LIGHT ON CZAR'S MURDER.

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1399, 31 May 1923, Page 3

LIGHT ON CZAR'S MURDER.

Sic George !Suche ,ii;i 11, t' 1<■ British An:bassador at tin ('ta::'! oi' Nicholas II ()! Russia. publishes in tlu 1 Revue j de Paris a striking article oti I lie j downfall nf the Romanoff ruler. He | refers to Hte Czar's murder, and rej veals Iha I two efforts were made to s;ive the lives of Xichofiis and his fumi jly. The first occasion was in March, ; lIH7. The initiative"was taken by M. | 'MiliukolT. Minister of Foreign Affairs j in (he newly formed provisional Government. M. Miliukol'f. through Sir i George Buchanan, appealed to the King and the British Government to | give asvlum to the Imperial family, j Sir George was authorised to inform ! the Russian Foreign Minister that King George and the British Government would he glad to gi\c sheltet I tf> the fallen Fmperor and his family. ' on the understanding that the cost, of their sojourn in England was horn 1 ' bv the Russian Provisional Government. AT. Miliukoff told Sir George that the Imperial family would he given an adequate pension, hut he asked him to keep seeret the negotiations. Three days after -this was on March 2fi -AT. Miliukoff called at the British Embassy and said there was little hope of getting the Tzar and his family out of Russia, as it was necessary to obtain the permission of the Soldiers' and Workers’ Union. This body was under the thumb of the Bolsheviks. who at this period already controlled the Provisional Government AT. ATiliukoff added that if he had insisted on the departure of the Gzar the railway lines would have been torn un and fbe plan was aban doned. On the second occasion an effort was made by the German Government. which offered the whole Imperial family shelter in Germany, on condition that the Gzar ratified the infamous peace treaty of Brest-Dit-ovsk. The Gzar refused. Tt appears, says Sir George, that the Emperor realised the danger which threatened him. The ex-Ambassador says that the chief reason why M. Kerensky 1 abolished the death penalty was to i prevent any possibility of the execu- | tion of the Emperor, and that when i Nicholas TT heard of this position he ! exclaimed: “But this is a mistake' 1 The abolition of the deatT penaltv j will mark the end of discipline in the i ;.rmv Tf Kerensky has done it to save me from danger, tell him that T am ready to give my life f or the good of j my country.” Sir George nays tribute i to the Tzar's devotion to the Mb'cd ! cause, and declares: “We never had j a better or more loyal friend and ally than Nicholas TT.”