Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 1905. ON THE VERGE:

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3495, 11 March 1905, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 1905. ON THE VERGE:

In his last despatch addressed lo the Czi’.r before the fall of Port Arthur, General Stonssel used these pathetic words “ Great. Sovereign, .forgive ! We have done ill! lililt Was liliihaniy possible. Judge us; but be merciful.” In these words is conveyed to us an idea of the real spirit that has dominated Riisrid si,neb riie first attained Id impeiial aiiu Historic dignity—the spirit of absolute obedience which has made it possible for one mere man, the C ar, to rule, in theory if not in practice, the largest of alt nations of luifdpe Uy Ills own unquestioned and unquestionable will. To-day, however, the system of nominal dutpchtcy, practically (Injected by a governing bureaucracy, is shaken to its foundations. There is, as an English contemporary succinctly puts it, one condition indispensable to the existence of every great military autdei'acy—sucgeSS iii Wtin With its armies beaten in the field on every hand, with its Eastern Navy annihilated and the key, of the Far East violently v-n eliclldd fnbri its grasp, and its forces now prdctically repeating in complete and. final disorder; Czarddm stands, but irt, the .fierce, light of publicity; if miserable failure.- The subterranean discontent which liaS been gathering strength for long years past is now bursting forth from a thousand rents in the cracking surface of the present rotten and Outworn system. Even before the final disaster—for we may so characterise the result of the pest ten days’ operations around the sacred Marichil City of the Dead—Mukden—the Russian national press and people were clamouring for peace, and demanding those representative institutions Which th-; Zemstvos had begged for In vain. Th 6 attitude of the inhabitants of St. Petersburg bdCorrte oirsindus. Men did what, in Russia, had been art un-heard-of thing—they stood and discussed the situation openly, in the streets, without fear of arrest. This was a sinister innovation, for the first thing a Russian learns is never to talk politics in the street. The nation was on the brink of mighty change; long pent-np forces were gathering for a descent only comparable to that of an Alpine avalanche in its sweeping power. Had the Czar been wise in time a great domestic Russian tragedy might have been averted. He was not, the power of the Grand Ducal party prevailed ; and then the civilised world was staggered by the happenings on a Sunday in St. Petersburg when the people gathered together for a peaceful demonstration were slaughtered in thousands in the name of authority. The country was aflame at once. It cannot be wondered at if the news which so deeply stirred outside nations should have produced a destroying effect upon the spirit of the Muscovite troops in the Far East. They are at best fighting a losing battle ; their opponents, flushed with victory, know not what it is to be denied, and with the news of the happenings at home fresh in their minds the soldiers of the Czar —many of them pressed troops—have practically broken and fled. On the other hand the people of European Russia, disappointed at the failure of the war, will not now cease in their demands for national reforms, and already we see tiiat the Czar promises representative institutions. But will he dare go far enough, to break the bonds of his surroundings, to meet the people half way, and to grant them the constitution which would be the more perfect safeguard of his own throne ? If he does nob then reform will surely come through the medium of a great and terrible revolution, compared to which, the memorable upheavel witnessed in ] France a century ago will pale into insignificance. A mighty nation stands on the verge of a terrible abyss, and a world awaits the turn of events with bated breath, and questions in a voice tense with anxiety : “ Which way will the balance fall ? "