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The Commoner.
3
IRUABY 3, 1905
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tfflf seems to bo generally agreed In the courts
of the world that Russia Is face to face with
evolution that is certain to bring about radi-
Ireforms in the Russian government if it doe3
indeed entirely destroy the present govern-
it. Father Gopin, who seema to have assumed
leadership of the people, sent a message to
Czar announcing that on Sunday, Jan. 22, the
plo would appear at the winter palace in or-
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ren him the full truth and the Czar was urged
appear before the people and receive their ad-
3S in a courgeous spirit, Father Gopon prom-
lg that no harm would come to the emperor,
the apointed hour, Father Gopon marched at
head of the people bearing his crucifix aloft
)ve a great roll containing tho precious peti-
Father Gopon and his followers refused to
pjy the order to stop and they were fired upon
th a blank volley. Several hundred soldiers
k response to an appeal from the people threw
wn their rifles and refused to fire, but tho
S3acks charged upon the crowd and hundreds of
in, women and children were killed.
'Qyy
f,T is not known in this country exactly how
many people were killed and wounded, for re-
rts estimate the number all the way from 500
5,000. It is claimed that a strict censorship
rer news prevents the people of other countries
Com obtaining the exact truth. The strike which
fas tho beginning of tho revolution is spreading
iroughout the Russian empire. St. Petersburg
llin a stage of seige. General Trepoff, whose ad
ministration of the office of chief of police of
oscow brought upon him sentence of death from
ie revolutionary party, has been made gover-
r 'general of the city. He has been vested with
rbitrary power.
"UMEROUS circulars are being issued in tho
name of the people. One proclamation ed-
ted Jan. 22, and signed by "The Russian Social
3mocratic Labor Party" is as follows: "Com-
ides: So long as autocracy exists no improve-
lent in our condition is possible. Therefore we
mtinuo to inscribe on our banners the following
smands:
'The immediate cessation of the war.
fc "The summoning of a constitutional assembly
representatives of the people elected by uni
versal and equal suffrage and direct, secret ballot.
"The removal of clas3 and race privileges and
tt . . ..
jsmctions.
k "The inviolability of person and domicile.
! iTii.nn.lAm nf nnnanlonoo onooph flm nrooo
leetings, strikes and political associations."
A second proclamation, dated January 23, says:
"Tho proletariat of all countries are united,
jitizens, you yesterday witnessed the bestial
Kruelty of tho autocratic government. You saw
jlood flowing in tho streets, xou saw nunureas
Slaughtered, defenders of the cause of labor. You
law death and heard the groans of tho wounded
romen and defenseless children. The blood and
)rains of workingmen were spattered around
fhere their heads had been laic.
"Who directed the soldiers to aim their rifles
Bind fire bullet3 at the breasts of the laborers? It
Iwas the emperor, the grand dukes, tho ministers,
the generals, the nobles of the court. They are the
murderers. Slay them.
'To arms, comrades. Sieze the arsenals and
Sthe arms at tho depots and at the gunsmiths. Lay
llow the prison walls. Liberate the defenders of
freedom. Demolish tho police and gendarmerie
stations and all tho government and state build
ings.
"Wo must throw down the emperor and the
government and must havo our own government.
"Long live the revolution.
"Lone live the constitutional assembly of tho
representatives of the people."
A third proclamation appeals to tno people not
to attempt to injure private property.
IX this state of affaira three years ago. At that
MmA whfin Tnlsfov believed he was dying, no
writer In the New York World, told tho emperor
that tho government's policy In suppressing tho
spiritual and material liberties of tho pooplo
would havb diro results. In that letter, Tol3toy
said: "Everywhere, both in the towns and indus
trial centers, troops are concentrated and sent out
with loaded cartridges against tho people. In
many pi aces-fratricidal conflicts havo already taken
place, and everywhere such are being prepared,
and new and yet more cruel struggles will inevit
ably occur."
Count Tolstoy has decried all wars, declaring
that there never was a good one. Ho is equally
emphatic against revolutions, and his tone in ad
dressing his "Dear Brother," tho emperor, is all
in sorrow, not in anger; a warning, not a threat.
If the recent memorial of tho people to the Czar
is studied in comparison with Tolstoy's letter, it
will bo seen that the present uprising grows out
of a denial of the very requests that Tolstoy made
for the masses. Epitomized, those of Tolstoy were:
"First Tho working people desiro to be 'de
livered from special laws that place them in the
position of a pariah, deprived of all the rights of
other citizens.
"Second They desire freedom of removal
from place to place, freedom of education, freedom
of conscience, and, above all, freedom in the use
of tho land, tho abolition of tho right of landed
property."
Concerning the latter reform, Tolstoy wrote:
"I also think that this measure would un
doubtedly destroy all that socialistic and revolu
tionary irritation which i3 now spreading among
tho workers and is likely to bo of tho greatest
danger to both the government and the people."
Blaming tho Emperor's advisors for their
"strenuous and cruel activity in seeking to arrest
the eternal progress of mankind," Tolstoy wrote:
"But one can sooner arrest the flow of a river
than that incessant progressive movement of man
kind which is established by God. By measures of
coercion one can oppress a people, but not rule
them. The only means in our time to rule the
people, indeed, is placing one's self at tho head of
the movement of the people from evil to good,
from darkness to light; to lead them to the at
tainment of tho objects nearest to this end."
A RUSSIAN who holds a high official post at
Washington, speaking to Walter Wellman,
correspondent for the Chicago Record Herald, said:
"It is revolution, or tho beginning of revolution
in my country. My government will bo over
s. thrown and the grand duke3 and the men respon
sible for this awful, this fearful blunder, should
bo taken out and hanged at once." Referring to
this interview, Mr. Wellman says: "The Russian
with whom I talked held the view that his na
tion was irretrievably ruined. He said if revolu
tion did not como at once, it would come soon.
Thi3 was tho beginning of the end. He blamed
tho grand dukes and others in authority about the
palace. They had kept the czar in ignorance of
what was going on. They had made tho czar
beliovo his life was in danger and had spirited
him away and placed him in hiding. They had
given orders to tho troops to fire upon tho men,
women and children, innocent people who were
doing no wrong, who were meditating no crime or
destruction, and they had thereby sealed the fate
of tho empire."
THE origin of the present difficulties in Russia
was described in an interesting way by tho
Russian official to whom Mr. Wellman referred.
Upon this authority Mr. Wellman gives the fol
lowing explanation of the situation. "Tho killing
of unarmed men, women and children on Sunday
last was the culmination of labor agitation on a
largo scale. The work people of St. Petersburg
and other large cities asked for an increase of
wages, a decrease of hours of toil and other con
cessions to ameliorate their condition, which is
admitted by unprejudiced observers to be most
deplorable. The concessions which they demanded
were refused them and they went on strike. Os
tensibly they wer on strike in the same way that
American workingmen have so often struck,
but deeper down they had far more serious griev
ances to avenge. They wanted freedom; they
wanted to bo permitted to' think as they pleased;
they wanted free speech and, abovo all, they
wanted tho war in tho east brought to an end.
Tho war is extremely unpopular. Tho masses of
tho people cannot seo that they gain anything by
tho war. They arc weary of having their hus
bands, sons and brothers sent away to Manchuria
to suffer and to bo shot, for what they do not
know. Worse still, tho disasters Russia has suf
fered on land and sea havo convinced tho people
tho government Is not only inefficient, but that it
is corrupt. Gradually tho labor strike has been
turned into a political movement. It began with
a demand for higher wages. It Is culminating In a
domand for overthrow of tho autocratic govornmont
and tho substituting therofor of a reprcsentativo
government."
--
FATHER GOPON, tho leader of tho revolution
ists 13 of course attracting wide attention.
On the day preceding his visit to tho winter palaco
Father Gopon was excommunicated by the church
authorities. Nevertheless, on tho following day,
arrayed in full vestments, carrying tho crucifix,
he marched at tho head of the peoplo whose cause
ho has espoused. A writer in tho Des Moines,
Iowa, Register and Leader says: "Gopon is a
young man and a priest of the Russian church.
Ho has always been an interesting personality,
from the vory day3 of his youth, when ho showed
unusual capacity for learning and grasping tho
problems of the people, even though ho was but
a peasant swlneherder. His ability won for him
early release from mere menial labor and ho was
given an opportunity and sent to a famous Rus
isan school as a monk. But his leaning toward
politics led to his exclusion from tho seminary, and
this exclusion stirred in him a great desiro to get
close to tho peoplo, to share their lot, and to help
them in their almost hopeless struggle for tho
freedom that all men are entitled to. He deter
mined that he could best serve his people as a
priest, and he overcame the many obstacles in his
way and finally graduated from tho St. Petersburg
Ecclesiastical academy. Immediately, Father
Gopon took up his wont among tho laboring
' classes, whose leader he speedily became. He stud
ied their condition, ho was wonderfully impressed
by their wrongs and sufferings, he felt tho utter
hopelessness of relief for them under existing
conditions, and then set about to aid them in an
appeal and demand for tho establishment of their
right in life, liberty and true pursuit or happiness.
Ho proved himself a wonderful organizer. Ho
gained such a hold upon tho working masses that
they virtually idolize him and follow him blindly.
Ho is the heart and 3oul of the present movement,
which is not merely a strike, but a demand for tho
fundamental rights of men.
FATHER GOPON, according to a Boston cor
respondent for the Chicago Record Herald,
visited Boston in 1901 as a delegate to the 50th
anniversary celebration of tho Young Men's
Christian Association. This correspondent says:
"Father Gopon was present at a reception given
tho delegates by Governor Crane and those who
met the priest say that he was greatly impressed
by the proceedings, especially the governor'a ac
tion in shaking hands with those present. Ho ia
described as a very energetic person, less than 30
years of age, and thoroughly aroused over tho
condition of the common peoplo In his country.
His name i3 said to be Agathon, tho designation
Gopon being assumed for political reasons. Tho
priest displayed much interest in the affairs of
this country, especially tho police system and tho
popular freedom enjoyed in America.
ANDREW D. WHITE, former Ambassador to
Russia, in a newspaper Interview, said: "Tho
czar is a weak man and can do very little. A weak
man cannot know anything about the empire to
speak of, because he is surrounded by grand dukes,
women, etc., who tell him what they want him to
believe and keep all tho truth away from him
which they do not want him to hear. The main
difficulty in the wholo case is that the emperor
is supposed to do all the thinking for 140,000,000
peoplo scattered over tho largest territory pos
sessed by any government In the. world, with" all
fwroto to the Czar and as we are reminded by a
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