EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXVII, Issue 8563, 18 August 1904, Page 1

EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS

The birth of an heir to the throne of All the Russias is an event which will cast a ray of sunshine through the gloom which has for so long overshadowed the country of the Czar. Those living outside Russia can have but a faint idea, of the importance attached to the event by the Russians themselves, particularly among the peasantry. As year after year has passed, and the desire of the nation has not been realised, the gloom of the Russian Court increased ; and as the prospect of the succession of the Grand Duke Michael became more and more certain, fears of a general revolution were often expressed, for the Grand Duke is not popular with the people over whom it was thought he would one day rule. It is related on good authority that the Czar has often been discovered praying aloud for the birth of a son, and •now that his prayers have been answered, one cannot help but feel glad that joy has at last come to the heart of a man whose life has, in -so < many ways, been saddened by trouble of the most bitter kind. In view of the birth of a Czarevitch, it is interesting to turn to the remarks made by the St. Petersburg correspondent of a London daily newspaper at the beginning of last month. Said this writer:—"Another child is expected in the Czar's family soon, and all Russia throbs with expectancy, hoping and praying the ''Little •Father" may be blessed with a male heir, thus falsifying the prophecy, which enthralls, the Russian peasant mind, that the Czaritza will have six children before a boy is horn." The correspondent then points out how a royal family of daughters was bitterly deplored by the Czar's myriad, subjects, over whom superstition holds a powerful sway, for the Russian mind is quick to infer that for some reason the favors of heaven are withheld from their ruler. It is then shown that for all the losses sustained in the war, the advent of a son would serve as the greatest of all sources of comfort and cheer to the Czar. It would send a thrill of joy through the legions on land and sea, and would be freely construed as a good omen of ultimate victory for Russian arms. "Hundreds of thousands of Russians," continues the writer, "in remote parts of the far-reaching empire learn little of the progress of the war; but they would all learn of the birth of a Czarevitch with boundless delight. Port Arthur's fate would be suspended from public consideration amid the national jubilations." Scientists in St. Petersburg were said to he anticipating the coming event by reminding the people how history shows that in the wake of a devastating war an inexplicable natural law provides that the proportion of male children born to the belligerent nations increases, as though to make up for the lives of the men sacrificed; and statistics were produced which seemed to prove that this law operated in Germany and France after the Franco-German war, when an aggregate of about half a million men were lulled. This reflex of Russian opinion is most valuable as showing not only the importance of the birth of the Czarevitch to the country, but also as an indication of the temperaments of the people and their attitude towards the influences which are considered to govern natural events. It may be mentioned that the Czar married the Princess Alexandra Alix {Alexandra Feodorovna), daughter of Ludwig TV.. Grand Duke of Hesse, on November 14, 1894, and that the children previously born unto them had been the Princess Olga, born 1895 • Princess Tatiana, born 1897 : Princess Marie, born 1899; and Princess Anastasia, born 1901. There is every likelihood of the happy event being taken as an omen for good, and in the midst of Russia's present reverses no one can begrudge her any satisfaction which she may obtain from the granting of a universal desire.