THE NEW CZAR.

Evening Star, Issue 9582, 31 December 1894, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE NEW CZAR.

A CHARACTER SKETCH. The following estimate of the Czarewitch which Professor P. H. Geffcken has contributed to the German Press will be read ' with special interest at the present moment. Protestor Geffcken says : The Czarewitch is a noble, generous character, opposed to every kind of persecution, 1 and especially to religious fanaticism. He ■ has already prevented a great deal of mis- > chief, and has softened down many a strong measure. He is a decided opponent of Pobedonestzeff, and the latter would pro- ' bably be among the first to disappear under , a new rdgime. Alexander 111. has not always been a friend of Germany. At the [ time when the then German Crown Prince 1 (Frederick III.) went to St. Petersburg to 1 the funeral of Alexander 11,, and said some--1 thing about the friendly relations of the two countries, the Czar remarked : " Mais il y a , pourtant le plan de Bismarck," who, he considered, was anxious to annex the Baltic provinces. And even after the Crown . Prince had convinced him of the utter futility of tbe idea be remained suspicious, ■ and the anti-German elements in Russia , fostered the feeling. This feeling has recently undergone a change, as may be inferred from the Russo- , German Commercial Treaty, which was only ■ passed by speoial order of the Emperor ■ against the interests of the Moscow merchants and their allies at Court. He was 1 never in favor of the French alliance, and the visit of Admiral Gervais to Cronstadt, which he could not very well refuse, was painful to him, and he was glad, when it was > over. On the other hand, he assured the ' German Emperor, on his visit to Kiel, that 1 he would never give marching orders to a single soldier in order that France might , reconquer Alsace • Lorraine. His Ambaa- , sador at Paris had strict orders to keep the Toulon and Paris festivities within certain bounds. Briefly, he treated the French , advances, in the words of a witty English diplomatist, like a man who carelessly suffers the caresses of a girl throwing herself at his neck, but who, at thesame time, does not want 1 to have anything to do with her. The Czarewitch goes further. He is distinctly friendly to Germany, and has a warm friendship for the Emperor William, The French have nothing to hope from him, and .the Triple Alliance has nothing to fear. , Hence, it is only the home politics in Russia which will undergo a great change under a new ruler, and if the future Czar has the strength to carry these" changes through they will be for the welfare of the great Empire, and wilt lead to the pacification of the discontented elements in Russia. Whether the Czar will be sufficiently energetic to carry out his strong opposition to the present bureaucratic regime, and to introduce such reforms as are possible in Russia, remains to be seen. But in his Jefforts towards that end he will have a valuable assistant in his uncle, Grand Duke Vladimir. The rest of the Imperial family do not count. Outwardly there wiU be few changes. If the Czar was a lover of peace, who only pushed onward where he knew that England would not dare to act for instance), the Czarewitch is still more opposed to war.