A SCATHING DENUNCIATION

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 7 September 1917, Page 1

A SCATHING DENUNCIATION

Professor Miliukoff, when denouncing the pro-German Premier Stunner last November, thrilled the Duma with his eloquence. • He spoke as follows : Gentlemen.—We have all heard of funeral orations, but have you noticed that, whatever .their aim. these orations alwavs leave the dead dead ? What would von "think, I wonder, of a man wiio sought, in such an oration, to bring about the" resurrection of the dead '! Mad? 1 agree: yet there are times when such an attempt is permissible. Gentlemen, . I stand on this tribune with that mad desire upon me. Like a fire this desire has b.arnt into my soul. I want to deliver an oration which wilt resurrect the dead, because the mighty Russian Empire cannot afford to leave'dead its most precious possession. The dead, over which I, together with most of the Russian people, weep tears of blood, must be dead no longer. You and I must use all ci.r powers —magic, witchcraft, what you will --but the dead must be made to live. This highest heritage of a nation, its " honor, must not be buried. Honor is 1 dead in Russia, and before the whole ' world becomes aware of our dead we must i bring it to life again. i ; Do you not know that unless yon act now. unless you use your utmost efforts, \ the name of Russia will stink in the nost toils of humanity? Even the most savage tribe in the world will turn away on [ the approach of a Russian, because Russia , is about to betray the trust of her Allies. 1 They are Allies "of whom she should be ' proud—Allies to whom she ought to listen with respect and obedience. They 1 are among the oldest civilisations, the oldest democracies in the world, and they fc are to be betrayed ! Judas the traitor is among us ! Judas lias closed his bargain ! - I understand your turmoil; I read the terror in your eyes. Even the President's o hand is quaking ! He rings his bell uers vouslv; but. mark, even the bell revolts: • instead of its shrill sound you hear a \ muffled funeral note. No,, it shall nol silence me; its. sound re-echoes in mj j soul and urges m,e to further effort. 1

have liere, gentlemen, the evidence of Judas. Evidence in cold figures—the number -of shekels, the pieces of silver for betrayal. A new sound conies oiit of the bell—the jingle of silver, the blood money ! Why are we silent ? Yes, silence, our silence, is golden to Sturmer and his colleagues.'' But for us, for generations to come, that silence is a crime: a terrible, bloody crime. All -we- shall have to leave our descendants when honor is . burled, is dissn-ace—a stain that no time

iJiuitx.l. is -uisgiace —<i suam uu tixiie will efface. Wake up, you sons of Russia, you who stand for the Russian people, and avert this greatest.of all'catastrophes. Rise up, dead honor, arise from your coffin and let us see thee live. Come, face thy murderer in bis high, place. Accuse him before this assembly: let thy voice thunder. Yes, I am aflame: but I am told compared with, the" crime with which I charge Sturmer.' I stand on this tribune only because you are honest- and true men, and you will not tolerate these

things when once yon know them: You will bring honor to life again, and bring gratitude instead of' contempt into the hearts "of our children. Rachel, we are told, is crying for her children, but if yon open your ears you will hear a heart-breaking sob—a sob which will fill you with horror. Do yon know who it v is that is crying? Russia, the gallant, the brave, the Mother of ns all, good and bad, is crying. Her heart is breaking. Are we to help her—we, her sons? Your answer cheers me. This is ibe miracle for which I have, been working. The dead has come to life again. Your shouts of encouragement are its first signs of life. With honor alive in our midst once more -we/ can speak calmly. Analyse the activities of the Sturmer Ministry since its beginning. What were all its measures adopted for ? What were they meant to produce? The dissatisfaction of the masses. What does such dissatisfaction produce? Revolution, bloody revolution. Berlin does not pay money for nothing. Sturmer had to earn it, and he did. He paved the way for revolutions as the means to a separate peace. Must not the great Russian people be told of tliis ? Is it not better to remove the cause of their suffering? Gentleman, this traitor, this German, must go. No matter what excuse be made for him, for the sake of our honor aud the trust of our Allies Stunner must go. ...