WAS GAPON A TRAITOR?

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8704, 18 August 1906, Page 2

WAS GAPON A TRAITOR?

Ss Suppose! Betrayal of Formw Comrades. - The St Petersburg special corsrespoflft' dent of the New Orleaire "Tun^De* ; mocrat" ee-ni ths following Special ' cable message to that journal on «JTun« 9 •— • i * The full -confirmation of the e^ewi-'.-tion of Father Gappn by representa*. : tires of the people gives, a certain, dva^\ - :- tnatic point to the demand of tie,; Duma fox amnesty for the political ,;~' orison-ens. Some at least of^ ti^. hun.- a dreds of peoole at present lying in 'the ...'..., dungeons of St Peter amd St Pawl, and' , other Russian prisons, may owe tHeir; incsuroeratdon to Gapon's treachery, and it is not unreasonable to asstinift that among tlhose may be a few»wsioitt the Russian police, heave netted fot. "crimes" wiiioh ore no crimes lit any-well-regtilated State. - ■ ■ One of tbe Polish, members of tfcd •<■' T)u7rea, Fafbeir Tras^m, men-fcHflaed thftV ; he had seen 400 hapless peasants ill prison, and heard from fclwm a recital of the "brutalities of which they -wrer^ the ■victims for no other crinae than refusing to pay toll to the 'police." Thai} is a ph«se of the bureaucratic eystet* on which Father Gapon threw consider* able H^Et in his remarkable »utobi<V'. srraphy. For tihe sake of human n&tnwi on© hopes that the singular "book; witi( . its ebran.ee confidences, was written b#» fore the fall of its author. > WAS SINCERE AT FIRSF It is impossible to belH*v/^ j?sls XSidt. pon was a ■fcrsitor from the first. BT« was a very clever man, but it would)', rseoixtre more ; evidence^ than is :.ever likely to be forthcoming to corivincd ' one that the immense influence be acquwpd over +b& working classes of St Petersburg and Moscow had its Tootr from the beginning m treachery, or tihat he was a polioe spy when h« marched at the h*>«d of ish*» den?orietration of January 22, 1905. That he ultimately fell a prey to tine temptation** which th© poliioe deT>a.rtmentiJ are abler to present with lavish hands, sewns be* yoird doubt, but one would ratter- re* gaa-d him as in a sense the victim of a! base system than as a despicable ©re*- 1 > ture who had wormed himself into th«» '.- confidence of the people with ttoe de- , liberate purpose, fwsm the first, of a©» cormjlishin.'r their undoing. j One of Ibis nxwyfc intimate acquaintances is authority for the statement! that Gapon was never a revolutionary f he never beloweed to any of the «<v»lutdonairv societies : he ■mas never trust' ed by fine revolutionary leadens; h$ never, indeed, had sufficient mtelli. gence to understand the revolutionary, propaganda. SOCIALISTS OPPOSED HIS WORK. His -work among tlhe poorer claeaes in Rt 'Petersburg was also opposed by the Socialists, and his teaching amounted to .little more than the inculcation of th« belief that trust in God and ■ &M , Czar was the. only method for the bet*; terment of the Russian conditions. It was this belief that led tun J6 proceed to the Winter Palace .on %* ill-fated January 22. a date whioh w# live in history as Vladimir's day, and there seems no doubt^ tliat tie massacre that took place in the St Peters, bure streets destroyed Gapon'e faitK and left him. as it were mere flotsam and jetsam floating rudderless tnrougH the" world. ' . . V. -__. It should be noted that in dis &m appearance among the workers m St Petersburg Gapon was accused of beinjSl in tho pay of the police, and that ,!«• organisation was regarded as being « sort of counter more to tb^e revolutionary Society. But there Beems little doubt that at this point of his lifejia was as honest as fie was enthnsiastio and ignorant. ENRICHED BY HIS WRITINGS.After the sanguinary repressions ia"\ the Russian capital, Gapon fled to Paris, where the money he received from the writing of his life made hint rich beyond his wildest dreams of avarice, and tnis sudden wealth finish* ed the work of demoralisation that hit loss of faith had begun. . The money came quickly, and /was. 6pent quickly; much of it is said to have been gambled away, and idie rest, according to report,/ went in all kindr of vulgar dissipations, until a ferr months ago the ex-leader\of the Bft Petersburg mob found himself penmHe at once put himself In touch' Rdtli £he Russian polioe, suggesting that he might be useful to thorn as a spy, and although they must .have known that his knowledge was exceedingly limited, he had come possibilities of usefulness. Last Ootober, it a} claimed, a bargain was struck in Pans, and Gapon was furnished with a con* eiderable amount of money and permission to return to St Petersburg This arrangement appears to Shave been >erf«»ctly well known to the revolutionaries, from whom few goverui ment secrets are really hidden, and Gapon was given a contemptuous warn* ing and practically disregarded. ; SECURED FUND FROM THE ; GOVERNMENT. . He was sufficiently clever^ howere*, to bluff the authorities, receiving from them £3000 as a fund for organisina a counter-revolution, which sum, need* lees to say, went into his own pockety There was 6ome trouble . about thin, although such a leakage i« /not unfamiliar among Russian officials, ana it was apparently suggested somewhat forcibly to Gapon that it was tune ha really did something for bis money. Being quite unable to obtain UHWfc

ledge of any secret of importance himself, he approached a prominent member or the terrorist party whom he had known during the riot 6of a year ago, and suggested to him that he should betray his friends, and that they ehould divide the blood money between them. In the selection of a possible brother spy Gapon showed a fatal lack of judgment. The man was a^ engineer of j »orae considerable standing, entirely incapable of the infamy suggested to him- He, however, pretended to be interested in the proposal, promised to think it over, and subsequently arranged to meet Gapon for further discussion at a little house at Ozerski, in the suburbs of St Petersburg. This bouse was rented by a terrorist society, and has been the ecene of many 6eorjet revolutionary meetings. ALLEGED PLOT AND EXECUTION. Gapon and the engineer met here. The priest, who thought they were alone, repeated his suggestions. The engineer at first pretended to have certain scruples, certain 1 fea-rs of <3iisDovery. which Gapon assured him Avere groundless. They then wrangled about the division of the, spoils, and Gapon promised if his companion was not extortionate he would provide him with many other opportunities for making money in a similar way. ] At this point of the conversation lour workmen, -who had been hidden in the next room, burst in. A mock trial was held, and the shivering, cowering wretch was condemned to death on seven counts. He begged, implored,; Btruggled, but the judges themselves were the executioners, and were inexorable. . The four men threw themselves upon him, passed a rope round his neck and strangled him, the engineer remaining a passive witness of the horrible scene. Then, after taking all his papers from his body, they hung the corpse to a hook in the ceiling and went quietly away, without taking any- precautions. It is characteristic of the small account in which he was held by his exeoutioners that very, little secret was made of his murder, and that it was common talk within a week of its occurrence. It is, however, only within the last few days that the police discovered the body at the house at Ozerski and settled once and for all the Biystery of Gapon 's death.