose of consecrating there the "banners" with which to start a bloody procession. This h apparently the new effects of the results of the recent convention of the "Right" organisations in Moscow. THE DISTURBED LAND. The recent fermentation among the most faithful sons of the autocracy, the Cossacks of the Don region, the discontent caused by the -lack of land and by the protests against the disgraceful role of 'hangman which they had been forced to take, was checked in time by a double portion of allowances, and 120,000 Cossack whips and carbines are again at the service of tho Government, with the conditional devotion of tho "cheaply bribed mob. Fiom time to iiijie dissensions are discovered in the army, and arrests are made in great numbers ; the least reliable are the officers of the lower ranks, while the officers of higher rank appear to be the stronghold of the army. This is, of course, nof so dangerous to v}ie autocracy, for there w^l be plenty of good-for-nothings in our great, disturbed land, to whom the prospects of becoming officers in tho army will be verr tempting for a long time to come. The navy ig more unreliable, but the recent unsuccessful attempts displayed the utter unpreparednes3 for an uprising, the lack of unity, and the accidental character ot the outbreaks. Besides all this, a special, 6tevn discipline has been introduced there aftei ihe attempts .it mutiny, and the icgime in foice now ;& incredibly cruel and powerful. LIKE A WOUNDED BEAST. Verily, Russia is now seized with con. vulsiotit. The autocracy has lost its composure and ics former self-confidence. Like a wounded bea6t it shuddeis convulsively, but its clutahes have pierced the body of the land and all Russia is quivering. A great deal has oeen said and written about the horrors in Russia. Yes, tliese horrors are great in dumber. If every unil of our population represented a conscious man, then half of these horvois would have been sufficient for our people to awaken and to riso. But it s>eems that »ye have not had enough horrors yet ! Man has not yet awakened ! The great mass of our people is as yet thick-skinned, accustomed to the knout from time immemorial, steeped in many-uenturied slavery. When we ate beaten we cry out ip pain, >ye kick with our feet, at times we oven bite, but no sooner do our wounds heal, and again w« look cringingly with dog's eyes at our master. And when ft bone is thrown to us we are ready to cut. one another'& thioat ! Riibsia us rich in such people as these I The peopio of pure souls, free 'from ."lnvishness, the peopio of powerful wills and sacred wrath, spend themselves ns skirmishers, while the masses behind them aro as yet irresolute and wavering. And very often, as I think of .vhat 7o happening now in Russia, T am ueized >\ ith gloomy, cheerlosn thoughts. I love Russia; I love her for all that whicb has created her jusv pride— her rioh, beautiful, unique language, the _rofleclion of the nation's soul, and with Turgoniev I believe that this great language could he ciiutftd only by « great nation — I love Ruteia, but at times I atao hate iierl