THE RUSSIAN . UPHEAVAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2661, 15 March 1905, Page 19

THE RUSSIAN . UPHEAVAL.

COLLISION WITH THE MILITARY. THE HOPES OF THE ARMENIANS. ST. PETERSBURG, March 7. A remarkable scene preceded the signing of the recent rescript. Even the most reactionary Ministers warned the Czar to concede the elective principle. The Czar at first angrily refused, and complained that he was left to stand alone. He ultimately signed, after himself adding the sentence guaranteeing the preservation of the fundamental laws — i.e., autocracy — of the Empire. It is officially announced that the Chidlousky Commission has failed, owing to the workmen refusing to elect representatives. All traffic on the Trans-Baikal railway - lias been suspended for three days. j The strikers at Chita set fire to many ■waggon loads of army provisions, insisting on the cessation of the war. March 10. The commissioner of police at Warsaw •was fatally shot. Six shots were fired at Governor Kutais without injuring him. (Received March 11, at 0.10 a.m.) It is expected an expedition to quell the disturbances in the Caucasus will ba despatched on an early date. The troops threatening to shoot some rioters and miners at Bakhmut, near Yekaterinoslav, the miners stoned and fired revolvers at them. The miltary replied with a volley, which killed five and wounded 15. Count Rorgnzoff Dashdoff has been appointed Viceroy of the Caucasus. The Armenians boast that they are hopeful of reviving the Kingdom of Armenia. Many Russian' officials in the villages have been assassinated". The population are more hostile to the Russians than towards the Mussulmans. Many Russians fear that soon it will be necessary to reconquer the Caucasus. Agrarian disturbances organised by th-e Terrorist Committee, are apprehended in Central Russia. It is reported that 40,000 peasants are armed. March 12. Owing to the persistent strikes, General Trepoff is d-eporting all the unemployed to the villages. A Britisher named M'Callum, staying at the Hotel Bristol, near St. I&aac's Cathedral, in this city, was blown to atomTS. The police consider that he was , manufacturing bombs. The first floor was \rrecked completely, and several persons were injured. There is much excitement in St. Petersburg. Two thousand loaded railway vans westward bound have choked all the sidings between Samara and Slatonst, completely stopping the traffic. March 13. .There is little doubt that M'Cullough (?' M'Culhim), a native of the Baltic provinces, was -using a false passport as a Britisher. Many arrests have been made in St. Petersburg and the Baltic provinces. M'Cullough's papers included a revolutionary proclamation, pamphlets, chemical formulas for the manufacture of explosives more powerful than lyddite, drawings of infernal machines, and notes re:-pecting Imperial residences. Large bands of peasants are pillaging estates in the province of Orel. Many refineries and distilleries have been sacked. The peasants declare th<?y only want the land, not the lives of the landowners. Theie aie similar movements in the southern provinces, the peasants claiming 15 arppnts a piece. The police arc powerless Tiic authorities appeal to the troops. LONDON, March 7. The Stand-ird states that 130,000 Minorelian Osset.es and othe~ landless mountaineers in the Western Caucasus are in OPce rebellion. "The Times' version of the Putilofi outage states that the explosion killed many.

workmen, and terrorised the rest into joining the strike. March 9. Revolutionary disturbances have occurred at Smolensk, and crowds are exhibiting red flags. There is a recrudescence of reservist riots at Minsk and elsewhere. Russian officials attribute the disturbances in the Caucasus to the Armenian Separatist Committee. Revolutionists in London declare that terrible massacres ar.e occurring in the Caucasus, and) assert that 1400 persons have been killed. The Revolutionary Committee in this city state that Maximoff and Gorchakoff, bureaucrats, and both princes of Tartar blood, were assassinated at Moscow last week.