Nihilism As It Is

3 1 822 0 1 5 82 8098

Ce nt ral U n ive rs ity Lib rary

U nivers ity of C alifo rnia , San Dieg o

No te ! This it e m is subject to re c all aft e r two we eks .

D ate D ue

BE I N G STEPN I AK’ S PAMPHLE T S

T RA N S LAT E D BY E . L . V OY N I C H ,

A N D FE L I ! V O L K H O V S K Y ’ S “ C L A I M S O F T H E R U S S I A N

L I B E R A L S ” W I T H A N I N T R O

D U C T I O N BY D R . R . S P E N C E W A T S O N

C O N T E N T S

I NTROD U CT I ON . B y D r . R . SP EN CE W ATSON

ST E P N I A K ’ S P A M P H L ETS

T he Or i g i n o f the B o o k

W hat i s W an t ed ?

T r a n s late d by

T h e A g itati on Abr oad E . L . V OY N I CH

L ETTER SENT BY TH E R EV O L U T IONARY E ! ECU TIV E

CO M M ITTEE TO AL E! AND ER I I I . AT H I S A CCES

S ION TO TH E T HRONE

T H E L I BERA L P ROG RA M M E

T H E CL A I M S O F THE R U SS IAN L I BERAL S . B y FEL I ! V OL K H OV SK Y

I N T R O D U C T

I O N .

MAN Y p erson s w ho are intere sted i n th e Ru ssian

qu e stion h ave expl ain ed to m e how m uch th ey

hav e felt th e n eed o f som e autho ritativ e in forma

t io n u pon t h e t ru e position o f t he diff erent section s

o f th e party o f reform in Ru ssia towards each

other and towards th e Russian Gov ern m ent , o r ,

i n other words , som e explan ation Of what t h e

aim s and doctrines o f th e Ru ssian R evolutionists , wh ethe r extrem ists o r m oderat e m en , real ly are .

Th is book of St ep n i ak ’ s , t o which Fel i x V ol k

ho v s ky has fu rnished a chapt er , an d which al so contain s th e ful l t ext o f t h e famou s l ett er o f t h e

Revolutio nary Com m itt ee t o Al exand er I I I . , an d

am pl e quotation s from a m e morandu m o f th e

Ru ssian Liberal s t o Count Loris M eli k off , wi ll

su pply thi s long - felt want . I t appe ars oppo rtun ely at a tim e wh en extraordinary effort s are b eing m ade , by concealing th e fact s and circulat i n g fal se info rm a

t ion , to induc e free p eoples to share th e m ethod s o f

that d arkest o f d espotism s , an d t o b ecom e aecom

pl i ces in its tyrannical t reatm ent o f t hose o f it s

subj ects who v entu re to th ink for th em selves o n

political o r religious m atte rs .

Th ere are al ready standard works from whic h

English - speaking p eopl e can l earn mu ch abou t th e

Ru ssian R evol utiona r y P arty as it st rikes write rs

w ho , l ik e G eorge Kennan o r Edmund N obl e , h ave

carefully investigat e d t h e fact s . B ut it i s always

Open t o th e apologist s o f th e Ru ssian G overn ment

t o Say that t hese gentl em en are outside rs . who h ave on ly b een shown wh at it was conside red

d esirab l e for th em to s ee , and that the Russian

R evol utionist speaks with o n e voic e to his fo reign

frie n d and an oth er to his allie s at hom e .

B ut , in addition t o such invaluabl e works as I

hav e m ention ed , we h ave also access t o th e o fli ci al

document s o f th e Revol ut ionary P arty which h ave

be en publish ed , tim e after tim e , in t h e fac e o f the

world , and som e of wh ich a re , as I have al re ady

pointed o u t , give n i n exten so in this publ ication .

I nd e ed its special valu e is t hat it int roduc e s th e

r ead e r, s o to sp eak , to t h e inn er life o f th e

s o - cal l ed , an d m i s - c all ed , N ihilists . St epn i ak ’ s

chap ters are reprints o f pam phl ets whic h w ere

w ritt e n by hi m in Ru ssian for Ru ssian readers

only ; and th ey Show , t herefore , how t h ese m en

convers e wit h each oth e r , and wh at th e doctrin e s

are which th ey are preaching from th e shel t e r

th ey h ave foun d in Englan d . Th ey show al so

t hat th e fun dam ental Obj e ct s o f all Ru ssian Revo

l u t i on i s t s (howeve r th ey m ay c al l t h em selve s o r

b e c al l ed by oth ers) are t he sam e ; th at thei r

struggl e i s fo r freedom , nation al and p ersonal ; an d

th ey fo rc ibly u rge t he n ec e ssity o f l ayin g aside all

m att ers which are not absol ut ely e ssential , an d o f

working clos ely and unitedly tog eth er fo r t hose fundam ental obj ects which all al ike hol d d ear .

N o o n e can pe ru s e this book with an open and

c an did mind wit hout coming to th e concl u sion that th e aim s and obj ect s o f t h e Ru ssian Revolutionary

P arty are such as he can cordially symp at hi se with ,

even shou ld h e be u n abl e to acc ept som e o f th e

vi ews h el d as t o th e m e an s em ployed by the more

extrem e p arty in th e great revolutionary struggle .

H e will not forget th at h e is reading of a country

wh ere non e o f t h e o rdinary s afegu ard s o f j ustic e

fre edom o f sp eech , l ib er ty o f th e press , o r pop u lar

rep resent ation , —e x ist ; but wh ere , o n the contrary ,

free t hought and fre e sp eech a re c rim inal ; and

wh e re th e Govern m ent is al l - p owe r ful , an d u se s

it s powe r tyrannically .

I m u st not speak about the write rs th em s elves .

T hey h ave becom e well known amongst u s . Th ey

are m e mbers o f that l ittl e ban d of Ru ssian exil es

w ho h ave n obly h and ed down th e nobl e tradition s

o f t hos e great reform ers who foun d refuge o n o u r

shores in bygone days . B ut th eir works , an d this

wo rk , speak fo r them . I hope t hat this book wil l

b e widely read an d carefully considered . I t put s

th e position Of th e Russian opposition c l ea rly an d

sim ply b efore the reader , and it repl ies convincingly

t o t h e wild and rid iculou s mis - s tatem ent s which th e

apolog ists of th e Ru ssian Governm ent are constantly

m ak ing . I t is o f m u ch val u e . Eve rything mu st

b e val uabl e w hic h t end s t o giv e a cl e arer view o f

o n e o f th e great est struggl es fo r progres s and free

dom whic h Europe has seen . Wider knowl edge c an

bu t in c rease th e sym pathy o f thos e w ho , t hem selves

free , u nderstan d the grandeur Of that struggl e , th e

t riu m ph Of which may b e del ayed , but cannot b e ultimately defeated .

R OB E R T S P E N CE W AT SON .

T H E O R I G I N O F T H E B O O K .

T H E m ain par t Of the vol um e , for whic h I h ave t o

ask th e indu lgenc e o f t he Engl ish readers , consists of two pam phl ets o f m in e written originally in Ru s sian and fo r th e Ru ssian s , and whic h I n ever expected t o b e known out side the dom in ion s o f th e Tzar . B u t

c ertain attacks u pon u s som e t im e ag o gave m e th e idea th at it might b e useful t o bring th e m before t h e gen eral public . Th ere are two diffe re nt and ind ep end ent o rganisa tion s working nowadays in t hi s country in t hei r different ways to p rom ot e th e c au se o f Ru ssian l iberty . The o n e is th e wel l - known S oci ety o f Frie nd s of Ru ssian Fre edom , founded in 1 890 by D r . Spence Watson , and now having its ramifi ca t ions al l over the count ry . I t i s c omposed entirely o f Engl ish m en an d wom en , and its act ivity i s confined t o foreign cou ntries , its obj ect being the winning over o f t h e public opinion o f th e civilis ed worl d to th e interest s o f Russian freedom . Th e othe r society is hard ly known t o t h e Engl ish , though in

Ru ssia it begin s to be known , an d rath er widely .

I t is th e Russian Fre e Pres s Fund—a smal l p ub l i s hi n g com pany , composed o f Russians , supp orted by Ru ssians , and inten d e d exclu sively f o r Supplying th e subj ects of the Tzar with lit eratu re t abooed within th e bou ndari e s O f Ru ssia .

Both societies h ave ac h ieved , in their different l ines , a su ccess w e can fairly t erm unprecedented , which c l early shows th at both were tim ely and have an swered to an actual need an d it is d i fii cu l t to s ay w hich o f the two h ave proved a sorer thorn in th e

fl esh Of the Rus sian Governm en t

Those who wou ld l ike to perpetuat e th e present ignom iniou s r e ’ g i m e in our cou nt ry c ould not rem ain indifferent to the fact that t he public opinion o f t he c ivilised world i s gradu al ly passing over to th e Side of thei r Oppon ents . Still les s coul d they overl ook th e e ffect s o f a d irect appeal t o the Russian peopl e them selves , and th e fermentation s resulting from th e spread Of scores o f t hou sands Of o u r pamphl et s and books among th e t hinking m en and women of o u r country .

Anyh ow, bot h societies have Obtained their ful l share o f recognit ion in th e form o f calum nies and insinuation s o n t he p art o f the host of scurrilou s i n ept i t i es whom alon e t he Ru ssian Govern m ent was able t o m u ster as its c h am pion s , both in t he Ru ssian an d t he foreign p res s .

Their effort s have don e u s an exce l l en t service i n Russia by making o u r work kno wn in the spheres which it woul d take u s long t o reach wit h our cl andestin e publ ic ation s . I n this country we are in n o n eed Of this s o rt o f tru mpeting - u p and u nderh an d advertisement , becaus e we c an reac h Openly al l those who m ay be reac hed . Yet we m u s t not be ungrateful . Th ese gentl emen (and l adies) h ave surely don e the littl e they could i n strengthening o u r position , by t he d ispl ay Of utter shallowness , mendacity , an d evident bad faith Of their charge s .

To utter again st D r . S p en c e Wats o n , M r . Byl es , M r . All anson Picton , M iss H es ba S tretton , and a score of m en an d wom en o f the sam e st an ding, the accu sa t ion o f furnishing money for th e dynam ite outrages i n Ru ssi a (which , by the way , h ave n o t been heard o f for I do not know how m any years) , was p ro c l a im ing th em selves a t the outset cal um niators , deserving nothing bu t c ontempt an d ridicul e . All t he men and women who took t he l ead in th e pro Russian movement in England are known to their c ountrymen for m any ye ars , and it is n o t for an Obscure h irel ing o f the Ru ssian pol ice to t hrow u pon the m su sp ic ion Of participation in dynam ite plots .

O ur detractors have b rain s e nough to understand that . Th u s a mysteriou s M r . I vanoff, ” who som e tim e ago m ad e hi m self conspicuou s by a scurrilou s

artic l e in th e N ew R evi ew , says expl ic it ly that th e

fl agrant breac h Of intern ation al Obligations o n th e

part o f D r . S pen ce Watson and th e othe r m e mbers

o f the society , m ust be an u n con sciou s one due to t h e d iab o l ic al m ach in ation s o f the “ n ihil i st s , ” with whom

t hey h ad th e im prudence o f as sociating. Th e sam e

i s the t eno r o f M m e . N ovikoff ’ s c ompl aint . Bu t th e pro ceedings o f th e society are public ; the h o n .

treasu rer, into whose hands al l th e funds converge , gives , in th e Fr ee R ussi a , d etailed accounts both of th e rec eipt s an d o f t he expen ditu re .

Eve ry p enny is accou nted for , and i mproper u se

o f m on ey i s m aterially i mpossibl e , m achination s

o r no m achination s . M m e . N ovi koff an d h er

sat ellites read Fr ee R uss i a and c annot possibly be ignorant o f the existence o f thes e accounts , an d th eir specific c harge c an not possibly be uttered in good faith . Th ey not m erely s a y what i s false , but th ey a re fully aware that they are doing so .

B ut th ese ladies an d gentl emen have a sec on d

l ine o f defen c e - their citadel to whic h t hey woul d repair after h aving been ignominiou sly defeated in t h e first encounter .

Granted th at the S oc iety o f F . R . F . does not giv e any m aterial support to th e s o - cal l ed nihil ist s who are fighting the Ru ssian autocracy u pon the Ru ssian soil ; granted th at al l insinu ation s to th is efi‘ect are l i es and c alu m nies , sti l l they would s ay the fac t

remains that these n ihilist s are anarchists Of Rava chol ’ s type , and it i s utterly incon sistent an d i m prope r o n th e part Of the Engli sh to give moral support and en cou ragement to representatives o f th e sam e party which they pros ecute o n th eir o w n soil .

Fo r al l those who h ave t aken th e troubl e of i n form ing th em selves u pon th e real views an d attitude Of th e Russian revol utionary party thes e accu sation s will appear as despicable as the form e r o n e. I , for my p art , do not believe in thei r sin cerity . T he Rus s ian Govern m ent and th e Russian police—those at least who are able t o read and write— mu st kno w ful l well by t his t im e what are th e real d e m ands o f th e s o - called Russian nihil ist s .

B ut th e m ass o f th e Engl ish publ ic , absorbed by thei r o w n affairs , c annot h ave a very ac c urate knowledge of what i s going on in a foreign c ountry t housand s o f m iles away . Th e c h ampi o n s Of Ru ssian autocracy , who h ave never been overscrupu lou s , d id n o t sc ruple to avail them selves of thi s ignoran c e an d t ry th ei r best t o m isl ead the publ ic Opinion u pon th is point .

N oth ing can b e easier th an to confound t heir al l e g a t i o n s by quoting a few l ine s fro m the authentic and authoritative doc uments whic h m ay be called the Offic ial exposition of the views and aspirat ion s of t he Ru ssian revol utionary party . We have done it d uring the last campaign against u s in th e pl ac e

where these charge s have been u tt ered , and I d o not think t hat those who h ave c ompared th e attack and the reply will troubl e them selves any more with t he question . I m ay s ay that , without infringing th e rul es Of modesty , th ere i s surely no glory in getting th e bette r o f an opponent l ike I vanoff.

B ut I know well that di spo s ing o f o n e I vanoff does n o t m ean at a l l ending the c ontroversy . At the fi rst favourabl e Opportu nity s om e n ew i n ca r nat ion o f M m e . N ovikoff will com e forward a s if n o thin g had happened , an d wil l repeat th e very sam e exploded ch arges and c al um nies and i n s i n u

a t i o n s .

With t he progress o f ou r work here we m ay fairly anticipat e th at t hese attac ks will get m ore virulent an d more nu merous . I t occurred ' t 0 me , therefore , that it might be good to publ ish fo r the u s e Of ou r frien ds an d wel l - wishers a so rt o f refe rence book whi c h would give in a c on c i s e fo r m t he m aterial s nec essa ry for establish ing beyond doubt o r c o ntroversy the real nature , aim s , and position o f the Ru s sian revolution ist s . I o w e to o u r Opponent s t he sugge stion ho w best to do it .

TO prove that the program m e we pu t forward before the Engl ish is only a m ask hiding the face o f bloodthirsty partisan s Of un iversal destruction , M r . I vanoff quotes , o r rath er m isquotes , a pamphlet o f m ine , entitled What we wan t , and the beginn ing

Th e Foreign Agitati o n . I t expl ain s to o u r Rus

sian friends and sympathisers the aims , the c h aracter, an d possib l e infl uence o f t he S ociety Of F . R . F . I t m ay be o f interest f o r the English on its o w n accou nt , and it will at t he sam e t im e se rve as a reply to one of t he favourite ch arges o f M me . N ovikoff ’ s s et ! th at o f our specul ating u pon the n ational ho s til ity o f th e Engl ish toward Ru ssia .

T o thes e pam phlets I h ave added som e doc u m entary evidences ! the famou s Letter Of t he Revo l u t i o n a r y Com m ittee to the Tzar Al exander I I I . , som e extract s fro m th e c oll ective m emorandu m Of t h e Russian Liberal s t o Alex ander I I . (for which I am indebt ed to t h e Cen tu ry M ag a zi n e and M r .

G eorge Kennan) . Fel ix V o l k ho v s k y kindly con tributed to this book a s u m m ing u p Of t he Offi c ia l

m emo ran da Of o u r Z em s tvos . P ut togethe r, th ese u nimpeach able and now historical docum ents wil l show t o th e im partial reader th at t he aspiration s Of th e S O- called nihilist are sh ared by th e be st and most represent at ive and a u thoritative spokesmen Of th e Ru ssian S oc iety .

I h ope th e vol u me wil l be foun d tim ely j ust now , when the an arc hist outrages o n t h e Con t inent h ave c aused s o m u c h confusion , m isc on c eption , and mis apprehen sion .

W H A T I S W A N T E D P

A M ON G al l n ation s th e tran sition from ab s o lutism to m o dern representative govern m ent has been aecom

p a n i ed by c o nvul sive an d pa inful stru ggl e s . B ut fo r

no peopl e , perhaps , h a s th e struggl e been s o hard a o n e as fo r u s Rus sian s .

Entering so l at e into the combat fo r ou r o w n an d

th e p eop l e ’ s right s , we have foun d ourse l ves face t o fa ce with a governm ent which cou l d e m ploy in its

o w n defen c e al l t h e m od ern i mp rovement s in th e m ech anism of state an d al l t he m arvel s Of cont e m

p o r a ry technical scien c e , bringing the size , arming , and power of con c entration of th e army , as al so th e art o f getting o u t o f fin ancial diffi cu lties , t o a d egree

o f perfection o f which the u p holders o f former tyran n ies c oul d n o t even dream .

Another result of ou r coming so l at e in history i s that th e Russian opposition , which has to d eal with s o powerful an enemy , suffers from intern al d ivision s to an extent wh ich was qu ite unknown to o u r prede ces s o r s in revolution ary work . 1 3

We are far fro m holding t h e rath er widespread

Opinion that t h e more u n an imity o f vi ews an d bel iefs t here b e in any pa rty , th e neare r is t hat party t o an ideal condition . N o o n e formul a can satisfy al l the variou s c haract ers , temperaments , an d int el lectu al typ e s among th e whol e mass o f p eopl e who are capabl e Of b eing fi re d with a given idea . M oreover , wh ere th ere i s real e arnestn ess fo r a cau se , al l these differences m u st necessarily s how themselve s even in th e m anner o f form ulating general propositions , an d esp ec i ally in m atters relating to the appl ication o f suc h proposition s in l ife . Th erefore differences

o f Opinion , with in ce rt ain limits , are a sign o f th e i nt ensity o f a pa rty ’ s life , and work in comm on only gain s by th e ex iste nc e of diff erentiated , individual ised fractions .

O ur misfo rtun e is t hat to thes e n atural diffe renc e s

o f o u r o w n we add foreign and artificial diffe rences , which are th e result o f o u r e qu ivocal position among t h e peoples o f Europ e . Whil e Ru ssia as a whol e l ives in t he eighteenth centu ry o f Eu rop ean histo ry , an d her peasantry , as it were , in t he sixteenth—the age o f t he Refo rm ation—th e Ru ssian educated cl ass stand sid e by sid e with th e same classes in west ern Eu rope ; in deed , o n t h e whol e , it is eve n mo re pro g r es s i v e and receptive th an th ey . We pick u p in sc raps th e l ate st d evelopm ents of scienc e , an d t h ere

i s no movem ent of advance d Eu rop ean t hought

which does n o t at onc e reproduce itself among u s . Thu s th e st rife o f ideas and th e differentiation wh ich in other n ation s have be en spread over a whol e series of generation s , are concentrate d with u s into o n e generation , and we suffer u nd ese rved pu ni shm ent both for being t o o p rogressive and fo r being too m u ch behind t h e age . N othing but the widest mutual toleran ce could en abl e u s to avoid th e practi c al con s equ ence s o f s o u nfortunat e a position .

B ut we are n o t , and never h ave been , remarkabl e f o r tolerance . I t is , t he refore , not surprising t hat the Ru ssian oppo sition p resent s a kal eidoscope o f parties , which , wh il e working, in essential s , for th e sam e c au se , h ave contrived to becom e S O m u ch divid ed as to h ave lost al l intern al cohesion , and in m any ca s e s al l capacity— even al l desire—to u nde r st and o n e another .

The movem ent o f th e years 1 873 and 1 874 , I from whic h the present m ovem ent started , was by n o m eans th e foundation l es s thing foisted o n u s from outsid e which it m ay appear to superfi c ial Observers . I t was a native Ru ssian movement , cal l ed into ex i s t en ce by dissatisfact ion wi t h the s o - c al led em an ei p at i o n o f the p easant s— a reform whose insuffi c iency had at that time beco me evident , and n o t t o th e young generation alone .

T he gr eat p ilgr im ag e o f th o u san ds o f the edu cate d yo uth o f both s exes “ a m o n g th e peasan t s ” a s m i s s i o n

.

This m ove m ent was in reality directed against ou r pol itical syst em , fo r only a n ew, free state could su ccessfully t ake u p and solve t he agrarian question .

B ut th e young gen e rat io n coul d not fo rmul at e its real desires , and t he edu cat ed cl ass could n o t unde r stan d th e young g en eration . Th e young extrem ists were left to depen d u pon their o w n powe rs , and thi s fact c ondemn ed th e m ovem ent beforeh and to com p l et e an d fruitless destru c tion .

The real movement began five years l ater, wh en two - thirds o f its supporters had p eris hed , an d when th e strength o f th e first impul s e was spent .

S in c e then th ere h ave been m any c h anges . The revolut ion i s no longer t he affair of young peopl e .

B ut th e question o f how to u nite t he sc attered m em bers o f Ru ssian opposition rem ain s , as it was t hen , the qu estion o f th e d ay . W e m ay even s ay t hat it is now m ore pressing than ever before . I n any case t h e discu ssion s and writings o n thi s favourite them e Of ou rs are n o w more seriou s an d better su ited t o th e real n eed s o f th e c ase th an form erly .

Th e revolution ary cycle which began with th at m ovement o f th e young gen eration as a m ass , o f which we h ave spoken , i s evidently ended . Some t hing n ew will now begin , but what no o n e can say beforehand . O n ly one thing i s ce rtain—that th e co m ing movem ent will b e wide r than t he fo rme r

would h ave , we bel ieve , a good chance to m eet with a qu ite other re s pon se an d to give qu ite other re sults fro m tho se Obtained by the attempt s Of the s eventies .

B ut su c h a party does not yet exist , tho u gh it wil l probab ly s pring u p in the n atural c ours e Of t he move m ent ’ s growth , o r at the first widespread sign s

o f u ph eaval among t he peopl e . U p til l n o w o u r

m o ve ment is exclusively an urban o n e , depending u pon c ertain e l ements of the town popu l ation

partly o n th e w o rking - c l asses , but c hiefly u pon

t h e edu c ated c las s in general .

O ur revol utionary party sp l its u p into two d ivi s ion s in acc ordance with this fact . A m inority , t he Russi an S o c ial Democrats , o r , to spe ak m ore acc urately , The S o c iety for th e E m an cipation o f L abour (as we are al l S ocia l D em o crat s) , who h ave grouped t hem s elve s roun d the we ll - known Gen eva periodic al , see on ly

o n e possibl e s upport for t he revol ution —the factory workmen , the prol etariat now growing up in Ru ssia . Th at ou r town workmen pres ent a m ost favourabl e soil in whic h to implant po l itical an d soc ial ideas

every o n e wi l l agree wh o knows anything o f th at ve ry prom ising cl ass . Any seriou s work among t hem resu l ts in valuabl e addit ion s to o u r r evo l u

t i o n a ry strength . Town work m en a r e m ore r e

s p o n s i v e and easier to a pproach than peasants , an d po ssess t he enormou s advantage t hat their every day l ife , c ontaining as it does m ore intel l ectual and

exciting e lem ent s th an that Of t h e p easants , does n o t c hoke the seed c ast among them , but strengthen s an d encourage s it s growth . We know o f c ases in which a propagandist , com ing to a factory a bs o

l u t el v u n known t o hi m , un expectedly m eets with “ a treasure trove ” O f revol utionist workmen , w ho prove to be either disciples o r disc ipl es Of d isc ipl es Of som e other propagandi st who worked there six o r eight years before . S everal su c h cases h ave becom e pub l ic ly known , t hanks to disturban c es a m ong the workmen an d the trials resu l ting there from . The peasan t clas s , u nfortu nately , does n ot show such exampl e s .

We sym pathise deeply w ith th e attempt o f whic h we h ave spoken , to in crease th e movem ent among th e town workm en . B ut to s ee in them the chief l ever by m ean s o f whic h th e autocracy is to be over thrown , is to los e sigh t , while looking at theories , Of the real state o f things in Russia . Whether t h e factory workmen be o n e m ill ion only , as th e O ffic ial statistics dec l are , o r t hree , o r even four mil l ion s , as the Soci a l D em ocr a t says , the c a se remain s th e sa m e .

U ndoubted ly the n umerical strengt h o f th e town working c lass is n ot great , and , c on sidering ho w l ittl e edu c ation th at class possesses , how sc attered it is , and how utterly lacking in any consc ious c l as s feel ing , i t i s i m possibl e to s peak s eriou sly , at t h e

present time , o f it s pl aying an independ ent pol itical part ; and , above al l , o f its l eading th e movem en t .

A t pre s ent this c l as s can b e n oth ing m o re t h an a

h el p to the revol u t ion ary movem ent . Th e prin c ipa l support , without any question , i s t he edu c ated c l a s s .

Th is view i s hel d , if n o t i n w o rd s , at l e a st in

practic e , by t he m aj o rity o f Russian revol utionist s , fro m t h e Ol d “ N arodn aya V olia ” to its l ate s t ad herents ; and o n t his point we fu l ly agree with t hem .

After the peas antry , th e educ ated cl as s i s c ertainly th e m o st powe r fu l in th e S tate . I t com m ands t h e

Tzar ’ s army an d fl eet , an d m ight , wi t h o n e su c c es sful mi l itary pl ot , h e l w down the autoc racy at its very root .

The edu c ated cl as s h as given u s J el i a bo v , K i ba l

chic h , Perovskaya , and m any others , and wil l al ways give su c c e s sors t o them and continu ers o f their work , bec au se it i s t he heart Of th e n ation , whic h feel s m ore intense ly than any other c l a s s t he n at ion ’ s wrongs an d suff erings , an d more passion ately bel ieves i n its bright an d gloriou s future . M oreover , this same educated c l as s occupies al l th e high posts , an d ful fil s al l the most important social functions . I t m an ages t he press , sits in t he Z em stvos and m u m crp a l coun c ils , an d hold s the university pro f es s o r s hi p s .

The edu cated c l as s i s an enormou s power i n the

l and . M oreover , t h i s c l a s s i s th oroughly perm eated with disc ontent , and , above al l , with consc i o us dis c ontent , a s i t ful ly u nd erstand s wh at i s th e c au s e

Of its troubl es . I f al l tho se w h o at heart l oath e th e autocracy cou l d make u p their m in d s to attac k i t

Openly , it could n o t st an d f o r five m onth s .

B ut ho w is t hi s powerful c l a ss to b e persuaded t o t ake a m ore active part in the struggl e fo r t he l ibera tion Of Russia H o w are we to c l ear away the l inger ing distru st still somewhat fel t toward s t he party wh ich has taken upon itself the in itiative in th at struggl e ? We say so m ewhat , ” because , s in c e the time wh en the N arodnaya V ol ia raised t h e banner of politic al strife , the position h as m aterially ch anged . The attitude Of th e general m ass o f educated Russian society towards the revolutionary m ovem ent is at the present tim e y ery diff erent from th at o f fifteen years a g o . B ut for all th at , th e movement i s st il l far from h aving Spread th roughout all t ho s e strata Of soc iety o n whose su pport it ought to rec kon . An d now th ere is arising am ong Ru s s ian revo l utionis ts a desire t o work towards a co m mon u nderstanding . This desire h a s foun d exp ression in a whol e series o f publication s produ ced abroad . B ut we will speak o f on ly on e—th e G eneva pape r Svobodn ay a R oss iy a , in whi c h this tend en cy i s shown in its e xtrem est and most ch aracteristic form .

Start ing from t he hypothesis (in o u r Opinion a

m istaken on e) that our Liberal s shrink from t h e so c ial ism Of the revol ution ary party, some Of o u r com rades in th i s paper propo s e to “ temporarily ” entirely c o n c eal th eir socia l ism , and , al so “ tempo r a r i ly , to becom e Liberal s .

Th e G en eva organ o f th is group has done good service in th at it , first Of all the papers i s sued by refugees , put for w ard certain useful an d el ementary truths , which , however , were regarded by som e people as d readful heresy . For this step it deserves , if not the thanks o f po sterity , at l east the indulgen c e o f its c ontemporarie s . N evertheless , we cannot r e frain fro m saying th at i t s proposed p l an o f pruning ourselves do wn an d hiding o urs el ves away i s on e whic h c ann o t bear even t h e m il dest critic is m , eith er from th e theoretical o r from t he prac tic al point Of view.

S ocial i s m i s the greate st m oral forc e at work in m odern soc iety , an d to hide it s light under a bu she l o r in any way to w eaken it s power in Ru s s ia wou l d be to wi lfully destroy the very thing th at i s the life and sou l Of o u r movement . A struggle such as ours depends entirely u pon self- s a cr i fi ce , u pon the capacity o f separate ind i v i d u a l s to give u p th eir life , t heir l iberty , everything f o r th e happin ess o f th eir c ountry . The deeper , wider , and more universal t he idea Of t his potential happiness , t he soone r will awake and t h e lou der wi ll

speak in human h eart s th e mighty soc ial instinct . N O m an wil l i mmolat e hi m self for th e sake o f, s a y , an extension o f l o c al autono my o r any other su c h reform , however benefi c ial . B ut thousand s Of peopl e h ave wi l l ingly died w hen th e belief grew u p i n them that th e happiness Of h um anity woul d be bought by their death .

A hundred , even fifty , years ago , the idea of po l iti c al l iberty h ad power to arouse this faith in m asses Of m en , an d o u r po l itic al c risi s would have pass ed over more quic kly an d m ore easily h ad it happened then . B ut th at ti m e is gone , and cannot be recal led . The form ul ae o f pol itical l iberty h av e l o st t heir magic a l po we r over m en ’ s hea rt s . Th at power i s n o w po s se ss ed by social is m , an d , w e bel ieve , i s posse s sed by it in as m u ch greater degree a s it s doctrine i s compl eter , m ore s c ient ific , and m ore co n c rete th an t he politic al m etaphys ic s of t he l as t c en tury . Even fro m an Obj ective point Of vie w, apa rt from the qu e stion Of liking or disliking soc ial is m , al l

Opponent s o f t he Ru s sian autocracy ought to desire t he wide st possibl e spread o f soc ialis m in Ru ssia , fo r th e imperial absol utis m h as n o m ore dangerou s

enemy .

Th e very energy o f th e revolutiona ry st ruggl e evidently depends u pon the attitude Of t he Ru ssia n educated class toward s socialism , and we attribute th e p resent comparative l ull to t he dying away Of

t he fresh infl ux o f socialist ideas . I nstead o f the wide , i nspiring study o f great social questions , o n whic h th e former revol ution a ry generation grew u p , t he young peopl e o f the present day h ave perfo rce t o content them selves with tu rn ing over an d piecin g togethe r Old , mu sty “ program m es . ”

U ndoubtedly this blank wi l l be filled u p , and , we hope , soon . U n do u btedly the rapid development o f socialism in the West wil l sooner o r later be reflec t ed in Russia ; every n ew wave o f soc ial ism flings d rop s o f th e living wate r across t he frontier into Ru ssia , c au sing th ere a ferm ent , a lifting u p of spirit , a growt h o f social feeling, whic h c annot fail to result in a strengt h en ing of t h e political revolt .

But we m u st m eet this natural infl uence half- way , c onsciou s ly introdu c ing into ou r life that whic h i s being b rought into it by th e n atural course o f events .

There c an be n o qu estion of any putting asid e o f

soc ialist work for th e sake o f any c onnection s what ever . B efore tal king Of union , th e party mu st take

c are to becom e a power with whic h i t wil l be wort h while t o u nite . And if w e spent l ess t im e u pon d iscu ssion s about unity an d uniting , an d worked at that wh ich is under o u r h ands , each Of u s i n h is

o w n sph ere , acc ording t o his o w n t enden cie s , capac i ties , an d even accid ental position , o u r powers woul d be far greater than t hey are now ; we shoul d h ave

friend s and all ie s eve rywh ere , and t h e beginning o f

ing u p O f gen eral programm es and “ plan s o f u nifi c ation , and al l the cu stom ary revolutionary m ill - rou nd , u ntil t he police swoop down again to wind up th e business t his ti me with a general raid . Thr ee - fourth s o f o u r availabl e and preci o u s forces peri sh in t his way , an d yet it is s ure ly easy to s ee th at a change Of tac t ic s would b e advantageou s , not only to the general cause , but even to the beloved fift h wheel itself. N ot from frivo l ity o r sh al lo wn es s , but j ust from passion at e d evotion to the cau se and d esire t o serve it in any way , Ru s sian s more than any other race fo l l o w su c c essfu l examples . There i s , perhap s , no pat h u pon whic h th ey woul d n o t enter , however d iffi c u l t , h owever terribl e it m ight b e , n o ac tio n fro m wh ic h th ey woul d sh rink , if th ey c o u l d only see p l ain ly t h at su c h a pat h o r su c h a n a ct ion wou l d real l y l ead to t he awakening o f Ru s sia from h er age - l ong sleep , or wou l d be a real m enace to the age - long tyranny . Thing s which yesterd ay were cond e m ned are l ooked upon to - day as n ew revel ation s . The Byzantine d o gmati s m is forgo tten ; enemies o f not l o ng ago beco m e i mpassioned adherent s ; an d th e d i s o r g a n i s e d crowd Of yesterday , fired with a c o m mon enthu s iasm , beco m e s to - day a phal anx o f Titans , ready to take by storm he aven itsel f. H istorical in st ance s are not far to s eek ! it was not by argu m ents , not by th e com pl eten e ss of its th eories , but

by the fascin ation o f it s actions , that th e ol d N aro

d n ay a V olya gathered around its el f al l that was m o st energetic in revo l u tion ary Ru ssia .

B ut l et u s return t o o u r s u bj ec t .

W h a t w e h ave said abou t the t actic s as regard s

e ac h other Of separate revo l utio n ary subdivisions , i s

appl icabl e al so to the rel ations between the variou s parties Of th e opposition . Fo r t he s ake of o u r common cau se w e m us t m ake it o u r fi rst c are to rend er o u r party a power in t h e l and . And h o w

c an any pa rty becom e a power , whi c h i s afraid

Openly to ac knowledge its o w n c onvi ction s , whic h

pu ts o n an artific ia l m eekn ess i n o rder to w in over o r to pl eas e this person o r th at And , indeed , wh at i s the u se o f al l t he s e effo rt s ,

w hic h d ec eive no one , t o hide o u r c andl e under a bu s hel ? We o ught l ong ago t o h ave given up t h e

h abit , borro w ed from We st ern Europe , o f c onfusing

Liberalis m w ith narro w b o u rge o i s c l as s - interes t .

O urs i s n ot a cl as s Oppo si t ion , bu t an intel l e ctu al

Oppo sition . M odern Ru s sia , whic h so oft en re m ind s u s Of France before th e Revo l ution , in n o o t he r

respe c t s o c losely resemble s h er a s i n the hu m ani t arian and profound ly democra t ic fee l ing o f her privileged c l ass . O n e m u st wear very thic k spec t aele s indeed if he c annot see th at o u r Liberal s are , by t heir Opin ion s , very different fro m those Of t he West in ou r day . Th e m aj ority of t h e m are

advocates of m ost radical econom ic reform s , and a l arge n u mber sym path ise , in essential s , with soc ial i s m . Wh ere i s the danger , h ere , of “ frightening th em with o u r so c ial is m

There are , o f cou rse , in Ru s sia c h em ically pure

Liberal s , M a n ch es t er i t es ; but w e do n ot bel ieve that even they would t urn away from u s f o r o u r social ism .

I t i s o n e thing not to agre e with sociali sm , and quite anoth er thing to wish ' to deprive social ist s Of th e right to preac h their doctrine as freely as ot her part ies . The Engl is h Liberal s are , indeed , w e m ay s ay u niversally , Opponent s o n prin c ipl e o f social ism , and yet th ey not only do n o t attempt t o shut the m outh s Of th eir socialists , but ev en defend them when any aggre ssion is made u pon their rights . Th e entire Libe ral p ress took t h e part o f th e

Social ists at th e t im e o f the on c e - fa mou s Dodd

S treet case , wh en th e po l ic e tried to prevent the soci ali st s fro m hol ding m eeting s at that pl ac e , and the m o st e m inen t o f the m ilitant oppon ents

Of soc ial ism , th e l ate C harl es B r a dl a u g h , m ade an interpel l ation in Parl iam ent about t he c ase . And t h is was by no m ean s a demon strat ion o f genero sity t o an enemy , but a sim ple expression , wh ic h asto n i s h ed n o on e , o f t hat feeling of c ivil sol idarity an d c ivil l iberty which has b ecom e second nature t o al l E nglish people .

I s it possible that we are s o h opel e ssly , s o bar ba r o u s ly behin d t he age th at these elementary truths , whic h ordinary Engl is h shopkeepers , cab m en , and c otton spinners , regard as t he al phabet Of political edu cation , are in c omprehen sibl e to our picked m en , o u r Liberal s , am ong whom are h u n dreds o f profes sors , writers , and sa vants , so m e of t hem Of European fame ?

I f there are , indeed , among o u r m alcontent s , any person s wh o , even n o w , at this t i m e of gen eral , intol erabl e oppression , indulge in drea m s o f gagging t heir opponent s wi t h anti - s o cial ist statutes and m artial l aw, what sort o f Liberal s are t hey ? and are they worth taking into ac c ou nt ? Th e sooner and the m ore thoroughly we repe l them , th e better for u s and for th e c ause of Ru ssian l iberty .

We repeat social ism is n ot , and neve r h as been , t he hindran c e to t he uniting Of t he Russian oppo s i ti o n ; that hindran c e m ust be sought in the politi c al , not the econo m ic Side Of our program m e—SO fa r as program mes play any part . i n th e m atte r at all .

The putting forward o f pol itical revol t a s a m ean s towards further developm en t , was f o r u s a dec isive step in advan c e . B ut from the form al point o f view it was a retrogression fro m a m ore extreme , t hough l ess definite program m e , and we have stil l n ot g o t rid o f a ph ra seo l ogy whi c h m ake s it appear as if

we looked upon t hat st ep as a kind o f “ falling into s i n .

When we speak Of o u r desire to Obtain pol itic al l iberty , we thin k it necessary to ad d , as it were in se lf-j u s ti fi cat i o n , that w e want it not for itse lf, but as a m ean s toward s th e s olving of the so ci al question .

We all u nderstan d quite we l l th at , in c ontempo rary Ru s sia , po l it ic al l iberty c an be Obtained on ly in th e form Of a c onstitutional m onarc hy . U p til l now the worl d h a s inven ted no othe r form o f free stat e exc ept Con stitution al M on archy o r Republ ic , and s o far n o voic e s have been raised for a republ ic in Ru ssi a . And yet we sti l l c onti n ue t o l ook u pon the word “ constitution ” as so m ething u nc lean . We c arefully avoid the u s e Of it , e m ploying variou s rou ndabout m ethod s o f speech , for fear peopl e shou l d “ c onfuse u s with ” the c on s t itutiona l ists . We becom e bitterly angry if any on e o f o u r nu mbe r cal l s things by their real n ames . B ut why al l th es e fi g - l eaves ? We prefer a r e publican form o f governm ent to any o t her , a n d mo st certainly h ave no prej u dic e in favou r Of th e Romano v dyn asty . B u t on ce we con sider it i n expedient , o r not worth wh il e to try to over throw it , we prefer t o s ay so frankly , and th erefore we put forward , as o u r im med iate aim , th e winning o f a c onstitution for Russia .

Final ly— and t his i s t he mo st i m portant point

while preac hing the princ ipl e o f the suprem e right

o f t he nation to de c id e al l que stion s o f st ate ; whil e

repeatedly de cl aring t hat the vi o l ent ac t ions to w hich we now h ave re c ours e , are purely te m porary

m easures , whic h wil l give pl a c e to peaceful , in t el

l ectua l work as soon as popu l ar repre sen t ation i s substituted for t h e present d espotis m—whil e a c knowledging al l t his , we , at t he sam e time , cannot give u p o u r re vo l utionary rhetoric and con t inue to tal k Of ou r “ revol ution ary ” social ism an d o f “ t he

soc ial revol ut i o n w

exp l aining whether we

m e an 3 t o be unders tood i n _t he f ~

l iteral or metaphoric al sen s e .

Fo r o u r part we Obj ec t to this ambiguity and c onfusion . We recogni s e the expression s ab o ve quo t ed only in th e broad philosophical sen se in which Lassall e accepted them . B ut a s th ey are u s ual ly u nderst o od in another sense , we prefer t o l eave them asid e al together .

We abso l utely and c ategorical ly distinguish be tween the two divi sion s Of o u r tac tic s ! th e pol it ic al divisi o n and t he ec onomic .

We bel ieve that th e worthle s s gang whic h n o w rules o ver Ru s sia , t aking advantage Of a m i s u n d er standing o f the peasant m asses , can be overthrown on ly by force , and t o th is end we see no other m ean s t han forc e . I n politic s we are revolution ist s , r e cognising not only popu l ar insurrection , but m il itary

plots , noctu rn al attacks upon the palace , bombs and dyn am ite . We shall not , whil e l iving abroad , preac h these t hings to o u r Ru s sian c omrades . Apart from th e m oral i mpossibility Of inciting others t o action s in whic h we ourselves c an t ake n o part , t here is also the qu estion o f the timeline s s , and , therefore , Of th e expediency , Of a given action a question wh ic h c an be decided only o n the spot .

B ut we regard all su c h acts a s moral ly j u stifiable , and we are ready to defend t hem and acknowledge o u r mora l sol idarity with them , o n ce~ p e0 p l e have been driven to com m it them . I n view Of t h e cynical , bou n dless despotism now ram pant i n Ru s s ia , eve ry form o f protest is l awful , and there are outrages u pon hu m an nature so intolerable that vio l en c e bec o m es th e moral duty Of the citizen s .

But as regard s th e introdu ction o f socialism into life , we are evol utionists . We utterly disbel ieve in t he possibil ity o f rec on structing e c onomic relati o n ship s by m ean s Of a burst o f revol utionary inspira tion . Th at i s a h uge work wh ic h n eeds great m ental efforts on th e part of m any people , m u c h p reparation , mu c h practical experience and corree tion , and therefore m uc h t im e .

We c ould prove , by quoting wh at have now become historical docu ments , t hat t hose who at o n e t ime real ly were “ t he party , regarded t he real isation of social ism j ust as a peac efu l intellectual

B ut the logic Of l ife has p roved stronge r th an the l ogic Of o u r heads . Fro m the tim e when th e qu estion o f polit ical revolution b ecam e t h e principal question o f the moment , the anarchist th eori e s , whi c h u p til l th en h ad p revailed am ong u s , were replaced by th e ideas Of social democ racy . To anarchists , representative govern m ent is not worth fighting for , and , therefore , th ere are no anarchist s in Ru ssia . Would it not b e wiser to bring o u r program m e into h armony wit h ou r activity ?

We beli eve t hat political liberty gives al l that i s n eed ed for the solution o f t h e social question . I f we look at the West , we see c l e arly to wh at b rilliant resu lts o u r c omrades have attained by u sing those weapon s o f propagand a an d agitation whic h constitutional freedom has placed in their han ds .

We al so s ee t hat the m ore powerful becom e s t h e socialist party in a l and , th e more complete i s t h e victory Of evol utionary social ism . I n proportion as th e results obt ained are m ore prec ious , as the mom ent come s n earer when th e party m ay expect t o b e call ed to th e p ractical real i sation o f its ideals , t h e com plicat ion s and d ifficulties of t he gigantic t ask becom e more evid ent , and th e rhetoric o f blood an d viol en c e inherited from pol itical revolution s i s more decisively aban don ed . The G erm an social ist pa rty , which , h as astonish e d th e wo rl d with it s t itanic

growth , presents th e most b ril liant exam ple o f pol itical discretion and self- control .

Profit ing by its ex p er I en ce, we propos e to take o u r s tand Op en ly in favour Of ev o lutionary socialis m , recognising freedom o f speech , freedom o f the pre s s , and u niversal franchise as fu l ly suffi c ient wea pon s ; and , so long as t hey are guaranteed by invi o labl e l aw , th e only right weapons to u se i n the coming social struggle .

B ut while regarding t he solut ion o f t he l abour question in Ru ssia as a probl e m which will b e brought prom in ently fo rward in perhap s t he n ear futu re , we e m phatical ly protest against th e habi t whic h has grown u p among u s Of t reat ing political l iberty exclu sively as a mean s to “ the sol ution o f the social qu estion . ”

We feel as an insult the idea t h at we shoul d l ook upon l iberty as a mere tool with wh ich to obtain something else , as though th e needs an d feelings of fre e m en were strange to u s , as though o u r duties to the peopl e have blinded u s t o o u r duties to ourselves an d ou r h u man dignity .

We think , more over , th at thi s timid phrase m ay l ay u s open to a danger , the possibil ity o f which i s probably u nsuspected by many of the wise person s who repeat it . From the constant harnessing , as it were on principl e , Of pol itical freedom to th e solution o f th e l abour qu estion , the re i s but o n e ste p to d emocratic imp eri alism . From th e point

o f view o f narrow l abour inte rests , it m ay app ear m ore advantageous to u phol d t h e huge powe r already established , once it offers i mm ediate econom ic reform s , t h an t o fol l ow t he long and difficu l t path t o general freedom . We m ay be an swered th at on ly very short - sigh ted person s could fal l into this trap . B ut u nhappily suc h Short sightedn ess i s a com mon disea s e am ong Ru ssian s , and this fact renders caut ion doubly nec e ss ary . We ad mit o f n o comp rom ise o n this point , and , i n c ase o f a conflict between civil l iberty and i m perial social ism , we shoul d t ake o u r stan d o n the sid e o f “ bou rgeoi s ” L iberal s against the “ p ea s a n t i s t ” social ist s , wh o allowe d them selve s to b e caugh t in such a sn are .

We do not bel ieve in th e possibility o f m aking th e peopl e pro sperou s by decrees an d edict s from above . An d both i m p erial an d Jacobin ical socialism l ead to th e sam e re su lt ! t h e t ransform ation o f th e country into a huge workhou se .

O nly wh ere t here exists gen eral freedom and where th e whole p eopl e c an j udge o f and decid e upon social “ m at ters , i s it possibl e to p ractical ly realise in l ife any new ideas o r principl es , including th e re con struction o f econom ic relation s on t he basi s of socialism . By t he “ peopl e we m ean , not m erely th e representatives o f physic al labou r but th e whol e n ation . Th erefore we desire the spread

o f liberty throughout th e l ength and breadth of t he country, that every so cial organisation shoul d be permeated by it from c entre t o periphery . We d esire auton o my , lo cal and region al ; we desire a federalis m whi c h w ill render independent al l those

rac es and l and s w hich m ake u p the state . W e desire freedom for al l Ru s sian s wi t hout d i s ti n c tion of party ; and we are ready to defen d it i n th e

n am e o f that un iversal sense of c ivic solidarity whic h lie s outside of c l ass - questions , and wh ic h exists in all advanc ed countries i n proportion to the degree o f t hei r advancement . To repu diate it for th e sake o f any economic philo sophy, even o f

G erm an origin , woul d be as u n reason able as to deny t he existenc e o f mutu al in su rance com pan ies on the groun d th at all men are egotists .

I t is only by gu aranteeing l iberty to o u r Opponents th at we can secure ou r own . Th e science of l iberty does not con sist in knowing how t o do and s ay what is pleasant o r a dvantageou s t o ourselves—every o n e c an manage th at without le arning how—but in developing t he fac ulty Of tol erating wh at i s u m pleasant o r even inj uri o u s , when ever it is t he resul t Of the u se Of right s equ al to o u r o w n .

We d o not s ee why all person s Of a prog ressive turn Of m ind who are o u r Opponents on the e c onomic questions should not pay u s back i n the s am e coin . There is not in o u r Vie w a single point which

coul d hinder u s from working in com mon with t hem .

We ac kn owl edge without equivocation that , as regard s t he political qu est ion , which for u s is th e que stion o f the day , our program m e i s j ust th at Of the advanced sec ti o n o f Russian Liberal s , as it h a s been stated in the fo reign p ress , and , to su c h an extent as the cen sorship has allowed , in a few Ru ssian periodic al s . We shoul d not hesitate t o s ay th at we subscribe and accept t heir program me , did we n o t know that really we have t ake n it from th e sam e sou rce from whic h th ey took it ! Observation

Of Europ ean life and study Of E uropean political history .

Th e Russian revol utionists , in consequ ence of th e

pecul iar c ondition s u nder which th eir movemen t was born , protested fo r a l ong tim e , as we have said , again st pol i tic s and w hen at l ast they ac cepte d it , th ey avoided th e beaten track and , wi shing to fin d

o u t fo r the m selves something new and original , went by roundabout bypath s ac cording to t h e proverb

“ Five m il es straight , but perh ap s three miles round .

Th e Liberal s , o n th e c ontrary , wen t straight toward s t heir end wi thout any hair - Spl itting , and thu s attained to a sim pl e r, more logical , and m ore

prac tical standpoint i n . po l i ti cs .

I n offering o u r suggestion s to o u r Russian co m rad e s we h ave l aid aside all consideration s of

political opportu nism , suc h a s t he desire to “ attract t he Lib eral s . U ndoubted ly it is both desirable and i mport ant to avoid al l c ause s Of m i s u nderstanding an d m utual distrust bet ween th e two great branches o f our Opposition . B ut it is stil l more desirabl e an d im portant , for the s ake Of t he party itself, to s et o u r fou ndation s traight , as i t were , to get rid Of all confusion Of ideas ; fo r su c h confu sion m ay , in the futu re if n o t now , bec om e a source of m is understandings , errors , an d even fail ure .

A s for th e quest ion o f the s uggested leaguing together o f Liberal s an d revolutionists , we hasten to explain that we are n ot c ontemp l ating any formal o r organi c unifi c ation . We hold , in contradiction to t he general Opinion , that a tru e organic leagu e between u s and t he L iberal s will becom e possible , n o t before the revol ution , but , to use the com mon t erm , “ o n th e day after ” it . T O hope that , in a momen t and by o n e blow, w e can win for ourselves as m uch liberty as i s enj oyed by th e Engl ish an d

American s , woul d be too n a i ve. There i s far m ore reason to suppose that o u r first portion o f l iberty will be a mu c h sm al l er o n e , an d that it will becom e widened l ater o n by the c om mon eff orts Of all pro g r es s i ve parties . U n til that time there c an be no question Of a c om mon organisation ; attempts at it can lead to nothing but fr iI i t l es s destruction . The p arties m ust rem ain separate , independent whol es ,

j oining togeth er for special prac tical ac tion s , but without amalgamating, like d iversely equipped troops forming one army . Th e L iberal party cannot , if on ly becau se Of its size , adop t those m ethod s Of action which are su itable for r ev o l u

t i o n i s t s .

A gen eral l eague between the part ies at t he pre sen t t im e can be only a moral o n e, based o n

m utu al comprehension an d trust , an d o n th e c on s ci o u s n es s Of com mon interests . I t i s for su c h a l eagu e that we wish to make a way by removing som e Of t h e im agi nary Obstac les . An d here , too , we wou l d choo s e practice rather than theory, and appl ication to l ife rather t han abstract propositions . I t is fo r u s a m atter o f c omparative indifference

whethe r any Of our suggestion s sh al l o r shal l n o t ente r into any Of t h e n u m erou s home - mad e “ pro

gramm es ” concocted every year in various holes and corners o f ou r huge count ry . Everything th at h a s entered into l ife m ust nec essarily , sooner o r l ater , fi n d it s way into a p rogramm e ; but m uch t hat stand s i n program mes will f o r ever remain a d ead letter in l ife .

\V h a t we fervently desire i s t hat o u r words m ay c ontribute , in however sm al l a degree , to the de v el o p m en t amongst u s Of greater m utual toleran ce , an d especially to the abandoning o f t he absurd att itude toward s all persons cal led Liberal s , which

i m punity. I n fac e o f th i s boundles s hu miliation , o f th is in solent and del iberate outrage u pon every t hing th a t i s sacred to u s , shal l t here not awake in u s t he dire c t an d simpl e sen se Of indignation ? S hall it not sweep aw ay as dust both the dry b o nes Of dogm atism and al l petty quarrel s and dis sensi o n s , and show u s a comrade and a brother in every man who is an ene my o f o u r en emy , and w ho is w il ling t o take part in the fight ? I t is on ly by o u r d i s sensions , by o u r inc apac ity to work together , that t he pre sen t system is enab l ed t o stand ; and unless we c an attain to political c oherency and l earn t o act in unison , it wil l continu e to stand for years and years .

S U P P L E M E N T . T H E B E G I N N I N G OF T H E E N D .

The present pamphl et was written m ore than half a year ago ; 1 and , its pub l icat i o n h aving been u h avoidab ly de l ayed , it n o w appears un der condition s m aterial ly different from thos e u nder wh ic h it w a s written . D uring t hi s perio d t he auto c racy h as r e cei ve d a b l ow from whic h it cannot rec o ver , an d whic h m ay possibly shake it to its very foundations . We speak Of the terribl e famine whic h has fallen u pon al most the whol e o f corn - growing Russia . I I n Jan uar y, 1 89 1 .

M en have proved powerles s and inco m petent to snatc h th e c ountry o u t Of t he hand s Of the autocracy before i t was t OO l ate ; a n d no w N ature has ri sen u p to do the work with her blind and m erc i l ess agent , hunger , which assuredly will sweep a w ay a h undred t ime s more l ives an d c au se a hundred times more su ffering t h a n t he m ost s angu inary revol ution .

Th i s i s not a pleasant refle ction . B u t on c e th e fac t i s so , i t beho ves u s to think w hat we sh all do to render a repetition Of such m isfortu nes impossibl e i n futu re .

I t i s needle s s to explain that th e p resent fam ine is the in evitabl e con sequence o f that c ondition o f chronic destitution to wh ich th e p eopl e h ad been reduced before the beginning o f thi s blac k year . That is now ac knowl edged and rep eated t hroughout the whol e Russian press , and the very Governm ent d ares not d eny it . I t is al so superfl uous to demon strate t hat the present c ri si s c annot pa ss over wit h th e c urrent year , but i s certain t o s pre ad it s e l f over m any c oming years , grad u al ly shaking t o pieces t he state m achinery , bringing th e fin ances into hopeless c o nfusion , and driving the G o vern ment into m aterial and mora l bankruptcy . Al ready twenty - fi ve (by som e cal c u l ation s , thirty - four) m illions Of p easants —that i s to s a y , over a third Of th e taxpayers—are hopele ssly ru ined , p o s sessing n o longer either cattle seed - corn , o r any oth er mean s u pon w h ic h to exist

and to pay taxes . Th e necessity Of su pporting them , an d o f so m ehow fi ll ing u p th e deficit in t he b u dget , m ust n ec essar i ly result in c ompleting t h e ruin o f the other two - thirds who are stil l contri ving to som ehow m ake bot h e nds meet .

The year 1 892 threatens to be stil l darker than the pre s en t year , an d we s ee no pro spect Of improve m ent in t he future .

Th e most favourabl e atm ospheric conditions c annot produc e co rn on an u nsown field , o r render it possible for the peasant s t o plou gh withou t cattle . The position is a hopel e ss o n e, and we may indeed l ook u pon th e pre sent crisis as t he beginn ing of th e end . All t his is pl ain t o se e f or any o n e cap abl e Of looking furt her into the future than to - morrow . We h ave spoken o f th is in order to warn t hose whom o u r word s m ay reach from exaggerating the pol itical effects o f external el emental forces , among whic h m ust be cl assed suc h crises a s th e p re sent o n e .

We rem embe r how , ten years ago , the enormou s and ap parent ly invin c ib l e en ergy Of th e r ev o l u

t i o n i s t s , wit h th e executive com m ittee at their h ead , favou red th e growth , in c ertain c ircle s , o f a pecul iar kin d Of c owardic e . P eopl e who , in all other respect s , were reason abl e and wel l m eaning woul d put fo rward , as an exc use for th eir Own inactivity , their bel ief i n th e power Of the r ev o l u

t i o n i s t s . “ They wi l l sm ash up th e autocracy , ”

said these enth usiast s ; and con sidered th at to Offe r h el p to su ch Titans would be quite su perfluous . There are peopl e ready to tran sfe r t his l azy o pt i m i s m to fam ine , to an u nsucces sful war , an d t o oth er su ch bl in d forc es .

Thi s is a pitifu l m istake . N eith er war n o r famine will make a revo l ution for u s , o r des t roy the autocracy . Economi c c onfusion m ay bring th e state into a con dition of co m plete bankru ptcy , o f incapacity to pay th e sal aries Of it s offi c ers an d

Official s , m ay cau se t h e entire loss of it s cred it ; and yet th e despotism m ay rem ain u n sh aken , a s h as happened in t h e c ase o f Turkey . A war m ay reduc e Russia t o the position o f a thi rd - rat e Powe r without n eces sarily d est roying t h e auto

cracy. N ay , fam in e m ay cal l forth a whol e series Of petty popul a r revolts and dist urbances , which m ay be each ti me su ppressed , and m ay en d in nothing but t h e u sel ess sl aughter o f now h u ndred s , now thou sands o f rebel s . P easant revolt s are a mere el em ental fo rc e , wh ich , alone an d without th e hel p of a con sciou s opposition , can not c h ange anything containing an idea , be it even a worn Out one .

We do n ot s ay that th e upheaval o f elem ental fo rc e s , shoul d it t ake pl ace , will su bside leaving n o results . O n t he cont rary , we are convinced t hat th is will not be th e case , j u st becau s e su c h

an outbu rst of eleme ntal d iscontent woul d cer t a i n ly awaken to life and activity the r epr es en t a t i v es o f a con sciou s opposition . We only wish to point o u t that for u s t here is no sal vati o n without a con sciou s revolution . Th erefore th e most energetic activity o n th e part of th e con s ciou s Opposition is not m erely a mean s Of “ h astening events , ” as th e partisans o f “ o rganic development ” l ike to express them selves , b ut a con d i ti o s i n e an d n on Of th e ve ry oc c u rrenc e o f such events .

What are t hose to do who wish to all evi at e t h e

m ise ry of th e p eopl e by word and deed , irre sp ective o f possibl e c onsequ enc e s to them selves ?

At pres ent fam in e rag e s in th e c ou ntry district s only ; an d in several cas e s t hos e dist ri cts have al ready witn e ss ed activ e expressions o f p opular m isery an d despair . I s n o t the pl ac e of the revolutionist s now in th e country ? and shoul d they n o t t urn th ei r e nergie s toward s th e direc t incitem ent of the peasants to in surre ction ?

Educated and d et ermined persons m ay do great se rvice to the popular mov em ent a l ready beginning , by organising it and giving to it great er energy and stability an d a wider reach . B ut it i s not p robable that revol ution ists c an have mu ch success a s initia tors an d arousers o f su ch m ovements . And this , not b ec au se the work is too great for their powers ,

but becau se it dem ands m ean s and weapons different in ch aracter from t hose at ou r d isposal . We can not spread rumou rs of “ Enoch h aving com e to l ife again , ” o r Of a “ horse h aving fallen from th e s k y with mysti c inscriptions on its back . ” Stil l l ess c an we c irculat e t al es o f mysteriou s i m perial edict s . Yet such fab l es , whic h exc it e th e popul ar im agin a tion , are al ways at t he bottom o f peasant i n s u r r e c t ion s . I t is po s sibl e t hat thi s year ’ s fam in e m ay n o t provoke any w id espre ad p eas ant disturban c e s ; an d even if it shoul d d o s o , they wil l have to be th e work o f the p easant s t hem selves , n ot o f r ev o l u t i o n i s t s . O u r forc e s are c hiefly in th e towns ; and there , without being com pel l ed to reso rt to fables and invention s , we c an o rganise a direct , en ergetic , fully con sciou s attack which m ay give th e d eath blow t o th e s haken autocracy . S haken it u n doubtedly wil l be by the present c risis , whethe r that crisis bring about a p easant war o r not . We do not speak o f th e non - paym ent of t axes ; t he st arving peopl e cannot re main qu iet , either in th e vil l ages Oi’ in t he towns , t o whic h th e fam ine stri cke n m asses flock . The c ent ral Governm ent will t hu s b ecome weaken e d an d its con sciou s opponents will b e abl e to overthrow it more easily th an at any other t im e . Th u s it was in t he French Revol ution , an d thu s it mu st be in o u r case .

By what m eans an d i n wh at way th e attack should be m ad e is a question o f t actics whic h can only b e decided by person s on th e spot . All th at we can say is that on ly a widespread m ove m ent , su p ported , as far as possibl e , by t h e whole m as s o f the discontented , can su cc eed , an d that th i s m om ent i s peculiarly favourabl e for such a m ove m ent .

We m ay compare th e present position to defeat in a war with an extern al en emy . The terribl e scourge o f famine h as been brought u pon t h e country by t h e G overnm ent f o r , u nder other conditions , no failure o f crop s cou ld h ave caused anything resemb l ing t he pre sent misery . An d th is sam e Govern ment n o w Shows itself utterly incapabl e o f helping th e people in th eir distress ; it h as acknow l edged th is fact before th e whol e country, an d h as handed over the task to private initiati ve . Yet , at th e sam e time , s o great is its fear Of th e public ex er cising any control over it , th at it pl aces i n th e way Of such initiative Obstacl es which render any real h el p impos sibl e . N eith er Russian society nor th o se fo reign ers wh o h ave s hown th em selves willing t o bring t heir m ill ion s to th e aid Of th e Ru ssian peop l e care to tru st their fu nd s to th e u ncontrolled disposal o f t h e Ru ssian bureaucracy . Ten s o f thou sand s , m aybe hu nd red s o f thou s ands , Of Russian s are doomed to perish bec au se t h e Gove rn m en t , which

o f con stitution , and al so by force . We shoul d be gl ad to fi nd ourselves mistaken , but we do not think that o u r Govern m ent wi l l yie l d unti l it has exhau sted al l m ean s Of resistance , an d th is wi ll forc e the Oppo s i t i o n to empl oy all me an s in the struggle . N either the Liberal s n o r the revolutionists separately c an overthrow the autocracy . There m u st be l arge and energetic demonstrat ions , decl arations , p rotests , from t h e t own and county councils , from the press an d from society ; it i s absol utely e ssential t hat th ere be al so a free organ to act as a m irror o f th e movement ; but it i s doubtful whethe r such efforts can bring about t h e desired end without direct attacks , without m ilitary an d other plots , which woul d force the G ove rnment to seek refuge in timely c ompromises . Th e pl edge o f victory i s the m utu al support o f both section s Of th e Opposition . Th erefore o u r l ast word to al l friends o f th e Russian peop l e must be an appeal to l ay asid e all sectarian differences for th e sake o f t he things we all demand , to j oin together an d to fight . L et u s fight o n th e largest scal e t hat is Open t o u s , but in any case l et u s fight , wh atever be t he diffi cu lties or th e sacrifices . The terribl e disasters t h rough whic h o u r c ou ntry i s passing l ay u pon u s great Obligations , and u pon o u r way o f fulfil l ing t hem it depen ds whether Ru s sia sh al l enter into the twentieth c entu ry a s a free cou ntry , or whether, d egenerating , fal l ing to piec e s ,

her nation al featu res , s he m u st s h am efully

nt i l th e m arc h o f European progre s s fl i n g s t o an alm s , wh at other nation s h ave conquered

m s el v e s by h eroism and self- s a cr i fi ce .

I N D ecember , 1 889 , at a small privat e m eeting Of on ly fou r person s , two Engl ish and t w o Ru ssians , it was determ ined to found in Engl and a society , with the Obj ect Of h elping forward th e c au se Of Russian em ancipation by all m eans legitimate fo r foreigners .

Taking into con s ideration th e Engl ish dread o f responsibil ity , ” and con sequent dislike o f interfering in anything which they do not thoroughly u nderstand , we might h ave supposed t h e su c c ess o f the proj e ct to b e very doubtful . B ut o n e o f the two Engl i s h pers ons was Robert Sp en ce Watson , n ow President o f the Liberal Federat ion of G reat B ritain , on e o f t hem ost influ e ntial an d gifted Engl ish m en of ou r t im e . T O h is fresh and l iving ent hus i asm fo r th e Russian c au se , to his energy an d t he powerful fascination o f his p ersonality , we o w e it that , in l itt l e more t han two months , dozen s o f t he most respected names in Engl and w ere written down in the l ist Of m embers of t he n ew soc iety .

Th e motives which indu ced D r . Spence Watson ‘ (a man n o longe r young an d a s bu sy as on ly Engl ish states m en are) to t ake u p the Russian agitation are s o characteristic , and the further success o f the agi t at i o n is s o l argely his work , t hat it m ay be worth wh ile to say a few word s about hi m p erson ally .

D r . S pence

Watson i s a N ewc astl e m an , a lawye r Of radical convictions . H e comes o f an Ol d fam ily , whi c h be l o nged to the Society o f Friends , an d h as long be en d istingu ish ed for it s fervent sympathy with the caus e Of l iberty in al l countries and f o r al l n ation s . H is father was a strong reformer , a friend o f j ohn

Bright an d Lloyd G arrison , an d D r . Watson hi m self, h aving com e under the person al influ ence o f Kossuth , G aribaldi , and Fe l ic e O rsini , at the age o f twenty , was mu c h incl in ed t o fl ing over th e Quaker ’ s un c onditional Obj ec tion to war an d j oin G aribaldi ’ s

“ Thousand ” whic h l anded in S icily in 1 860 . Ten years l ater , at the tim e o f the Franco - Pru ssian war , h e coll ected a large s u m o f money for th e rel ief o f the Fren ch p easants ruined by t he war, and , wit hout waiting for the promulgation o f peac e , went o u t to th e scene of hostil ities to d istribute t h e fun ds in . person . Thi s form o f philanth ropy proved to be al most m ore dangerou s th an d irect partic ipation in th e fighting . H e had m ore t o fear from frien ds than from enem ies . O n several occasion s h e n early lost h is life because th e French im agined him t o be a

Pru ssian s py wh o had come under the pretext o f phi l anthropy to exam ine their position . I n 1 877 , d uring the Ru sso - Turki sh war , h e wa s an ardent partisan o f Russia , as , l ike M r . G ladstone , h e th e n bel iev ed t hat th e Russian Govern m ent really de sire d to free B ulgaria . H i s great i nflu ence in th e n orth o f Engl an d c ou nted for m u c h in b ringin g abou t th at revul sion o f Engl ish public Opinion an d political action whi c h fol lowed t h e famous disclosures o f th e B ulgarian Atrocities .

A man with su c h antecedents an d with sympathies s o wide coul d n ot fail to be interested in th e sudden outbu rst of internal discontent in Ru s si a itself, th at Russian revol ution ary movem ent which i n Western Europ e h as been d ubbed N ihilism . ” When a series o f publication s appeared in t he E nglish language explaining th e m eaning an d aim of this struggle , t h e po sition Of the peopl e , the mutu al rel ation s Of Govern m ent and society , that interest gradu ally grew into profound sym pathy . S u c h sym pathy doe s n o t nec essarily imply co m pl ete sol idarity , but renders i m possibl e al l n arrowne s s o f View , an d en abl es m en to ris e above prej udic es an d dissension s and to u nderstan d by s i m p l e hu m an feel ing a l l that i s great and noble in a movem ent su c h as ou rs .

The publ i c ation Of M r. Kenn an ’ s S iberian artic l es

wa s t he l ast tou c h whic h c on verted thi s fee l ing into a n overpowering im pulse to do something to rel ieve ,

in however slight a degree , the m iseries that h ad produ ced s o deep an im pression .

At o n e o f t h e prel im inary m eetings o f th e future

Society , Dr . Wat son , speaking o f h i s resolve to give som e prac tic al expression to his sympathy wit h th e c au se of Ru ssian freedom , said , We c annot remain indifferent spectators o f th e c ruel ties th at are inflic ted u pon o u r n eighbours in Russ ia . We mu st hel p in som e way , however little m ay be t he hel p th at we c an give . Fo r u s th is is a qu estion o f d uty and o f conscience ; for som e Of u s it is a qu estion of o u r peace o f m ind . ”

I n an swe r t o this appeal was form ed , in 1 890 , th e S ociety of Fri end s o f Russian Freedom , with a committe e consisting o f twenty - eight m e mbers . The com mittee now contain s ten m e mbers of Par l i a m en t and several l eaders of the Radic al party , suc h as Professor S tu art , M r . B u rt , M r . Al l an son Pict o n , and others . O n th e c omm ittee l ist we al so fi nd such n am es as St Opfo r d B rooke , Percy B un t ing , Charl e s B erry , M r s . M all et , & c . Th e fi rst and m o st difficul t step was taken . I n th e fol lowing year , 1 89 1 , the organ is ation spread to A meric a , where an o th er so c iety was formed re sembling th e Engl ish o n e in aim s and c haracter , and with as influential a co m m i t t ee .

I n t his m anne r th e Ru ssian work abroad was fi rst formulated and o rgan ised . Both soci eties , from t heir

very beginning , have kept before th em d efinite aim s and a cl ear u nderstan ding o f wh at means th ey j udge

fit to u se for th e attain ment Of those a i ms .

N eith er society confin es itsel f to protesting again st special in stan ces o f Ru ssian tyranny , su ch as th e

S ib erian horro rs and th e b rutal treatment o f pol itic al prisoners in exile , although t hese are th e th ings which m ake t he strongest im pression upon foreigners . The societies hol d a wider View Of t heir work ; and , be l ieving th at th e root o f the m isc hief l ies in the au tocracy itself, h ave set before t h em selves as an aim th e su pport fro m without o f th ose w ho are

fighting again st th e autocracy with in th e count ry .

Thi s more radic al attitu de of the societies toward s th e Ru ssian qu estion Shows a fulle r u nd erstanding

o n t h e part Of foreigners Of t h e true position Of Ru ssia . S im u l taneou sly with th e fou nding Of the Engl ish society, anothe r society , with as wide a program m e , was st arted in D enver , in the far west Of Am eric a , o n th e initiative Of M r . Scott S axon , an enthu siast in Ru s sian affairs . At th e present tim e , in b o th Engl and an d Am eri c a, o n e m ay m eet everywh ere person s who feel in this way towards Ru ssian affairs .

Far more c om pl ex i s th e question ! H o w can practic al hel p be given ?

The st ruggl e fo r l iberty, wh erever it takes pl ac e , always m eet with sym pathy and support among free

th e n ame Of t he peopl e an d taking upon th em selve s to decide what t he p eopl e n eed an d wish , can offer n ot on ly a warrant o f sincerity which is t estified by th eir readiness to sacrific e th eir own lives , bu t al so th e warrant o f competen cy to u nd erstand the need s and condition s of l ife Of t h e l and for whic h th ey are

fighting.

Al l these con siderations , s uggested by simpl e respect for th e rights and dignity o f t he Russian p eopl e , were thought o f wh en th e program m e Of t h e n ew society was drawn u p . Th e English , and after it th e A m erican , society distinctly stated that th e form o f active h elp whic h they coul d give to th e Russian l iberation move m ent woul d be to win over t o its side , by m eans o f fre e agitation , th e publ ic opinion , first of their o w n country , an d th e n o f other free l ands . Th is fo rm o f h el p cont ain s no trac e o f l ic en se o r forced interfe rence i n th e dom esti c affairs o f another cou ntry , an d m erely repres ent s the u se o f th e inalienabl e right o f al l m en to express freely wh at they t hink an d feel .

H ere we c o m e to t he o ft - repe ated question ! Can anything s o intangibl e as the expression Of what foreigners think and fee l exerc ise any seriou s i h fl u en ce over t he cou rse o f event s in Ru ss ia ? C a n we expec t that a Governm en t wh ich rem ain s deaf to the d em and s o f pub l ic Opinion at ho m e wi l l l isten t o t he voice o f foreigne rs ? O r that th e stagnant

waters o f Russian patience will be stirred , even to a perc eptibl e rippl e , by any storm rais ed in far - o ff l and s— n ay , o n the other s ide Of the globe ?

The s e que stions and doubt s are quite serious , an d deserve our ful l attention . We will , therefore , try to state as clearly as possible ou r view o f the agitation abroad , it s condition s , and the ext ent o f it s possibl e influ ence .

I t i s h ardly n ecessary t o explain th at w e fu lly u nderstand that su ch I nfluen c e mu st , by its very nature , b e l imited . Th e Ru ssian qu estion mu st be solved o n Ru ssian soil by Ru ssian efforts . That i s as it mu st and as it s houl d be . Every nation worthy Of l iberty mu st win her fo r itself. B ut we m aintain that , with an active su pport from Russia , t he agitation abroad m ay becom e a val u able he l p i n the struggl e ; th at , whereas i n Russia every step costs terribl e s a crific es , th e Russian Oppo s it ion , by working abroad can , withou t any sa crific es and with a trifling expenditure o f energy , c reat e a forc e whic h the Govern ment , in spite Of it s m ill io ns o f bayonet s , wil l hav e t o take i nto ac count .

At th e first gl a nce these hopes may seem , to s a y the l e a st , exaggerat ed .

I t is quite tru e that the proposed pl an o f m aking

u se o f th e fo reign p ress is som ething n ew , u n known i n form er revol utions . B ut we m ust n ot forget that during t he l ast forty o r fifty years the re h ave happened in the world many n ew things which formerly did not exist , o r existed only in th e germ . M oreove r , the position o f Ru ssia an d Of t he Ru ssian qu e stion abroad i s a l so a quite n ew o n e .

The s u m Of m any d ifferent general influen c es , both intellectu al an d pol iti c al , h ave c reated , so t o s ay , a new forc e ! th e periodical p ress , above al l th e d aily press , t he n ewspape r . At any rate th ey h ave d evel oped it to an astonishing ext ent , rendering it th e gre atest powe r in t h e worl d of to - day . Th e s u m Of oth er condition s an d influ ences has , as it were , placed t his enormou s force at the disposal of t he Ru ssian opposition .

Ru ssia, with her popul ation o f over a h undred m illion s , increasing at so exc ept ional ly rapid a rat e , has always been , and m ust continu e to b e , a state of th e fi rst rank as regard s h er infl uenc e o n th e

general c ourse o f Eu ropean h isto ry . Th e overthrow o f autocracy an d th e establishm ent of a free con

s t i t u t i o n al governm ent in Ru ssia will be an i n cal cul abl e boon to h u m anity , f o r with it i s bound u p th e qu estion o f t h e del iveran c e o f al l Central Europe from th e iron yoke o f m il itarism . The fal l

o f the autocracy in S t . P et ersburg will render su perfl uou s and , therefore , impossible the co n

t i n u a n ce of th e h alf- autocracy in B erlin . And all the international rel ation s , the whol e political life Of Eu rop e wi ll b e ch anged when t ru e l iberty i s introduced into G erm any . O n t he other h and , eve ry fu rther year th at t h e Russian auto c racy c ontinu es to exist is a sourc e o f further anxietie s , dangers , n ervou s tension and m aterial loss and expense f o r th e whol e western world .

The Russian que stion is t herefore a question o f enormou s international i m portance , an d concern s far more interests t han t hose of th e Ru ssian p eopl e alone . Th is c irc u m stanc e i s Of t he greatest c on sequence , as it gives stability and fi rmness to the Russian cau se abroad . Apart from tem porary ex ci t e m en t s , apart from the ebb and flow of pol itic al

cu rio sity , al l t hat h appen s in Ru ssia wil l al ways be a matter Of deep interest to thinking persons o f all civil ised n ation s . Sympathy with the Russian movement will grow , steadily and c onstan t ly , t o gether with the growth Of general interes t in pol itics and social question s . Th is international characte r of the Russian question al so affords u s th e b est an swe r to o n e special accusation . Th e Ru ssian Offi c ial press h as long been Observing o u r movement . A s usual , it has ac cu sed u s of “ treason , ” an d h as pou red u pon u s a fl ood of abuse fo r leaguing wi t h “ t he ene m ies o f Ru ssia .

T O t he gentlem en in th e p ay o f the Ru ssian

G overn m ent we have nothing to say . B ut w e re s pec t and appre c iate patriotic feeling in s o far a s i t i s a m anife station o f love to one ’ s o w n rac e , n ot an expression of rapaciou s instin c t s toward s oth e r races . We wou l d rather s ee i n ou r friend s an exagge rated j eal ou sy towards anyth ing t hat really c oncern s th e dignity Of Ru ssian people , t han i n difference . And , therefore , to those who a re hon estly h urt by th e interferen ce Of foreig ners in o u r dom estic quarrels , we an swer t hat modern n ation s have n o l onge r any “ d om estic quarrels , properly s o - called . O n ce we have t elegraph wires— those n erves o f the coll ective hum an body— to instantly spread over everywhere th e knowledge o f al l th e wrongs an d sorrows of t he world , al l th e world suffers with t h e griefs and mi sfortune s o f every separate peopl e .

Every m an , a s a m an , has th e right to war against evil , wherever h e find it , in the n am e o f t h e moral suffering which it c au ses hi m ; h e has the right to d efen d from that suff ering both himself an d those n ear to h im .

N o o n e now recognises th e pretensions Of variou s dom estic tyrants to th e right o f ex erc i sing dom estic tyranny o n th e grou nd th at “ a househol d i s a s ec ret , pri vate thing , ” t o u se th e expression put into their mouth by o u r great national dram atist .

An d y et t he deman d for political n o n - interference ,

put forward by those to whom th e m isery of th e nation is advantageou s, bears j u st th e sam e character .

B ut these con siderations m ay app ear t o o abstract an d sentim ental fo r a pol itic al pamphlet . We therefore p refer to take o u r st and u pon the p al pabl e and inalienabl e right o f foreigners to fight again st th e Ru ssian autocracy as against a principle i nj ur i ous to them sel ves , inimical t o l iberty , retarding progress i n thei r ow n l an d .

B ut w e , t o o , are E urop ean s . For to be a Ru ssian does not involve counting oneself an Asiatic—at l east not n ecessarily so . G eneral European interest s are d ear to u s for their o w n sake , irrespect ive Of their possible infl uence on Russian life . We , together with all t he advanced parties in Eu rope , desi re to s ee real i s ed in E uropean l ife , as rapidly and with as little hindrance as m ay be , t he great prin cipl es brought to light by m odern soc ial science . We desire th e unhindered develop m ent of ou r com mon culture . Thu s in th e struggl e o n Eu rop ean soil against Russian Tzarism we can j oin with Eu ropean s as comrade s , o n a basis o f m utual h el p , in a c au se whic h we conside r a qu ite gen eral o n e . A s fo r o u r j ingoes , indignant— perhaps even sinc erely i n di g nant— a t s uch a l eague , w e can afford to t reat them with t he sam e complete indiff eren c e with whic h we revol utionists t reat th e howl s o f th e kn ights

errant o f Ob scurantism in Ru ssia . Th e analogy is compl ete .

We h Op e th e reader will not t ake th e abov e to mean that we attribute t he foreign su pport o f t h e Ru ssian movem ent to util it arian motives an d pol icy . We m ust not confus e what i s really the l a wf ul

sa n cti on —o r rath er on e san ct ion—Of a m ove m ent with it s true motive forc e . Th e r ig ht to take part in a p articul ar struggl e , th e right to sacrifice for it t im e , m on ey , o r great e r th ings , h as n ever yet i m pelled a singl e hu m an being to really t ake p art in it , o r really to sacrific e anything for its sake .

Fo r this we n eed som ething deeper an d more im pul sive ; we need th e living sympathy whic h alon e c an in duc e a m an to labou r fo r th e good of others without any advantage t o hi mself—eve n , it may be , to h i s own detri ment .

This living sym pathy i s the cau se o f th e move ment i n Ru ssia , and j ust s o thi s is t h e cau se of it in Engl and .

B u t what shoul d suddenly arou se in English peopl e su ch sym pathy with u s ? What m iracle ?

Why this l ove fo r Ru ssian l ibe rty and th is u nselfi sh d e sire t o hel p it ? H ave the E nglish not care s an d difficulties enough Of th eir own ?

D ropping water wears away a stone . Th e con t i n u a l tal k about th e “ h i storical enm ity to u s Of p er fi di o u s Al bion has l eft its trace i n th e m inds

t he other ! t he poetry o f form and the poetry Of action ; t h e fascination o f th e genius of c reation an d Of th e geniu s of self- s a cr i fi ce .

Th e i m m en se succ ess Of the Ru ssian novel abroad i s known to all educated peopl e . I t i s a fact not on ly o f literary i mportance , but o f the grave st politica l significance ; it m arks an epoch fo r th e Ru ssian cau se abroad . O u r great n ovel ist s have been th e p ropagan dists of t he Ru ssian idea ; they h ave been t he first to convince Oth er nation s th at t h e Russian p eopl e is n o t a horde Of barbarians , but a great an d civil ised n ation , with boundless potential itie s of future d evelopment . Refl ecting , with th e compl eten e ss an d u n iversality of gen ius , al l sides o f Ru ssian l ife , t h ey have op ened to foreigners a whol e n ew world , amazing in its dept h and enchanting in its weal th an d variety ; t hey first have shown t o outsid ers t he real Russia which had l ain h idden b eh ind a forest o f b ayonets .

And t h ere is n ow n o co rn er o f th e earth to whic h t h e Ru ssian novel has not p enetrated , o r where it h as n o t w o n for t he Russian peopl e friends and possibl e p artisans o f liberty .

The Ru ssia n revo l utionary move ment al so has been a revel ation to foreigners , as a proof Of a pol itical c risis and int ernal st ruggl e , t he existence o f which they had n ot su spected . I t showed them t h e Russian s in a n ew l ight ; it attracted th eir

attention by th e energy and dram atic fo rc e Of th e

u nequal conflict ; it c on quered t heir heart s by the irresistibl e force Of sacrifi c e . This sel f- abnegation

disarm s enm ity and transform s reproac he s and acc u sati o n s into wondering inquiry already on ly on e

step re moved from sym pathy . The Ru s sian move

m ent , though n ot u nderstood , h as be c o m e a l iving

epos Of o u r time , winning over to it s side publ i c opinion , and awakening al ike a mazement and symp athy .

A merica and Engl an d read with horror Kennan ’ s

m ourn ful n arrative , whi c h h a s left an indel ible t race o n th e m in d o f the Whol e contemporary world . Kennan ’ s great work has , once an d fo r al l , dispel led th e prej udic e s and m isunderstandings

con c erning o u r movement , and h a s placed its aim s , m otives , and s ignificance in their true light . These are the sources o f t he Ru s sian sympathies o f foreigners . At th e pres ent t im e there are , among o u r historical en emies th e English , fir st as among o u r “ transat l antic frie n ds , thou sand s o f person s who have be c om e true friends to th e real Ru ssia , t he Ru s si a Of t he peopl e . They know and app re c iate Ru ss ian literature ; t hey u nderstand the Ru s sian race , kno w o f it s troubles , fervently desire it s well - being , and believe in its future . We have even , to ou r astonish ment , m et wit h p ersons who look to Russia for the “ new world . ”

Su c h pe rson s are , Of co urse , exceptional n atures , pecul iarly impressionabl e an d responsive to the affliction s o f others . They are rare in any o n e spot ; but , cou nt ed togeth er , their n am e is l egion ; an d all these are potential workers for th e Ru ss ian cau se ab road .

With t he m ass Of t he reading publ ic th e intere st in Russia is , o f c ours e , su perficial . Thi s coul d not b e othe rwise , considering th e intensity Of l ife in Eu rope and th e press o f burning hom e - qu estion s . B ut t he int erest u ndoubted ly exists , and , being spread over s o wide a field , form s an enormous total strength , capabl e o f being util ised for practical work . S everal years ago , reading the biog raphy o f

C arl o Cattaneo , the hero Of the M il an revol ut ion o f 1 848 and , on e o f the profoundest t hinkers o f his time , we cam e upon the following singul ar fact . Cattaneo , who was not on ly a s a va n t but a brilliant j ournalist , and who real ised the value of foreign publ ic opinion , wish ed to insert in The Ti m es a series o f articles . They were intended to acquai n t t he English publ ic with the stat e o f affairs in I t aly , and with the problem s before the I tal ian revolution ists , whom the average Engl ishm an o f t hat day pictured to him self as monsters Of much th e same kind as the later popular ' image of t h e “ n ihilist . B ut notwith standing al l th e eff ort s of

hi s Engl i sh friends , Cattaneo su c c eeded in getting in serted only o n e artic l e ; the other two h e wa s ob l iged to publish him self in pam phlet form .

Th e sym pathy Of t h e l eaders of pub l ic Opinion and th e intere st i n e verything Russian , shown by th e m as s o f t he reading publi c , have o pened to the Ru s s ian c ause not only th e c o l u mn s o f The Ti m es, but al so those Of th e leading papers o f al l countries , w ith t h e exc eption o f France , who stil l amu ses herself with h er toy , the “ Ru ssian Allian ce .

B ut we m ake h ardly any u se o f this power . Th e amount o f inform ation that c omes from Russia is s o sm all that on ly an infinitesimal par t Of t he demand c an be supplied at fi r s t - hand and from authenti c sourc e s . B ut o nce there i s a dem an d it m u st be sati sfi ed ; and therefore the foreign p apers are crowded w ith al l kind s of nonsen s e about Ru ssia ; Often with pure invention s , refuted th e following d ay . Th is only puzzles the publ ic , and c asts a shadow Of doubt e ven o n authentic news . I t is diffi c u l t for foreigners to disentangl e this mas s of statem ent s , and fin d out whe re i s truth and where fal sehood .

A publ ic o pini o n fo rm ed under s uc h c ondit i o n s c annot h ave d ue weight ; and the forc e o f the edu ca t e d worl d ’ s indignation and sym pathy i s , as it were , lost in a ' bo g .

The spe c ial aim Of th e “ Soc iety Of Friend s o f

Russian Freedom , is to al ter thi s c ondition of aff airs and to util ise in appropriate ways th e forc e given by th e symp athy both of th at min o rity for whom t he Russian c au s e is n o longer a foreign c ause and Of th e general m ass o f educated society .

A s a m ean s toward s the sol ving o f thi s doubl e probl em th e soci ety issu es a n ewspaper , a s y et of small siz e , in th e Engl ish l angu age , in London and N ew York si multaneou sly . O f this paper , Fr ee R ussi a , we wish to s peak more in detail . I t h as existed for t hree and a half years and h a s now i t s own c irc l e of five o r six t hou sand re aders , th e n u mbe r o f wh ic h s til l in creases . N otwithstanding th e shortn ess o f t he period th at it has existed , it h as w o n f o r itself a ' cer t a i n position a m ong the varied m ass Of periodic al s , a s the l eading organ f o r Ru ssian aff airs . I ts voi c e i s beginning t o be l isten ed to bo t h in Engl and and on the Continent . This i s very m u c h fo r su ch a pa per , but very l ittl e f o r th e Ru ssian c au se . S O far , th e organ h a s on ly an edu c ative va l u e . I t unite s in prac tic al work th e friends o f Rus si an freedom wh o a re s cattered e very where ; i t m aintai n s in a c ert ain c irc l e interest in t he Ru s sian cau se , an d expl ains by c u rrent exa m ples th e ch aract er and signifi c an c e of th e Russian p o l itic al c ris is . A ll this prep ares th e soil ; the real work ; t h e real fig h t wil l begin only when the paper be

com es a weapon for widesp read and continual i n

fl u en ce o n the great papers which are re ad not by thousands but by m illion s .

The Russian autocracy c a nnot exist wit hout th e su pport o f Western Europe ; it i s in con stant n eed of money to fill u p the holes in its budget ; it n eed s alliances or friendly neutrality in orde r that its showy external pol iti c s m ay distract attent ion from th e festering sores o f its intern al politics . I n Europe publ i c Opinion ru l es everything, fro m t h e Exc hange to Parliaments and C abinet s ; and the press rul es public Op inion . Fo r th e Ru ssian Governm en t to m aintain as far as possibl e in th e European press a friendly feel ing towards itself is not a sentimental desire but a matter o f state necessity . And , indeed , n otwith standing its affectation o f O lympian serenity , th e Russian Govern m ent furtively trie s to paralyse , by fair m eans o r foul , a l l propaganda hostil e to i tself. I t hires special literary agents , and , though needing every farthing o f its resou rces , m aintain s foreign papers an d bribes everyt hing that is ven al in the European pres s . When o n e o f the Engl i s h “ s m a rt j ourn al ists, ” then editor o f the Russoph il e

P a ll M a ll G a zette, went to S t . Petersbu rg, he was received with al most o ffi c ial honours . The do o rs o f the Winter Pal ac e were opened wide fo r h im , an d the Tzar h imself favou red the c l eve r j ournal ist with a long personal audien ce which m any a high Ru ssian

O fficial , wish ing to speak o n m atters Of national i m portanc e , might have begged for in vain . I f thi s i s O lym pian serenity , what i s currying favour ?

By winn ing over publ ic opinion to the side o f Ru s sian freedom and th e Russian peopl e , a n d ' t hu s rendering it ho st il e to th e Ru ssian Government , we c an strike th e l atter a direct , po s itive , and effectual blo w . We h ave al ready stru ck o n e su c h blow by u ndermining at its ve ry foundation s th e sym pathy o f t he only sinc ere and t rustworthy allies whom th e Ru ssian Govern m ent h ad in Europ e , t he English

Liberal s , who h ave now becom e ou r principal partisans . We can do m ore by ext ending our agitation to th e Continen t .

There is o n e qu estion over which the Ru ssian G overn m ent has shown an extraordinary sensitive n ess and an exc itabil ity whic h verge s on t he absurd . We refer t o th e extradition Of po l itic al Offenders . H undred s o f thou sand s , if n o t m il l ion s , o f roubl es h ave been m ade d uc ks an d drake s o f to buy over official s , judges , and ministers in France , Switzer l and , and G erm any ; stat e interest s have been rec kl essly s acrificed for t he sake o f extradition t reat ie s ; s o vehemently doe s th e Govern ment l o ng t o put its c laws upon s om e two o r three extra “ nihili sts , an d h ave a c hanc e to boast before the Ru ssian peopl e Of th e sol idarity and support o f i t s great weste rn neighbours .

P

icton , M r . Byles , M r . C hal m ers M orton , and others , who need no expl an ation t o understand and bring hom e to t heir colleagues th e bearing o f any such proj ect .

We h ave not be e n able to prevent the rat ification o f extradition treaties with G ermany , Au stria , and S witzerl an d . O ur strength in th ese countries is n ot suffi c ient to pro du c e any notic eabl e effe c t upon th e pu bl ic opinion .

B ut we a re convinced that wh en on c e we can obtain a firm foothold in those cou ntr i e s , we shall be abl e t o an nul th e treaties and turn th e temporary del ight and triumph Of the Russian Government into s ha m e and disappointment .

We c an put more than o n e spoke into the wheel

Of o u r rul ers if we tru st at on c e in public Opinion an d in organi sed grou ps o f person s Of influ en ce in th e political , l egal , an d finan c ial spheres o f each separat e cou ntry . I I I .

B ut long before t he Russian move m ent abroad

c an be com e an internation al pol itical forc e , it will becom e a moral force o f real infl uen c e o n both s ide s o f t h e Ru ssian frontier .

We render ful l j u st i c e to the stu pidity and deaf ne ss o f our ru l ers . B ut we mu st avoid exaggerating

anyth ing , even the Obscu rantism of Ru ssian G overn m ental circ l es . Th e Govern men t has remained an d can a fford to remain— indifferent to mere d is approval , based on gen eral ideas and c onsiderati o ns , or o n facts o f doubtfu l auth entic ity ; but towards

su c h things a s th e exposing o f the Yakutsk m assacre an d the Kara brutal ities it c ou l d n o t take u p an attitude o f indifferen c e . I t ordered an in vestigation , i t tried t o j u stify it s el f through th e m outh s o f i t s h ighe r o ffi c ial s .

And yet there are c om mitted in Ru ssi a every day - w e m ight a l most s ay every hour— outrages u pon h um an right s and person s as m on strou s a s the Yak u tsk m assacre o r t he Kara tragedy . They m ay be less sen sational , but they are as horribl e , if only be c aus e t heir victim s are n ot u nits , but t housands o f innoc ent p erson s . At present al l this is hidden away . B ut o u r friends in Ru ssia on ly need to m ake a s m al l effort , and these things cou l d be u pon every tongu e .

I f o n e - tenth—nay , o n e - hundredth—Of the sh amefu l deed s th at are c o m m it ted in Ru s s ia in t he d ark , were bro ught to l ight , d ay by day , an d p il loried before th e w ho l e edu c ated ' w o r l c l , neither th e Ru s si an

G overn m ent nor any other c ou ld remain indifferent . Quite apart from the u nco n querable sense o f sha m e wh ic h i s fe l t by even bu l l ie s o f the purest water when actions of t heirs are exposed which t hey th e msel ves

c ann o t d eny to be di sgrac eful , another fee ling begin s to ’ show it self — t he fear o f th e reflected influen c e which such exposures mu st h ave u pon public opinion in Russ ia it se l f. The assiduousness o f th e French Republic m ay to some extent paralyse the extern al resu l t s o f th e agit ation abroad ; but it s reflec tion w ithin Russia c annot be paralysed , and will grow with its growt h . We hOp e to follow up , in t im e , th e publi c ation o f t he Engl ish newspaper with edition s i n several Eu ropean l anguages , Russian among the n umber. G eorge Kennan , to whom belongs t h e l ion ’ s sh are in t he creation o f th e Russian m ovement abroad , has al re ady sugge st ed th e si mu ltaneou s i ssu e in Am erica o f Fr ee R u ssi a in English and i n Ru ssian .

Th is , in o u r eyes , is th e fin al aim and meaning o f the agitation abroad . With t h e exception o f France , t h e whol e Western world sym pathises wit h th e c au s e o f Ru ssian l iberation . A s to Fran ce , we can do with o ut her . The Angl o - Saxon rac e , Engl an d and A meri c a—not t o speak o f t he other continental n ation s—form s a suffi c iently broad support for any 134 ; m ovem ent . Among the English and A m erican s w e’ h ave thousand s o f fervent partisans w ho are willing to expres s their sym pathy , not in word s alone . Their on ly diffi c u lty is to real ise h o w and by wh at m ean s t hey can hel p in a struggl e o f such pe c ul iar character as that i n Russia . T o the m we s a y ! H el p u s to

show th e world a tru e and , as far as possible , comp l ete pi cture o f wh at i s being don e in ou r tim e i n Ru ssia . Light , if well c on c entrated an d well d irected , can ‘ travers e enormou s distan c es wit h a s c arcely p erc eptibl e diminution o f intensity ; and what i s don e i n Ru ssi a can be clearly seen by a l ight t hrown from London o r N ew York . Let u s , t h en , unite o u r efforts to throw this l ight u pon Ru ssia for if we c an do that , sympathy from abroad will , to s o m e extent , replace th e pu blicity that is fo rbidden within th e l an d .

We , as Russians , h ave a right to invite foreign ers to j oin in t his irreproach abl e work. Foreigners h ave undertaken and wil l continu e it , as it is fu lly in harmony with th e spirit , custom s , and ideas Of free peopl es .

O u r paper receives m aterial hel p and expression s Of sympathy from a l l parts o f the earth , even from such far - off corners a s S ou t h Africa , N ew Z eal and , and t he M al ay Arc hipelago . I n England and America t here have gathered roun d the paper grou ps o f friends , who , for det erm in ation , stedfast n ess , and seriou s attitude towards th eir work , might serve as an exam pl e to m any Ru ssian organisations . The support given to the movem ent al ready begun may increase to an u n li m i ted ex ten t if only the m ass o f sym pathisers can s ee tangibl e proof t hat th e work whic h they have undertaken i s real ly s eriou s , that

th eir agitat ion m ay real ly become an actual po w er , that it does truly , to some extent , take the place Of t h e right o f publ ic ity in Ru ssia . N othing but act ive su pport from Russia can c onvince them of this .

We appeal to all opponent s o f the Ru ssian auto cracy without d ist inction o f party—to socialists an d Libe ral s al ike . O ur work st ands outside o f all part ies ; it i s devoted sol ely to t h e interests of Ru ssian political freedom , which al l Russian parties agre e in desiring .

Everything that affects th e fat e of Ru ssia d epend s u pon what is don e in Ru ssia by Russian s . Th e wo rk abroad i s no ex ception to this rul e . N ay , we m ay even s ay th at th e effi c acy—the very pos s ibi l ity —o f th e m ovem ent abroad depends upon th e exist enc e o f an active p rotest in Russia . Who is interested in the question of, s ay , Turki sh or P ersian l iberty , when th e Turks an d Persians in n o way show them selve s discon tented An agitation abroad can grow an d d evelop only if t here i s a paral l el m ovem ent o n Russian soil . Th e present foreign movement i s n othing more t han a reflection o f t he struggl e which existed in Ru ssia in the seventies and in th e begin ning Of the eighties . The best hel p that

o u r Russian comrades c an now give to t h e foreign movem ent is to t ake part in th e struggle whic h is com ing into life in Russia . The beginning o f the nineties promises to open a n ew epoch fo r th e Ru s sian revol utionary m o ve m ent . I n face o f th e utte r in c apac ity of the Government to cope with th e terribl e m isfortun e which it has brought upon the land , th e discontent in Russia i s bec om ing wider and keener , and i s spreading to spheres o f soc iety whic h u p till now h ave been m ere bal l ast in po l itic s . The villages are already in a state o f d is t u r ba n ce . B ut one n eed not be a proph et to foresee t hat t h ere wil l soon be far greater disturbance in the town s , where t he con scious opposition i s conce m t r at ed , an d to w hic h th e irritated , starving crowd s are flocking . U nder such condition s the discontent m ust inevitably find active expression in o n e form o r anothe r ; and , we hope , in a wider form than it has taken u p til l now . The fate o f Ru ssia depends , t o a great extent , u pon wh at takes plac e during th e next two o r t hree years . B ut , j u st becau s e o f the enormou s i m portan c e o f th e moment , it woul d b e an unpardon able bl u nder n o t t o emp loy in th e interest s o f t h e Ru ssian movement an inst ru men t o f such large effe c t u pon the consciousness o f so ciety a s t he free foreign press . The foreign press mu st comp l ete and u phold ou r work ; it m ust increase the weight o f eve ry blow , thu s rendering th e victory

easier and Shortening t he trying p eriod o f

And we m ust rem ember th at eve ry m ont week o f the fight cost s Ru ssia hu nd red s o f

ruins t hou sand s o f l ives which m ight be for a bett er futu re .

The tragedy en acted on th e E k a t e r i n s k i Ca n a l I was n ot a m ere casu alty , nor was i t u nexpec ted . After al l t hat had h appen ed in th e course o f th e previou s d ecade it was absol utely inevitabl e , a nd in that fact consists its’ deep significan c e for a m an who h as been pl aced by fate at t he head o f Gove rn mental authority . S u c h occurren c es c an be ex pl ained as the res ul t s o f individual m al ignity , o r even o f th e evi l disposition o f ‘ gangs ’ on ly by one who i s who lly incap ab l e o f an alysing th e l ife o f a n ation . Fo r th en whol e years , notwith standing t h e stri ctest persecution , notwith standing t he s acri fi ce by t h e l ate E m peror ’ s Govern m ent o f l iberty , even i t s o w n dign ity ; notwithstanding th e ab solute sacrific e of everyth ing in th e attempt t o suppress

t h e revoluti o n ary m ovement , th at movem ent h as obstinate ly ext ended , attracting t o itself th e best el ements o f the count r y , t he m ost en ergeti c an d self- s a cr i fi ci n g peopl e Of Rus sia , an d th e r ev o l u t i o n i s t s h ave c arried o n for three years a desperat e warfare with th e ad mini stration . “ You are aware , your M aj esty , that th e govern m en t o f th e l ate G overn m ent cou l d n o t be accu sed of a l ack of energy . I t h anged th e innoc ent an d gu ilty and fi l l ed prison s an d remote provinces with exiles . Tens o f s o - c alled ‘ leaders ’ were c ap t u r ed an d hanged , and died w it h the courage and T he place w h er e A l exa n d er I I . w as k ill e d .

t ranquil lity o f m artyrs ; but t h e movem ent did not c ease—o n t he c ontrary , it grew and s trengthened . The revolution ary m ove ment , your M aj esty , i s n o t dependent u pon any particular in dividual s . I t is a pro cess of the socia l organism , and t he s caffold s raised f o r its more energetic exponents are as powerless t o save t he outgrown order of things as t he c ross t hat wa s erected for th e Redeemer was powerless to save th e ancient wo rl d from the triump h o f Christianity . The Governm ent , o f c ou rse , m ay yet c apture and h arry an i m m ense n umber o f ind i v i d u a l s , it m ay break u p a great nu mber o f sep arate revol utionary grou ps , it. m ay even d estroy th e m ost i m portant o f existing revol utionary organisation s ; but al l this wil l not ch ange in t he sl ightest degree th e c ondit ion o f aff airs . Revolution ists are t he creation of ci rc u m stances o f the general discontent o f th e peopl e— o f the strivin g of Ru ssia afte r a new soc ial framework . I t is impossib l e to ex termin at e a whol e p eopl e—i t i s impo s sible , by m ean s of r e pression , to stifl e it s discontent . D is conten t only gro/ws th e more wh en it i s repressed . For th is reason the pl ac es o f Sl ain revol utionists are co n s t an t ly taken by n ew individu al s , wh o com e fort h from among the peopl e in ever - in c reas ing nu mbers , and w ho are still more embittered , sti l l more ener getic . These person s , in order to c arry o n th e conflict , form an asso c iation i n t he light o f t h e

experien c e o f th eir predecessors , an d th e r ev o l u

t i o n a r y organisation thu s grows stro n ger nu merically

an d in qu al ity with t h e lapse o f tim e . Thi s we

a ctual ly s ee fro m th e history o f th e l ast ten years . O f what u s e was it to destroy t he D ol g u s hi n z y, I

th e Ch a i k o vzy , and th e workers o f 1 874 ? Their

pl ac e s were taken by m u c h more resol ute democrats . Then th e awful repressi ve m easure s o f th e Govern

m ent c al led u pon t he stage t h e terrorist s Of 1 878

an d 1 87 9 . I n v ai n th e Go vern m ent put to death th e

K ov a l s k y s , the D u br o vi n s , th e Os s i n s k ys , an d the L i s o g u bs . I n vain it de stroyed dozen s o f r ev o l u

t i o n a r y c ircles . Fro m among those in com pl et e

o rga nisations , by virtu e o f n atural se l ection , aro se on ly stronger fo rm s , until at l a st there h as appeared an Executive Comm ittee , wit h w h ich th e G overn m ent h as n ot yet been abl e successful ly to d ea L

“ A dispassionate gl ance at th e gri evou s decade through which we h ave j u st passed wil l enable u s t o forec a st accurately the future progress Of th e revo

l u t i o n a r y move m ent , pro vided th e po l icy o f the G overnm ent doe s not c hange . Th e movem ent wil l c ontinu e to grow an d extend , deeds o f t errori st n ature w i l l increas e in frequ en cy and intensity , an d th e revol utionary organ isation will con stantly

T h e fa m o u s g r o u p s o f s o - ca ll e d p r o p a g an di s ts , w h o v i r

t u a ll y beg a n th e m o d e r n r evo l uti o n a r y s tr ug g l e .

nam e o f a ‘ u su rping gang ’ m u c h more than does t h e Exe cutive Com mittee .

Whatever m ay be th e i n ten ti on s o f t he Tzar , th e

a cti on s o f the G overn m ent have nothing in com m on with t he popu lar welfare o r the popul ar aspiration s . The I mperial G overn m ent subj ected th e peopl e to serfdom , put th e m asses int o th e power o f t h e n o bility , and is n ow op enly c reating the most i n j u r i o u s c lass o f s pec ulators and j obbers . Al l of its reform s resul t m erely in a m ore p erfect en sl avem ent an d a m ore com plet e exploiting o f t he peopl e . I t h as brough t Ru ssia to such a pass t hat at th e present t im e t he m asses of th e p eopl e are in a stat e o f pauperism and ru in , are subj ected to t he most hu m iliating su rveill ance , even at their o w n dom estic h earths , and are powerl es s to regul ate their o w n c om mu nal and so c ial aff airs . The protection of the l aw an d of th e Govern m ent i s enj oyed only by th e extortionist s an d th e exploiters , and the m ost ex asperating robbery goes unpunish e d . B ut , o n th e oth er hand , wh at a terribl e fate awaits the m an who seriou sly considers t h e gen eral good ! You know very wel l , your M aj esty , t hat it is not only social i s t s w ho are exiled and prosec uted . Can it be possib l e th at th e G over n m en t is th e gu ardian of suc h ‘ Order ’ ? I s it n ot rather prob ab l e that th is i s t h e work of a ‘ gang , ’ t h e eviden c e o f a c ompl ete u su rpation

These are th e reason s why th e Russian G overn m ent exerts no m oral influen ce an d h as no support among the p eople . These are t h e reason s why Ru ssia brings forth S O m any revol utionists . These are the reason s why even su ch a d eed as T z a r i ci d e excites in th e m inds Of a m aj ority of the p eopl e on ly gladn ess and sympathy . Yes , you r M aj esty ! do not be deceived by the report s o f fl a tt er er s an d sycoph ants—T z a r i ci d e in Ru ssia is popular .

From suc h a state o f affairs t here c an be only two exits ! either a revol ution , absol utely inevitable and n o t to be averted by any pun ish m ents , o r a vol untary t u rn ing of th e S uprem e Power to the people . I n th e int erest o f o u r n ative l and , in th e hope of preventing the u seless waste o f energy , in th e hop e of averting the t erribl e mi series t hat always accompany re volut ion , the Exec utive Co m

m i t t ee approa c hes you r M aj esty with th e advice to take t he second cou rse . B e assured , so soon as the Supre m e P owe r c eases to rul e arbit rarily , s o soon as it fi rmly resolve s t o accede to th e d em and s o f the peopl e ’ s conscience an d consciou s n ess , yo u m ay , without fear , discharge th e spies t hat d isgrac e the ad mini stration , send your guards bac k to their barracks , and bu rn the sc affolds that are demoral i sing the pe o ple . Th e Execu tive Co m

m i tt e e wil l vol untarily terminate its o w n existence , an d th e organisations fo rm ed about it will disperse ,

i n orde r th at t heir m embers m ay d evot e th emselves to t h e work o f culture among th e peopl e o f their native l and .

“ We address you r M aj esty as tho se who h ave discarded al l prej udices and who have suppress ed t he distru st created by th e action s o f the Govern m ent throughout t he centu ry. We fo rget that yo u are the representative o f th e authority that has so often dec eived an d th at h a s so inju red th e peopl e . W e address you as a citizen and as an honest m an . We hop e th at th e feel ing o f person al exasperation will n ot extinguish in you r m ind you r consciou snes s o f your d uties an d you r des ire t o know t h e t ruth . We al so might fee l exasperation .

You h ave lost you r father . We have lost not only o u r fathers , but ou r brothers , our wives , o u r children , and o u r dearest friends . But we are ready to su ppress p ersonal feeling , if it be dem anded by th e w elfare of Ru ssia . We expect the sam e from you .

“ We set no condi t ions for yo u ; do n o t l et o u r proposition s irritat e yo u . Th e c ondition s that are p re - requi s ite t o a c h ange fro m revol utionary act ivity t o peaceful l abou r are created n ot by u s , but by hi story . Th ese conditions in o u r opinion are t wo 1 . A general amnesty to cove r al l past pol itic al crim es ; for th e reason t h at th ey were n o t crim es , but f u l fil m en t s o f civil dutie s .

n ative lan d and before t he whole world , that o u r party wil l sub mit unconditional ly to the decision s o f a N ational A ssemb ly elected in the manner abov e indicated , and t hat we wil l not al lo w o u r selves i n th e futu re to offer viol ent resistance t o any Governm ent that th e N ation al Asse mbly may sanction .

“ An d n ow , your M aj e sty , dec ide ! B efore yo u are t w o cou rses , and yo u are to make you r choic e between them . We c an on ly tru st th at your intel ligen ce an d c o nsc ience m ay suggest to you the only decision that i s compatibl e with th e welfare o f Ru ssia , wit h you r o w n dignity, and with you r duty to you r n ative land .

Fr om the L i ber a ls of M oscow to Cou n t L or i s M eli kofi' , Chi ef of the Supr em e E xecu ti ve Com m i ssi on .

N OW l e t u s draw t he reader ’ s attention to another docum ent , com ing from quite a different sou rc e , yet wh ich , m aking al l owanc e for t he tone , resembles the former o n e not on l y in t he final con c lusion s , but in th e gen eral ideas and views u pon the c ondition s of the count ry , t he appreciation s o f th e evils from which it i s suffering , and of t h e possibl e rem edies , at times repeating al most t h e same expressions . Thi s docum ent is a l etter o r memorandum to t he Tzar from a representative body o f m en , who m ay be fairly cal led th e Liberal Executive . I t refers to the sam e period as the letter of t he Revol utionary

Exe c utive we have j u st quoted , t h at is to say t o t he period of th e most fi erc e struggl e between t he terro rist s and th e autocracy . After having vainly tried th e po l icy o f reprisal s , th e Tzar Alexander I I . appointed t he L ibera l ” Loris M el i k o ff to the pos t o f virtu al d ictator . Th e m oderate se c tion Of t h e opposition—th e Liberal s— resolved to try on ce again t he effec t of peac eful exhortations . Twenty - fi ve of

them , who we re the m ost courageou s and influ ential in their pa rty , in c l uding professo rs o f the u niversi t i e s , leading barri sters , well - known au t hors , an d representative and abl e citizen s o f th e ol d c apital , d rew u p a m emorandu m whi c h they al l signed , an d which o n e o f them c arried personally t o Loris

M el i k o ff in M arch , 1 880 , with the request t o l ay it before th e Tzar .

Thi s intere sting docu m en t , th e publ ication o f which we o w e t o th e indefatigabl e zeal of M r .

G eorge Kenn an , th rows a flood o f l ight upon th e attitude and views o f th e actu al , though not Officially

recogn ised , representatives of the country.

I wil l quote here its most characterist i c passag es , putting in parenth esis a few occasional word s t o m ake its meaning cl earer t o Engl ish readers .

“ Th e u nfortun ate c ondition s o f Ru ssia at t h e present time , ” s o run s the m emorandu m , is due to the fact t hat there h as arisen in Ru s sian so c iety a p arty !the terrorist s!which act s w ith great i r r a t i o n ality , and i s carrying o n a contest with th e G overn m ent in a m anne r with which right - thinking peopl e , no m atter wh at th eir position o r degree o f educa tion , c annot sympath i se . Thi s contest , which i s seditiou s in its c hara c ter , m anifests itsel f in a series o f acts o f Viol ence directed again st t he ruling authorities . Th e question i s , how c an th e evil b e remed ied ?

fiel d of n ewspap er discussion , an d that at th e very tim e wh e n t hey most occupy public att ention . N ewspapers are n ot even allowed to publish facts , if suc h fact s com prom ise o r reflect in any way upon Govern mental organs . “ Another reason fo r t he development o f u nder ground ’ activity may be found in the enforc ed sil ence o f publ ic a ssemb l ies . Th e Govern m ent Oft en t reats with c ontemptuou s neglect stat em ents and petitions from sources ful ly c ompetent to m ake t hem , an d l isten s u nwi l l ingly to the rep resentatives even o f th e most legitim at e interest s . There m ay be foun d in th e reports Of any provin c ial adm in istra tion records o f innu merabl e petition s sent by the assemblies to t h e G overn ment , which n o t only h ave n ever been gran ted , bu t have n ever been even an swered .

The resu lt Of th e state of things above s et fort h is th e cre ation o f an impression th e G overn m ent does not wish to l isten to t h e voice o f th e peopl e ; t hat it wil l n o t to l erate c riti c i s m , however j u st , o f its m istakes and fail ures ; that it despises t he opinions o f c omp etent advisers , an d t hat it h as in vie w pec uliar obj ec ts not rel ated in any way to the necessi t ies o f th e peopl e . !This m ean s th e sam e as pp . 86 o f the form er l etter . !

The im possibility o f s peaking out frankly c o m

p el s p eopl e t o keep t h eir ideas to the mselves , to

C herish an d nurse th e m in secret, an d to regard c o m pl acently even il l egal m ethods o f putting them into practic e !this mean s terrori sm , revolution , Th u s i s c reated one of the m ost im portant of th e condition s u pon whic h t h e spread o f sedition de pends , nam ely , t he weakening Oi th e loyalty o f t hose who , unde r oth er Circ u m stan c es , would regard sedition with abhorren c e .

“ There are in organised societies self- rel iant Opinion s , whic h strike f o r free expression , an accu m u l a t ed fun d of en ergy, whic h seeks a fiel d for act ivity . The m ore rigorously t hese i m pul s es are repres sed in their l ega l form th e soone r they wil l take o n a form wh ic h is n o t l egal ; th e more a p parent will become th e l ac k o f harmony between t he st rivings o f so ciety and th e working m e thod s o f t h e rul ing powers ; an d th e m ore general and em phatic and con s equently the more infectiou s wil l bec om e th e illegal p r o t e s t . W h en so c iety has n o means of m aking known and disc ussing peaceably and publ icly it s wants and its necessities , the more energetic m embers o f th at society will throw them sel ves passionate ly into s ecret act ivity ! t. e. terrorism , Revo

“ At the present time t here is a prevalent Opin ion t hat th e existing evil s c an be eradic ated only by repres s ive m easure s . M any peopl e believe that before any t hing el se i s thought of, attention should

be c oncentrated u pon m ethods of repression , an d th at when su c h methods s hall h ave attained the re sult expec ted from them , it will be time enough to proceed with th e further develop ment o f Ru ssian soc ial l ife . B u t th e evils cannot b e rem edied by rep ressive m easures ; an d that is n ot all—repressive

m easu re s not only do not cu re th e evil s which exist , but they create n ew evil s , because they are in evitably accompanied by administrative l icen se . Licens e above cre ates licens e bel ow . “ B ut aside from a Il h ' i S, repres sion c annot kil l h u m an thought . Convin c ing p roof Of ‘ this fact i s fu rnished by t he l ast reign (N ichol as I . ) a s we l l as by m ore re c ent years . The idea o f p o pu l a r r ep r e s en t at i o n , f o r exam ple , has rece ntly taken enormou s strides fo rward and has made its way even into th e far distant country pl aces , notwith standing th e fac t that publ ic discussion o r consideration of t hat idea h as been absol utely forbidden .

I n t h e absence o f a fre e pre ss t here arises a n oth er m edium of int er - com munication in the s hape o f t he o ral t ransm ission Of ideas from m out h to mouth . Th e most m arked feature of the present situation i n Ru ssia is extrem e dis satisfaction and urgent need o f free ex p r es s i o n p d u ca t ed socie ty as a whol e , irrespe ctive o f ran k , position , o r Opinion s , is i n tensely d is satisfied , and o u t o f that dis satisfaction ar ises the existing agitation .

An other dem an d o f society whic h at th e pre sen t t im e is even less satisfied than the desi re for pol itic al activity is th e d em an d for persona l security . Th e indispen s abl e conditions upon which the ve ry e xist en c e o f m odern soc iety depend s are free courts , freedom from arrest , and search withou t proper prec autions and safegu ard s , and res pon sibil i ty o f offi c ial s for illegal detention and im prison ment , an d t he du e observan c e of all the legal form al ities o f publ ic and controversial trial .

I n t he al most un l im ited provin c e of pol itical crim e, wh ere th e features which distinguish th e perm issible from th e forbidden are s o diffi cult Of d efinition (according to Ru ssian o ffi cial views , o f course) , and where , c onsequently , personal l iberty shoul d be surrounded by th e greatest possibl e safe gu ard s , there exists a state o f things wh ic h i s i n

flagrant Violation of the most elem entary principl es o f j u stic e .

For th e past ten years the pol ice , u pon trivial suspi cion o r u pon a false accu sat ion , h av e been allowed to b reak into house s , force their way into th e sphere o f private l ife , read privat e l etters , t hrow the acc u s ed into prison , keep th em th ere fo r month s , an d final ly subj ect th e m to an inquisitorial examina tion without even inform ing t h e m d efinitely of the n atu re of the charge s m ade against them . M any person s have been arrested i n this way by m istake

o r u nder misappreh ension .

S till more o u t o f harm ony with the views o f th e

peopl e is th e system of admini strative exil e an d banis hm ent without examin ation o r trial . Whilst t h e spirit o f th e law a n d the first principles o f j u stic e forbid the inflict ion o f pu nish ment w ithou t previou s trial , hu ndreds , and perh aps thou s and s , o f

pers o n s an n u al ly are subj ected to t h e severe st puni sh m ent t hat can be inflic ted upon an educated m an , n amely , bani sh m ent from hom e and friend s , an d that by a m ere administrative order , based u pon nothing . Person s exiled in this way h ave no mean s o f knowing how long their punishment will c ontin ue . Th ey are deprived even o f t he c on solation whi c h every com mon criminal has in knowing definitely th e lengt h o f time h e has to suffer . “ Th e disconten t which pervades Ru ssian society and which is th e re sul t o f the m istaken pol icy o f the

Governm ent in deal ing w i th internal aff airs , can be removed on ly by m easures in whic h society will take pa r t . The Government cannot accom plish t he desired result alon e . The on ly way to extri c ate t h e country fro m its present position is to su m mon an independent parliam ent— So br a n i e—con sisting of the representatives of th e Z em s tvos to give th at parlia

m ent a share in th e c ontrol o f th e national l ife , an d to securely guarantee personal right s , freedom o f thought and freedom of speech . S u ch freedom will

c all into action the best capabil itie s of the peopl e ,

will rou se th e sl u mbering life o f th e nation , an d wil l develop th e abu ndant productiv e re sou rc e s o f th e cou ntry . “ The Ru s sians are fit for fre e institution s , an d th ey fee l deep h umil iation at being kept so l ong under guardianship . Th e d esire for such in stitution s , al though forced into c onceal ment an d half- s t i fl ed by repressive m easu res , fi nd s expression , n ever th e l ess , i n th e Z em stvos , in the asse mb lies o f t h e nobl es , and in the press . The granting o f such institution s and th e call ing togethe r o f a rep resentative body to pre side over them , will give to t h e n ation ren ewed st rengt h and renewe d fait h in th e G overnm ent an d i n i t s ow n future . ”

L I B E R A L S .

W H AT E V E R has been printed in Engl ish about t he Rus sian political m ovement h as ‘ been al most exclu s i v ely confined to the s o - call ed revol ution ists , o r nihilists , a s t hey are often t erm ed in thi s count ry—th at is , t o people who h ave lost al l faith in getting fo r the Ru ssian peopl e a brighter light and a better day by any othe r m eans but Viol ently overthrowing the present r eg i m e. There was hard ly anything except G eorge Kennan ’ s “ Last Appea l o f the Russian Liberal s , printed in the Cen tu ry M ag azi n e, d eal ing with any attempt s t o get the sam e by peaceful an d “ legal ” mean s . O ne o f the effe cts o f thi s was that m any peopl e got the wrong impres sion that in th e whol e mass o f th e Ru ssian n ation there was only a handfu l Of revol utionary spirits who wanted political c h ange s , wh il e al l the rest were quite satisfied by th e existing r eg i m e. O f c ourse all the inte rested and the d isinterested supporters o f t he Russian Governm ent tried to strength en that i m

1 0 3

pression . They m aintain ed that every on e within Ru ssia was c ontent e d wit h t he present form o f governm ent , th e only m alcontents an d aspirants fo r pol itic al c hange s b eing a smal l s et o f trouble

som e peopl e fu l l o f p e rvert ed ideas and exulting in political crim e . S om e o f these c hampion s o f a bad

cau se went s o fa r as to assert that “ th e Ru ssian n ation urged it s G overnm ent to take energetic m easu re s again st th e revol utionists .

I n reality there is pl e nty o f evid ence t o prove th e contrary , although every d iffi culty is put in the way o f the Russian peopl e ’ s exp ressing th eir wish e s freely ; t he pre ss is gagged , pol itical m e etings are st rictly p r o hi bi t ed ; as t o t h e local cou ncil s (zem stvos) , assemblies o f th e nobility , town council s (dou m as) , and similar bodies , eithe r th e law or administrative practice ve ry carefully and strictly l imit s t heir right o f petitioning the G overn ment to lo c al o r class want s .

N otwith standing that , however, th e nobil ity and t he zem stvos (as wel l as som e o f t he d o um as) h ave from tim e to tim e profited by the opportun ity , when G overn mental disciplin e sl ac ken ed , o f expres sing t heir hidden and intimat e aspiration s and views whic h do not Show much sati sfac tion with th e pre sent st ate o f th ing s . SO far bac k as th e year 1 865 th e nobility of th e M osc ow province presented t he Tzar Al exander I I . wi t h a “ most devoted petition , entreating t h e m on arch “ to convene a

an swered th e petition by closing for a t im e the zem s tvo in stitution s o f th e provinc e altogether , an d by adm inist rative exile o f some Of its m emb ers to eastern provinces . Sid e by side with this , th e curtailing of eve n those very l imited right s wh ich were granted to th e zem s tvos when they were in stituted was furth er continu ed . I n th e m eantim e th e revol utionist s gathered more and more strength , and gradually becam e so formidable t h at o n August 4 , 1 878, t he G overn ment inserted in N o . 1 86 of The Ofii ci a l M essen g er an appeal to th e peac eful c l ass o f society , asking for hel p against th e “ revol utionary pl agu e . ” I n N ovember o f th e sam e year Al exander I I . del ivere d a speech in M oscow , in whi c h , addressing t he representatives o f diff erent cl asse s , h e said , I cou nt o n you r as sist an ce in stopping th e erring youth s o n th at ruinou s pat h into wh ich som e u ntru stworthy peopl e t ry to l ure them . ” Five l oc al assemb l ies (Kh arkov , P o l tava , Chernigov , S am ara , and Tver) profited by th e Opportu nity and a n s w er ed ' t h e appeal by present ing the Tzar ’ s Govern ment w ith m emoranda , i n wh ich , whil e m an ifesting their thoro u gh loyal ty , they ex pre ssed mo st explicitly th e belief th at there was no outl et from the diffi cul ty bu t in granting person al security to citizen s , pol itic al liberty , and representa t i ve governm ent . O n ly t h e Khark o v m emorand um reached offi c ial ly its destination , b eing p resented by

th e governor o f t h e province , through the ministry

t o th e Tzar, an d th e con sequ e nc e was that th e d iscu ssion Of th e subj ec t was decl ared by t he Govern m ent to tran sgress t h e powers and aim s o f th e zem stvos ; al l furthe r t ransaction s o n th e m att er

were proh ibited , an d th e governors o f th e ot he r fou r provinces , acting o n instruction s from S t . Petersburg , decl ined to accept th e fu rth er m emorand a fo r presen t a t i o n , at th e sam e tim e forbidding them t o be m ad e publ ic . I n fact , besid es th e Kh arkov m em orandu m , only two others (t hose o f Tver an d Chernigov) ever appeared in print , and that despi te t he Govern m ental veto . These docum ents are quit e su fficient , howeve r , to Show cl e a rly th e views and c l ai m s o f th e peaceful and loyal part o f th e Russian L iberals o f that tim e .

Th e Chernigov zen zs tvo n ot only does not urge t he G overn ment to u s e coe rcion an d terrorism against th e revol utionist s , but de c l ines to take any part in it itself. “ Th e late event s h ave shown it c learly , ” s o run s th e memorandum , “ that penal an d c oerc ive measures are powerl ess t o stop th e flood o f subve rsive ideas . An d if punish m ent , w h ich , ac c ording t o o u r code , ’ is more severe than in any other E u ropean l egisl ation , prove s to be im potent to abash t he erring ones , t his points to th e existen c e o f causes whic h are u navoidabl e and I n whic h origin at e th e l am entabl e facts . ” O f the se c au ses t hree are , in th e esti

m ation of the zem stvo, th e most important (besides som e othe rs o f mino r i mpo rt ance) , n amely

1 . Th e present o rganisation of (Governm ental) m iddl e and high er cl ass school s .

2 . Th e l ack o f freedom o f sp eech an d th e pres s

3 . Th e l ack o f resp ect to law in o u r soci ety . ”

Then , after showing th at all th e th re e evil s were created and m aintained by t h e pol icy and unl awful practic es o f th e Govern m ent itself, th e m emo randu m con c l uded as follows ! “ U nder the Circu m stanc e s th e provincial zem s tvo o f Chernigov stat es with a most u nexpressible h e avy heart th at it is powerless to take any p ractical st eps in th e struggl e with the evil , an d con siders it its d uty t o bring this to t h e knowl edge o f t he Govern m ent .

The start ing - point o f t he Tver m emorandu m was th e sam e as t hat o f Chernigov . I t p roc eeded with a very d efin ite ch arge again st th e M inistry o f N ation al E ducation . That M inistry , it is said , while preventing th e zem s tvo from taking any part in th e d irection o f schools (which are in Russia a ll eith er in t he h and s o r u nder th e strictest control o f t h e Gove rn ment) , m anages the m iddle school s in su c h a way t hat o n e eighth o f t he whol e n u mber o f pupil s leave t hem before compl eting thei r studies . A s to those wh o ente r th e u niversities an d similar institutions , “ s u s pi ci o n an d coercion await them , whic h make qu iet study im possible , while cal ling forth d iscontent and

deprived o f any possibility to t reat social question s independently , and whil e th e nu mber o f c landestin e publ ic ations grows , the organ s o f the press are co m p el l ed t o stop o n e after th e other .

The m emorandu m o f th e Tver zem s tvo c on cluded by stating t hat th e Ru s sian peopl e fel t it i m p o ssibl e to do anyth i n g against t he intern al evil unless th e G overnment wou l d remove th e above - mentioned social con dition s which origin ate th at evil , an d which it is altogether within th e power of the G overnm ent t o remove . “ H i s I m perial M aj esty , with kind care for th e welfare of the Bulgarian peopl e , j u st l iberated from th e Tu rkish yoke , thought it indispensabl e to grant to th at p eopl e a true sel f govern ment , personal secu rity , independen c e o f the j udges , and libe rty o f the press . The zem stvo of t he Tver province dares to hope t hat t he Russian peopl e , who bore all the burden s of th e war with suc h a t horough readiness , with suc h love toward s it s Tzar , th e l iberator , will b e allowed to enj oy the sam e bless ings wh ich alon e c an enab l e it to ente r, in virtu e o f o u r monarch ’ s will , th e path Of gradual , peaceful , an d l awful devel opm ent . I t will be easily understood that the inj ustice , arbitrariness , an d in sin c erity wit h whic h Al exande r I I . an d h is Govern m ent treat ed t he Ru ssian Liberal s strengthened th e position o f th e revolutionists . Th e l att er procl aim ed th e Govern m ent hopeless , a Govern

m ent t h at could not b e trusted ; and t he m anner in which th e peac eful an d loyal class o f society was treated , that very c l ass to whi c h it appl ied itself in diffi cul ty , j u stified t h e u n co m promis ing at titude o f th e re vol utionary party in th e eyes o f m any wh o before thought differently . Among other reasons , we fi nd here the expl an ati o n o f the enorm o u s ac tivity t he revol u t ionary party d eveloped , n otwit hstanding t he c om parat ively s m al l nu mber o f its ac knowl edged adherents—a n activity whi c h c ul m inated in th e death

o f Alexande r 1 1 .

Th at tragedy raised again a burning qu estion fo r the peac eful citizen s o f Russia who c ared for the welfare of t he comm unity . They want ed to put an en d to t he d eplorabl e internal struggle , they wanted to rem ain l oyal t o th e Tzar and to do their d uty as citiz en s ; but they fel t that neither was p ossibl e so l ong as th e G overn ment clung o bs t i

n at ely to bureau cratism and autocra cy and s u p pressed aspiration s towards liberty and self- govern m ent . At the sam e tim e they h ad no earnest trust o f the Governm ent ’ s good faith or grasp of t he pol itical situation . That is evident from speech e s th at were delivered in some o f th e zem s tvo - assemb lies , c onvened s oon after the 1 3th of M arch , 1 881 .

I n th e N ovgorod zem s tvo o n e o f it s m e mbers , N . N . N ech ayev , del ivered a speech in wh ic h , among other things , h e s aid ! “ H ard ly can we

doubt that it is o ur duty t o speak o u t on this occasion . Tru e , the l iteral m eaning of th e zem stvo statut es ’ does n o t grant u s th at right . B ut it i s i m possible to be guided only by th e literal m eaning o f the l aw at a moment o f such h istorical i m portan c e as th e p r es en t we h ave to eleva te ou rselves and to s e e wh at i s th e spirit o f t he l aw . According to th e s tatutes w e are e m powered to deal only with l oca l interests . B ut it is im possibl e t o separate th e wel fare o i th e Tzar from any local interests ! I s not h is welfare th e m ost urgent interest o f any l oc ality an d any pe rson ? Th e historical mom ent we are living through is a horrible o n e Look aroun d you , account to you rself fo r wh at is going o n , and you will find it im possible to be s il ent .

We have before o u r eyes a long series o f en d eav o u r s to fight th e evil pu rely by m e ans o f polic e

m ea su re s , without any co - Op eration with society . The utter u sel e ssness of su ch a struggl e and th e im pos sibil ity o f obtaining any real success o n th at p ath is nowadays eviden t to every o n e . There is n o going furth er o n that path ; it is al so im possibl e to l isten t o appeal s to reaction , as that would mean renou n c ing th e great principles which were be q u ea t h ed to u s by th e l at e m onarch . S o only o n e path remain s op en ! society m u st be call ed u pon to t ake part in th e struggle with t h e evil , then there c an

be n o doubt about th e issu e .

We are u n abl e to m ention here al l the zem s tvos th at at t hat ti me expressed t he m selves in favour o f representative govern ment an d political l iberty , as t he publication o f the ac c oun ts o f th e ses sion s were dependen t u pon t h e pe rmission of th e governor o f t he province . We kno w , however, t hat th e zem stvos

Of Ryazan , T a u r i d a , and Kazan , al so th e dou m a of Kazan an d the no bility Of S amara were among them . Loris M eli k o v was succeeded in his capacity as M iniste r o f I ntern al Affairs by Count I g n at ' I ' ev . O n M ay 6, 1 881 , the n ew m iniste r publish ed a c ircul ar , in which h e again appeal ed t o society at l arge fo r h el p against th e revolutionists , an d in establishing o rder and p eace in t he empire . An d again h e received from m any zem stvos th e sam e reply ! “ We are powerl ess t o do anything s o long as we are exposed to th e arbitrary an d l awless pr actices o f th e administration ; we are unabl e t o h el p the G overn m ent u nless it establishes a cent ral body of representatives fro m th e zem stvos . ” Th en Count I g n a t ' I ' eV convened a com mission o f expert s chosen by the Gover n m en t fro m th e m idst o f t h e zem stvos , as well a s from p eopl e who did not belong to t h em . H e wanted to satisfy t h e Liberal s with a m u mmy o f representative gove rnm ent . B u t th e Lib eral s woul d not be satisfied . I n th e next session o f the N ovgorod provin c ial a ssembly , for exampl e , deputy E . I . Ragozin said t hat t h e

m embers o f th e s aid c om m ission c annot be r e garded a s repre senting the zem s tvos ; that is on ly a fi ctitiou s representation , and in di s cu ssing t he grave st q uestion s whic h c on c ern the zem s tvos as wel l as th e whole n at ion , the com miss ion only c reat es m isu nderstanding among t he popul ation , because t he opinion s expre ssed in it are t aken a s being those o f deputie s elected by th e peopl e , whil e in reality th e m embers o f that body are c hosen by th e M in istry o f I nt ern al Aff airs .

We have quot ed sufficiently from the diffe ren t speec h es delivered in t h e assemblies o f nobles o r assemblies for local affairs , and al so from t he m emorandu m s an d re solution s passed by t he m . I t is evident from these quotation s , that t hat part o f the Ru ssian peopl e , wh ic h holds i n it s h ands the l and e d property o f th e em pire , a nd to a large ex tent th e different bran c hes Of manufac ture an d trade , look with great dissatisfaction upon th e present arbit rary Ru ssian rul e , feel deeply its outrages upon the popul ation , an d ask , whenev er t hey can , for a ha bea s corpus , political l iberty an d representative gove rnm ent . So far as h a s t ranspired , at differen t t imes seventeen zem s tvos in al l , al so two dou m as (town coun cil s) , and t he nobility o f th ree provin c es h ave m ade such decl aration s . B esides that , t h e M ayor Of M osc o w expressed similar wi shes at a public banqu et , whic h w a s the more significant , in

that the spe ech was m ade at th e coronation o f th e p resent Tzar , in t h e elder c apital Of t he empire , whic h h as always been con sidered t he m ost loyal , and th e m ayo r hi m self was a l ate professor o f t he M oscow U nive rsity . B ut we are su re that these were not by any m eans al l th e bodie s who h ave ,

t hough in courteou s an d loyal term s , cond e mned th e present Govern m ental syste m in Ru ssia , and asked fo r l iberty and constitutional govern ment . N ow what was the attitud e o f the Tzar and his G overn ment towards those j ust aspiration s Of h is loyal and p eac eful subj ect s ? F oreseeing t hem , th e zem s tvos had not been given th e right o f electing the chairmen o f th ei r assemblies . The m arshal s o f th e nobility h ad been appointed as su ch , and made responsible for everythin g said by t h e d eputies o n th e on e hand , and on th e other given t he power of stopping any di sc ussion . N o report o f th e debates o r decl aration o f any zem s tvo c an be printed without a special p erm it o f th e governor o f the province .

And if we look at t he record s of t he proceedings of t he loc al boards, we sh al l s ee that th e vetos either o f t he c hairmen o r of the governors intervened n early every time , when the question s discu ssed tou ched th e vital points o f nation al life . Wh en , howeve r , the Russian peopl e con trived t o m ake them se lves h eard notwith stan ding al l this gagging , then t he Tzar in person showed hi s displ easure an d dec l ined t o grant

people studying i n un iversities , a ca d a m I e s , and other su c h education al in stitution s . Th i s organisa

t ion c all s it sel f t h e “ Party o f Po l itic al Righ t ” (N arodnaya V olya) t he p l atform o f wh ich as s et fo rth in its secretly printed m anifesto is identical with th e c l aim s put fo rward at different ti mes , partly o r i n ful l , by th e different zem s tvos , assem b l ies o f nobil ity , town coun c il s , an d t h e Liberal press . Th e m anifesto run s a s follows

M a n zf es to of the P opu l a r R i g ht ’ (N a r odn oe P r a vo) P a r ty .

There are mom ents in t he life o f Stat e s when o n e

qu estion occu pies the fo remost pl ace , thru sting into the background all oth er interest s, howeve r essenti al t hey m ay b e of th e m selves— on e question , u pon th e solution of whic h in o n e way o r another depends th e futu re o f th e peopl e . S u ch a m om ent Russia is n o w l iving th rough , an d su ch a question , determining h er furth er destin ies , i s th e qu e stion o f pol itical freedom . A uto c racy , after receiving its m ost Vivid expres sion and im personation in t he reign of Alexander I I I . , h as with irrefutable c learnes s p roved its impoten c e t o c reate such an order o f things as shoul d sec u re t h e cou ntry th e fu l l est an d m ost regul ar devel op m ents and al l her spiritu al an d m ateri a l forces . Th e t enden cy o f the present reign , expressed with

a pecul iar sharpne s s in th e reform s (l) o f the l ast f e w years , i n the shape o f th e in stitution o f rural authorities (Z em s k i e N a ch a l n i k i ) an d the l i m itatio n

o f th e organ s o f s el f- govern m ent , a s also in th e system atic support afforded to c apital is ti c prod uc

t ion , C learly shows t hat th e Governm ent continu es to p u rsn e i n fl ex i bly a pol icy o f ad m inistrative arbi

t r a r ine s s an d cl ass int erest s , who l ly ignoring th e

m atu red quest ion s o f n ationa l an d social e result of this pol icy has been th e social demoralisat ion an d th e extrem e de cline o f the c ountry , to avert t he con sequences and d evelopm ent o f which i s n o longer in th e power o f th e Govern m ent . All who recognise th e whole danger o f the situation s ee n o other issu e than an abrupt turn in t he direc tion o f th e interests of t he m ass es , whi c h i s possib l e only with th e im mediat e partic ipation o f th e coun try in t he Govern ment— th at is , with the repl acem ent o f autocra cy by free representative in stitution s .

“ A s t here i s n o t , and c annot be , a hope that t h e Govern m ent wil l wil lingly enter u p o n th e path i ndic ated , th ere i s but o n e cours e remaining to th e peop l e ! to oppose th e forc e o f organised public o pinion to th e inertness o f t he Govern ment and th e narrow dynasti c interest s Of th e autoc racy . The party o f Popular Right N a r o d n o e Pravo ’ ) h as in vie w th e creation o f thi s force .

I n th e opinion of th e party , popular right includ e s in itself alike t h e conception o f the righ t of t h e peopl e t o pol itical freedom and the conception o f it s righ t to secu re its m at erial n eeds u pon th e basis o f n ation al p roduction . Th e p arty consid ers t h e

gu arant ees o f this right t o be

Represent ative gover n m ent o n th e basi s o f uni versal suffrage .

Freedo m o f religiou s b el ief.

I nd ependen ce o f th e cou rts o f j ustic e .

Freedom o f th e press .

Freedom o f m eeting and association .

I nviol abil ity o f t h e individual and of hi s right s as a man .

I n View o f the fact that Ru ssia i s n o t a homo g en eo u s whol e , but a ve ry c ompl ex pol itical body, a necessary con dition o f pol itic al freedom is t h e recognition o f th e right to p olitical self- determin a tion , for a l l t h e n ational ities entering into its composition .

“ Thu s u nderstanding Popul ar Right , the party sets itself the task o f u niting al l th e oppositional el e m ents Of the count ry and o f organ ising an a ctive force wh ic h shoul d , with al l the spiritual and m at erial m ean s at i t s d isposal , attain th e ove r

NI HILISM A S IT IS .

have h ad som e significan c e at t he tim e when serf d o m existed in al l it s rigou r, when life was s impl e and no public opinion exi sted , c ould prevent the develop m ent of a politic al m ove ment at a tim e when th e pop ul ation h a s enormou sly in c reased , l ife bec o m e c om pl ic ated and p ubl ic Opinion i s no l onger a myth .

H istory c annot be stopped , and it is not i mpossibl e t hat even o u r generation will s ee yet great political c h an g e s in R ussia .

U n ive rs i o f Califo rn ia

SOUTHE R N R EGIO AL LIBR A RY FAClLlTY

4 05 Hilg ard Ave n ue , Lo s A n g eles , CA 9002 4 -1 388

R et u rn this m ate ri a l to t he lib ra ry f ro m w hich it was bo rro wed .