AMAZING STORY OF RASPUTIN.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16149, 1 March 1918, Page 8

AMAZING STORY OF RASPUTIN.

o THE "BLACK MONK OF

RUSSIA." (13V THE COUNTESS lIADZIWILL.) New Zealand Rights Specially Secured by "The Press." CHAPTER VIII. IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF THE COUP. Tho arrest i>r the Prime Minister's private secretary produced, as one may v. ell imagine, an immense sensation in Pttrograd, and intense consternation among tb:-> friends of Rasputin. They \tere thus deprived of the ono strong ally capablo of guiding their steps in tho best dirction possible under tho circumstances, and, moreover, of the one who was possessed of information which no one else could possibly get at. Sturmer himself was more than dismayed at this step taken by tho military authorities without consulting linn, and resented it as a personal affront. Ho tried to interfere in tho matter, and went so far ai to demand as his right tho liberation of Manussewitsch-Maniu-loff But .Lis intervention, instead of helping tiie person in whose favour it had been displayed, gave on the contrary the signal for a series of attacks against Sturmer himself, attacks of wnich the most important was the speech made by Miliukoff in the Duma, where he publicly accused the Prime Minister of being in league with Germany and of working in favour of a separate peace with that country. Of course, the remarks of the leader of tho Opposition in the Chamuer were not aiiowed to be published, but so many persons had heard them, and so many othcis had heard of thorn that they very soon became public property. No one had ever cared for Sturmer, tvhose leanings had always been for autocracy. While Governor of Tver ho had distinguished himself by the zeal which he displayed in putting down every manifestation of public opinion on his government. In addition,* he tad been connected, with various matters where bribery played a prominent part, a fact whieji had not helped him to win any popularity in tho province which ho administered. His only merits lay in his ability to speak excellent French and in his having very pronounced Englisii sympathies These sympathies, however, by some kind of unexplainable miracle, died out immediately after his assumption of office. He at once fell under the influence of a certain party that clamoured for the removal of foreigners from the administrative and political life of Russia. He was not clever, though ho had a very high idea of his own intelligence and knowledge. Though he had never carried his knowledge boyond a thorough grasp of the precedence that ought to be awardod'to distinguished guests at a dinner party (which he had acquired while lie was master of the ceremonies at the Imperial Court), yet he was convinced of his capacity to fill the most important offices of tho Russian State. These lie looked upon with the eyes of a farmer in tho presence of his best milking cow. He was not a courtier, but a flatterer by nature, and an essentially accommodating one, too. There was no danger of his ever turning his back on persons who he had reason to think were in possession of the favour of personages in high places. And he had a wonderful faculty for toadying wherever ho expected that it might prove useful to his career. STURMER'S WEAKNESSES. For some years he had vegetated in a kind of semi-disgrace and fretted over his inactivity. NvJien ho found himself able once more to make a display of his administrative talents, he took himseif and these talents quite seriously, and imagined that perhaps he could bocome the saviour of Russia, but surely a very rich man. This last idea had been suggested to him by Manus-scwitsch-Maniuloff, who- had imbuted him with the CQnviction that it would be. a proof of careless neglect on his part if ho did not make the most of the many opportunities his important position as Prime Minister put in his way, and did not assure the prosperity of his old age, when ho had. at his disposal all possible sources of information out of which lie might make a profit. Sturmer was no saint, and the weaknesses of the flesh had always appealed to him. When his Fidas Achates was arrested and thrown into a more or less dark dungeon, Sturmer was so dismayed that ho allowed liimself to be drawn into the mistake of identifying himself with tho prisoner and claiming his liberty as a right. It is related that when the object of his solicitude heard of the various steps undertaken by the Prime Minister on his behalf he gave vent to words of impatience at what he considered an imprudence likely to cost the guilty ones a good deal. "Sturmer ought to have known that a man like myself does not allow himself to be arrested without having taken the precaution to be able to impose on those who had ventured to do so the necessity of liberating him," he exclaimed. The fact was that ManussewitschManiuloff had put to profit the months when, in his capacity as private secretary to the Prime Minister, he had access to all the archives and secret papers of the Ministry of the Interior. He had taken copies of more than ono important document, the divulging of which might have put the Russian Government in an embarrassing position. Some persons "even said that his zeal had carried him so far as to make him appropriate to himself the originals of these documents, leaving only a worthless copy in their place. True or not. it is certa'n that the spirit of foresight that had always distinguished him ha<l induced him to take certain precautions against any possible mishap capable of interfering with his career. He was able to regard his imprisonment really philosophically. This was more than Sturmer could do. Tho latter had reason to fear that during the police search of the flat occupied by Manussewitfch-Maniuloff some compromising letters had been discovered. This fear did not add to his happiness or to his equanimity. Besides, he was not strong enough, to resist the attacks which, dating from that day, were poured upon Ins head. In spite of the which Rasputin was continually giving him that he had nothing to fear, he did not share the confidence of the "Prophet." ENGLAND AND RUSSIA. He had good reasons for this fear. In the Duma, in the Petrograd draw-ing-rooms, in the army and among the (Copyright, 1017, by tho Public Ledger Company, U.S.A.) (Australasian Copyright by the Sunday Times Newspaper Co., Ltd., Sydney^

public, all i'elt sick of e»turmer, and all spoke of nothing else but of the necessity of compelling him to resign his post. Among the different reproaches which were addressed to him war. that of being an enemy of England, and of trying to work against tho Russo-Knglish alliance. It was very well known that his rolations with iSir' George Buchanan, the British Ambassador, were not cordial. Sir George, in spite of all that the pro-Germans liked to say about him, was a popular personage m Russia, that is, among tho sane nortion of Russian society, which had hailed with ioy the initiative that ho had t:jiken in tho great work of reorganisation of tho Russian administration. Thanks to the English officers who had arrived in Russia with the aim of bringing some kind of order out of tho chaos that had prevailed not only in tho War Office, bui in evory other branch of the Government, the military position of thq Empire had considerably improved, and the great work of national defence had been at last put upon a sound basis. As a man occupying a very important position in Petro'gia'd wrote to me during the course of last summer: "There aro *omo people here who say that Russia is fast becoming an English colony, but I reply to them that she might certainly Jo worse, if by that word is meant the introduction of the English spirit of order and of English honesty in our country."

This was the opinion of a sinccro Russian patriot. There is no doubt that it was shared by all the best elements of the nation, who had recognised that in the crisis through which their Fatherland was going only ono idea ought to dominate ovcrything, and that was the necessity of imposing upon Germany a peace that would at last give to the world the assurance that it would never he called upon again to undergo another such catastrophe as the one under which it was struggling. Stunner, however, was of quite different opinion. This was well known everywhere, especially in Parliamentary circles. Miliukoff made himself the echo of the popular voice when lie delivered his famous indictmont of the Prime Minister. The latter retorted by issuing against the leader of the Opposition a writ for libel, and applied himself with renewed energy to the task of getting out of prison the man who had been the prime mover in the dark and sinister intrigue of which Rasputin was the principal figure. At last he succeeded, and ManussewitschMnniuloff was released on bail. Among all the papers which had been confiscated at his home, not one incriminating document had been found, and the only thinjr asrain.-t h'm that could be proved was the blackmailing scheme against tha bank whose dire had had him arrested. He threatened, in case he should be brought to trial, to make certain revelations absolutely damaging for rrore than one highly-placed personage, and he contrived to inspire a holy terror even among tho c o most eager to liavo him condemned for h : s numerous extortions and other shameful deeds. As | soon as lie \ was at liberty he set Ras- i putin to work in his favour, and made the latter display an activity' that ! at la c t, exasperated tho public against the "Prophet" to such ai extent" that the first thought of organising a conspiracy to remove him was started, and verv soon becamc quite a familiar one with more than one person. TRYING TO SNARE THE "PROPHET." To be quite exact, this thought had already existed for some time. About a year after the beginning of the war some enterprising individuals in Petrograd» tried to get rid of the "Prophet" by entangling him in some disgraceful escapade which would have made it necessary for him to leave Petrograd. In with this plan he was invited ono night to supper at some • fashionable music hall, of which there exist so many in the Russian capital. Bohemian singers were called in, and an unlimited amount of champagne provided. Rasputin, who was rather fond of such adventures when he was not obliged to pay for their cost in roubles and kopecks, accepted with alacrity, lie soon bocamo quite drunk. Then, at the invitation of one of the guests, he proceeded tf> show them the manner in whHi the Khylstys, the religious sect to which lie belonged, danced : round the lighted fire, which was an indispensable feature of their meetings. As he was dancing, or rather turning round and round a table that had been put in the middle of the room, he took off some of his clothes, just as his followers used to do when they were holding one of their assemblies in real earnest. Some of tho assistants seized hold of the opportunity and hid the garments of which he had divested himself, then called in the police, requiring them to draw up a report of what had taken place. On the next day this report was taken to a high authority, in tho hope that it would have a damaging effect On the reputation of Rasputin. The result, however, was quite different from that which had been expected, for the person who 'had brought the report to the authority in question instead of being believed was treated as a libeller ana compelled himself to retire from public life. After this it was generally recognised that nothing in the world would be strong enough to bring about the downfall of the "Prophet." In tho meanwhile the efforts of the Opposition party in the Duma had succeeded to the extent of forcing Sturmer to resign as Prime Minister; but he had influence enough to secure his appointment as High Chancellor of the Imperial Court, one of the most important positions in Russia. He did not fall into disgrace, but icmained in power behind the throne whose existence, though not officially recognised, yet was everywhere acknowledged. He had not been dismissed ; he had simply gone away—.l very different thing altogether in the realm of the Czar. . Though no longer a Minister, he was still a personage to be considered as capablo of an infinite amount of good or of harm, acoo ding as it might please him to exert liis influence. His successor, Trepoff, an upright and fairly able man, did not long retain the office he had accepted much against his will. With him departed one of the most popular Ministers Russia had known for a long time, Count Paul Ignatieff, the able son of an able father. He had for something like two years held the portfolio of Public Instruction to the general satisfaction of the public, and and como to the conclusion that it was useless to go on fighting against dark rowers which were getting the upper hand everywhere. A SCANDAL. The resignation of these two statesmen was preceded by ono of the moss scandalous incidents in Russian modern history, the trial of ManussewitschManiuloff. This had been put off from day to day for a length of time until at last it became impossible to secure further delay. The culprit had taken good care, as I have already indicated., to put in safety documents of a most incriminating nature, implicating many persons whom the authorities could not afford to see mixed up in the dirty business connected with the numerous sins of Sturmer's private secretary. When the latter was questioned by the examining Magistrate in regard to that last transaction which had brought him-into Court, he declared that he had acted in accordance with the instructions which lio had received from his chief and that it was not he himself, out the Prime Minister, who had received i j "! one .Y which the bank that had lodged a complaint against him had been induced to pay in order to be spared certain annoyances with which it had been threatened. He had insisted upon this version of the affair and warned the Magistrate that his Sffiwr 1 ?h. d jSf" * aU " w ™ eant l ime Hasputin was moving hea-v en r.nd earth to get the trial postponed and to get the charges against the prisoner qlashed by Se

Chamber of Cassation. He had lonj conferences with several ladies liavinj free entrance in the Imperial Palace and he liad put forward; among othe: arguments, the one which had certaii points in its favour; that it would hi detrimental to the public interest tc have the scandal of such a trial com mented upon by the Press of the wholi of Europe at a time when Russia was struggling against a formidable foe always ready to catch hold of anv thing that would discredit it or its institutions. . For 1 a time it seemed ai if the efforts of the "Prophet" woulc be crowned with success. Then on* fina day opposite currents becavn< powerful, and Maniuloff was sent Le fore a jury in spite of his protesta tions and his threats of revenge upoi those who had taken upon themselves the responsibility of subjecting him t( that annoyance. (To be continued to-morrow.)