REVOLT OF RUSSIAN WORKERS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1717, 25 January 1905, Page 29

REVOLT OF RUSSIAN WORKERS.

TREMENDOUS UPHEAVAL IN THE CAPITAL C ITY. EVERY INDUSTRY PARALYSED. THE STRIKE BECOMES A POLITIC.V L MO V EATEN T. POLICE POWERLESS. ST. PETERSBURG, January 21. Tho strike of workers at St. Peters* burg is rapidly spreading. Seven thousand pe;-soils employed a/ the Alexandrovsky machine works the Baltic cartridge factory came also thousands of Stiegiizs and Thornton’s cloth-weavers,and other operatives, as well as thousands of other workmen employed at paper-mills, tho State playing-cards factory, State and private distilleries, rubber factories, soapiworks, the Imperial glass factory, aaid the civil employees at the arsenals. Every industry is paralysed. Many disturbances are occurring. The police arc powerless, and have not attempted to stem the movement. Owing to frequent threats of violence and incendiarism, the troops are kept under arms, but have been ordered to do their utmost to prevent bloodshed. Several quarters of St. Petersburg are in darkness, owing to the strike having affected tho electric lighting of the city. No newspapers were published at St. Petersburg to-day. The printers have struck, and have threatened to smash the machinery if the managers attempt to defy them. When six thousand steel-workers at the Government metal-workers at Obukhoff struck, General Vlassieff, the director, vainly emphasised the statement that eight hundred of them, who are reservists, were no! sent to the Far East because they were needed at the factory, though they were liable for service, ST. PETERSBURG, January 21. The Russian Minister of Finance (M. Kokovtiseff) and the Minster of the Interior (Prince Mirski) refused to receive a strikers’ deputation. The strike is now rapidly becoming t political movement. A great demonstration opposite Winter Palace is being organised for to-morrow under the auspices of M. Sapon, who lias tremendous influence with the workers. M. Sapon admitted, in the course o-f an interview, that he was formerly an agent of the Holy Procurator, but since the death of M. de Plehve, who was Minister of the Interior, he (M. Sapon) had become a sincere reformer. The strike, he said, was not commenced until the Perfect of Police had intimated that the demands of the people had been rejected. "Political reforms,” M. Sapon declared, "must precede economic concessions. If the police and the Cossacks obstruct the way to the Palace, I shall be the first to fall; but our blood will accomplish more than the most successful agitation. "We go as loyal citizens to obtain hearing from the Czar. If we fail, w< will have proved to the world thafe peaceful agitation is useless. "But we will then try other means. We have notified Prince Mirski that we desire to meet the Czar. If he refuses, there will be a terrible uprising. We expect half a million people at to-mor,-row’s demonstration in the vicinity of the Palace, including a hundred and thirty thousand workmen.” The Prefect of Police has warned the people that neither gatherings nor processions are allowed. The strikers coerced the workers at 170 factories to join them on Friday. Eighty-eight thousand persons have now struck. WORKERS’ DEMANDS. A CONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY ASKED FOR. THE PEOPLE STIFLED BY DESPOTISM. SYMPATHY OF THE SOLDIER,Y. ST. PETERSBURG, January 21. The representatives of the workers at tho meeting at the Winter Palace Square on Sunday will seek to present a petition to the Czar stating that the limits of endurance have been reached, and that the workers are stifled by the despotism of the bureauracy now ruining the country. They wish to point out that th« workers have not been consulted with regard to the shameful war which is bringing about the country’s downfall. The Czar will be urged to destroy the wall of officialdom and rule with the people, through a constitutional assembly elected by secret ballot. The strikers declare that, despite the

warning of the authorities that fore© will be employed against them, they intend to meet unarmed. They wish the Czar personally to receive their petition, and they decline to transmit it through official channels. M. Sapon will head the procession, carrying a cross. A detachment of a Moscow regiment now stationed at St. Petersburg refused to interfere with the strikers at the Schapschel tobacco factory, and returned to barracks. Although there are 50,000 troops on duty night and day, the strikers boast that they do not fear violence, sipce the soldiers and workmen are one. The middle classes, it is asserted, also sympathise with the strikers. LOYALTY TO THE THRONE. PETITION TO THE CZAR. ST. PETERSBURG, January 20. A petition of the strikers to the Czar complains of the. workers’ desperate condition through their deprivation of human rights, and expresses loyalty to the Throne. The petition adds: “Be merciful, and let us live. If left in our present position we prefer to die.” Crowds parading the streets compelled the owners of many factories to close. Strikers entered one Government printing office and forced the employees to leave. Five thousand men at the Baltic Works, seven thousand in cartridge factories, eight thousand in railway carriage works, and many textile operatives have struck. Seven arrests have been made of students and Jews rioting with the red Bag at Riga. THE WINTER. PALACE INCIDENT. OFFICERS ALONE CONCERNED. ST. PETERSBURG, January 20. The incident at the Winter' Palace, in which shrapnel was fired from a saluting gun, is shrouded in mystery. The Nicholas Hall was filled with diplomatic, Court, and military dignitaries, none of whom were hurt. The theory that the incident is the outcome of a plot is gaining ground. Two gunners belonging to the Bourse battery are suspected of being connected with the revolutionaries. ST. PETERSBURG, January 21. It has transpired that case shot was fired at the Czar. The i n elfec tiveness of the incident is attributed to the weakness of the saluting charge. BERLIN, January 21. The “National Zeitung” declares that officers are alone concerned in the firing of the cannon by the Bourse battery, the officers wishing to intimate to the Czar the necessity for reforms. The newspaper says the fall of the Grand Duke Sergius, late GovernorGeneral of Moscow, has convinced the aristocracy that its power is waning. “Such a plot,” adds the “Zeitung,” “is only hatchable in the Czar’s entourage.” SUNDAY'S DEMONSTRATION. MEIN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN SHOT BY THE TFOOPS. APPALLING LOSS OF LIFE. ST. PETERSBURG, January 23. The attempt of the eighty thousand workers now on strike in St. Petersburg to meet at the Square of the Winter Palace yesterday and lay their grievances personally before the Czar was attended by terrible loss of life. It was a beautiful day, and small groups of all classes went early towards the Palace. Few anticipated anything beyond the knout and a few scuffles incidental to the dispersal of unarmed crowds, and yet events, developing with bewildering rapidity, plunged the city within two hours into a state of open, revolution. Mounted troops guarded the approaches to the Square, and held the gradually assembling thousands in check, preventing them from obtaining access. The real trouble began at the bridges, the military using knouts, the flats of their sabres, and blank cartridges in their struggles to keep back the thousands of unarmed strikers. The Putiloff men on their knees implored permission to proceed. They urged that they had no hostile intent, but were resolved that blank cartridges would not deter them from fulfilling the duty of citizens. soldiers were thereupon ordered to load with ball, and they fired, exciting the mob to fury. The dead and dying were removed in ambulances, sledges, and other vehicles which had been held in readiness. The snow and the pavements were covered with blood, the sight heightening the indignation of the mob. Ten thousand Putiloff strikers then gathered at the union headquarters.

Revolutionary pamphlets were thrown from the windows, and the leaders made inoendiary speeches, protesting against the use of armed force as characteristic of the Czar’s attitude towards the people. There were cheers and shouts of “Down with the monarchy!” Thousands of workers from Vassili Ostrov inarched by the Nicholas Bridge towards the Square, and successfully appealed to an infantry regiment not to obstruct them, but Uhlans and Cossacks used their swords. A military band played during the conflict. The workmen from Viborg and Sedi were admitted in twee and threes, not in crowds. Even where this practice was regarded at the various bridges, the Cossacks used heavy whips. The Imperial Bank, the factories, and the chief points of me capital have been guarded since Saturday night by detachments of infantry and cavalry, each a hundred and fifty. There are no signs of artillery.

FIVE THOUSAND VICTIMS. TWO THOUSAND WOMEN AND CHILDREN. ST. PETERSBURG, January 23. A crowd of strikers was ridden down in the Schlusselburg road. The rioters were trying to force the Troitski, the chief bridge, when they were charged and sabred. A subsequent rush of ten thousand strikers was stemmed by three volleys, followed by a charge. The crowd momentarily dispersed. Elsewhere huge gatherings resolved to flock to the Palace or perishThe strikers in the Alexander Gardens fruitlessly tried to force the gate and enter the Square, which crowds from other directions entered. Two volleys were fired into the crowds. Subsequent volleys killing and wounding, among others, twenty-six children who were sliding on the ice. After the Square was cleared, the troops on the Nevski and side streets fired volleys at the fugitives. The victims included many women and children, who are moderately estimated to number two thousand, out of five thousand killed and wounded. Th© mob on the Nevski Prospect, in a rage, tore up stones from the streets, and hurled them at the troops, injuring several of the officers, w'hoso swords and epaulettes w ..re wrested away. The windows in the residence of the Grand Duke Alexis were smashed. The mob at the Moscow Gate seized the oil store. MEEK WORKMEN. SHOT LYING DOWN. A PRIEST KILLED. ST. PETERSBURG, January 23. The cavalry at the Narva gates, leading to the Putiloff works, prevented everybody from entering the city. When the procession, headed by Fathers Gap on and Sergius, approached bearing a cross, an ikon, and a portrait of the Czar, the military, quickly coming into conflict with the crowds, fired volleys, killing and wounding many. A hail of bullets killed Father Sergius and shattered the portrait of the Czar. It was a third priest, not Father Gapon, who was arrested. The district where the conflict took place is a shambles. The workmen, anticipating the attack, threw themselves flat on the ground, the soldiers firing at them as they lay prostrate. The police and soldiers at the Neva Bridge used bayonets to repel the strikers. The latter wore still advancing, when a bugle sounded, and a volley was fired, causing many fatalities. The orderly crowd on the pavement, including workmen, women, and children, hurled curses and imprecations at the officers. CIVIL WAR. HEAVY FIGHTING IN VASSILI. LONDON, January 23. A Reuter's message states that men, women, and children fell at each volley in the Square, and were quickly removed in ambulances and carts. Students and every class of society, mingling on the Nevski in the evening, were exasperated l at the soldiery’s ruthleas attack on an unarmed crowd. The soldiers bivouacked in the Square, camp-kitchens being installed. The workmen’s forces are now separated. At Vassili they erected two barricades, but the soldiers destroyed them, and killed thirty men. Vassili was plunged in darkness, the shops were pillaged and the dynamite factory seized. The workmen are arming, and resuming the struggle to-day. The striners started towards Czarskoe Selo. They met four companies of infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, and a battery. A bloody conflict ensued. Many were shot in crossing the Neva.

FORTY THOUSAND STRIKERS. MARCHING ON ST. PETERSBURG. ST. PETERSBURG, January 23. Despite repeated volleys, the crowds at Vassili Island were not dispersed, and the mob is trying to barricade the Nevski Prospect. Bluejackets have relieved some of the infantry patrols which are guarding the Imperial Bank and other places of importance. The trains from Warsaw, which are working with difficulty owing to the strike of railway workers, reported at midnight that forty thousand armed strikers from Ivolpino are marching on St. Petersburg. Cossacks in the vicinity of the Palace charged sightseers and strikers indiscriminately. The onlookers, at sight of the tragedy and the women’s grief, raised frantic shouts, cheering wildly for liberty and uncovering as the cortege passed carrying the dying. At one stage thirty vehicles were required to carry the wounded. INFANTRY FRATERNISE WITH STRIKERS. COSSACKS TO THE FORE. A HUNDRED AND FIFTY CASUALTIES. ST. PETERSBURG, January 22. Th© infantry threw down their rifles and fraternised with the workers approaching from Vasili Island, but Uhlans and Cossacks, charging with swords, wounded many of the crowd. A severe encounter took place with the Putiloff strikers in the centre of the city. Eighty were killed or wounded with ball cartridges. There were a hundred and fifty casualties in the Palace Square. While the crowd was retreating along the Nevski Prospect, the troops fired three volleys, killing thirty people and wounding many. The populace is infuriated and vowing vengeance. WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE. AN IMPORTANT CONFERENCE. M. MUR A VIEFF AND FATHER GAPON. NO HOPE FROM THE GOVERNMENT. ST. PETERSBURG, January 23. Count Muravieff, Minister of Justice, on Saturday night sent for and conferred privately with Father Gapon. The latter afterwards informed the strikers that lie despaired of the Government granting redress, but the Czar was good, and they must all go to the Palace with their wives and children. He did not believe the soldiers would attack their own countrymen. Father Gapon wrote to the Czar at the eleventh hour, saying: “I fear the Ministers have not told you the full truth. Th© whole people, trusting you, are assembling in the Square to inform you of its needs. If, vacillating, you do not appear as wo trust you to do, innocent blood will flow between you and your people. I and my brave working men comrades guarantee the inviolability of your person.” PLEADING FOR AN AUDIENCE. THE WORKERS’ APPEAL. A’ PLEDGE FOR THE CZAR.. ST. PETERSBURG, January 22. Fatlier Gapon, the priest rofonner who is leading the workers and exercises great influence over them, collaborated with eleven representatives of the workers in sending a letter to Prince Mii-ski, Minister of the Interior, exhorting th© Czar to come with a courageous heart into the Square in front of the Winter Palace, and guaranteeing the inviolability of his person. If the Czar failed to accede to this request, the letter continued, the moral bond between himself and his people might be broken. Cavalry were concentrated in St. Petersburg, forming an extended cordon to prevent the demonstrators approaching the Palace. Fifty men acted as a bodyguard to prevent Father Gapon’s arrest. Four hundred of Father Gapon’3 picked men swore to guard the Czar in case he consented to confer with the strike leaders. Bishop Antonius, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, anathematised Father Gapon for inciting the people in time of trouble. There were persistent rumours that the soldiery had resolved to refuse to fire in the event of disorder. The Czar is at Czarskoe Selo Palace. THE HAND BEHIND THE THRONE. GRAND DUKE VLADIMIR. LONDON, January 23. The “Daily Mail” says the right of

laying grievances before the Sovereign has been possessed from time immemorial by every Russian. Now, instead of the Czar, the workers had to deal with the Grand Duke Vladimir, whose cruelty and violence were notorious. The Czar was at Czarskoe Selo, and did not venture to face the people. The Grand Duke Vladimir, on whom the responsibility of the difficulty is thrown, is the Czar’s uncle, and brother of the Grand Dukes Alexis and Sergius. He was born in 1817, and is father of th§ Grand Dukes Cyril and Doris. UNEASY LIES THE HEAD. LONDON, January 22. Thirty guineas per cent, lias been paid at Lloyd’s to insure, the Czar’.s life for a year. BOMB EXPLOSIONS AT LODZ. LONDON, January 22. There have been several bomb explosions at Lodz, an important manufacturing centre in Russian Poland.