TRIAL OF M. TCHAIKOWSKY

Otago Witness, Issue 2929, 4 May 1910, Page 13

TRIAL OF M. TCHAIKOWSKY

AN ALLEGED REVOLUTIONARY. RUSSIAN REIGN OF TERROR. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, March 11. M. Nicholas Tchaikowsky, for whom bail was raised in England and America by public subscription to the amount of several thousand pounds, is being tried at St Petei'sburg, on the charge of being a leading member of the Social Revolutionary Party, and of having endeavoured to incite the Russian peasantry to revolution while travelling in Russia under a false passport. Together with M. Tchaikowsky, who is 56 years of age, is being tried Madame Breshkowsky, aged 66, a lady of gentle birth, who has devoted her whole life to agitation among the peasantry and has been called the " Babushka," or grandmother of the modern revolutionary movement.

Innumerable extracts are quoted from M. Tchaikowsky's writings and speeches attacking the Emperor and the Russian Government; and the indictment culminates with the reproduction of an alleged announcement made in 1906, that owing to the death of Gershuni (who had escaped from Akatni prison in Siberia through being concealed in a barrel of pickle cabbage) M. Tchaikowsky was officially recognised as the representative of the Russian Social Revolutionaries in the United States. The indictment charges both M. Tchaikowsky and Madame Breshkowsky with belonging to the League of Agrarian Socialism, and declares that Madame Breshkowsky advocated " terror " and an armed insurrection while M. Tchaikowsky, who in the meantime had become a member of the foreign committee of the Russian Social Revolutionaries, insisted on the necessity of Tsaricide at a party congress held at Tamerfors, in Finland. M. Stolypin refused to accede to repeated requests that M. Tchaikowsky should have an open trial. Extraordinary precautions were taken on Tuesday to ensure secrecy. A strong detachment of gendarmes guarded the staircase leading to the court room, and Madame Breshkowsky, an elderly revolutionary leader, was brought into court under an escort of eleven gendarmes. Of the relatives of the accused only M. Tchaikowsky's wife was allowed present at the trial. His daughter, Mrs Brassey, was at the last moment refused admission despite a promise made personally to her two days ago that she would be admitted. Police precautions were also taken to provide against a public demonstration in favour of the accused. The court consists of the president, M. Krasheninkoff, three Crown judges, and three representatives of the estates of the Realm. M. Tchaikowsky is defended by MM. Maklakoff, Goldstein, and Eliseieff, and Madame Breshkowsky by MM. Zarundy and Eristoff. After the reading of the indictment, Madame Breshkowsky admitted that she was a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, but declared that most of the statements in the indictment concerning her were false. M. Tchaikowsky pleaded " Not Guilty" to all the charges against him. The chief witness for the prosecution, named Patayuk, made a very unfavourable impression on the court. He was brought in in chains and had to admit, in reply to the judges' questions, that he had been convicted of murder and brigandage, and had been brought to St Petersburg in order to give evidence in five cases in which revolutionaries were concerned. He testified to having seen M. Tchaikowsky in revolutionary circles, and to having heard that he had engaged in revolution l ary work. Evidence was subsequently given that at a previous trial Patayuk's testimony was regarded by the court as undeserving of credence. The Gendarmerie Colonel Fedoroff gave evidence in support of some of the statements of the Indictment. Madame Breshkowsky did not present a case for her defence. For the defence of M. Tchaikowsky an English witness, Mr Kellett, and a Russ;"n witness, M. Bokladze, both connected with the Manganese Company, in which M. Tchaikowsky is concerned, gave evidence to prove an alibi in respect of several charges in the indictment. A number of well known, elderly literary men testified' to M. Tchaikowsky's character and to the educational nature of the propaganda in which he engaged before he left Russia. All the requests for admission to the court, on behalf of relatives, were referred by the prefect to M. Stolypin, and by the latter to the president of the court, who referred them back to the Premier. The trial came to a conclusion two days ago, when Tchaikowsky was acquitted, and Madame Breshkowsky was sentenced to exile. After the Public Prosecutor had demanded hard labour for both prisoners on the ground that they were social revolutionaries and propagandists, M. Tchaikowsky's counsel, including the Duma Deputy, M. Maklakoff, metaphorically tore the indictment to shreds, showing that the majority of the Crown witnesses had such shameful records that not a word of their evidence could be believed. The agitation of M. Tchaikowsky was not terroristic, but humane, being directed against the barbarities perpetrated in Russia. Madame Breshkowsky's counsel, who included Prince Eristoff, declared that they were speaking contrary to their client's desire. She admitted that she was a social revolutionary and did not seek to deny her constant struggle against the present Government. Her counsel, however, pleaded for mercy on the ground of her age and unblemished character. Both the accused refused the right to speak the last word. The court deliber-

ated for a space of half an hour, when they returned a verdict of not guilty in the case of M. Tchaikowsky, who was accordingly acquitted. Madame Breshkowsky was found guilty, and sentenced to be exiled to Siberia. M. Tchaikowsky kissed the lady before leaving the court, and received the congratulations of his friends in the lobby. Madame Breshkowsky was removed to the prison of St Peter and St Paul.