The Daily News. MONDAY, JULY 3, 1905. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7862, 3 July 1905, Page 2

The Daily News. MONDAY, JULY 3, 1905. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.

The cable news published in our Ifisu© of Saturday wws thrilling in its import as an omen of the desperate awakening of the Russians to the horrors of their condition. I» discloses the lirst act of a nationa. d ama that bids fair to I>* replete *ith the most sensational Indents cr® the curtain finally falls. Many \eais ham been occupied in preparing for this mighty revolutionary eruption, but The wisest prophet could not oven guess through whfcvt ccvicn the maito- explosion would rarry itself, lliat insurrection w o ukl burst forth at sight of its bio d w a s only too probable, and in this instance hiftorv has repealed itself. A Bailor shot at sight aroused the dornon in his comrades, and the btnouldering lire of mutiny l«*apt at onca into a blaze. On thv spur* of the moment authority, and alt that ;t i*»preHent« , d as the embodiment of autocracy, v.'.\h set at nought, all'' th.* first mil Wow struck in the, cause of freedom. The cloud • that a n'rtle simre h u .s no larger than a man's hand has gathered -to itself all the element.** of a tierce and I prolonged storm—-inimical to human life, but fraught with the promise of brighter days to coine. The sccci of Nihilism would, of itsvlf, have

taken many yeirs to what a moment'.* impulse Vibs brought about. I'"or somO tme past Hu.ssia has bc.n seething in n fierce agitation, and though men. women* and children hav,v been shot down like vermin, tortured, and brutally ilMuyited. the disaffection has spread, and the people -hav* at length lo.st their simple faith in thi*ir "Little Father." Down-trod Men, ana repressed with steel bullets for centuries, it was assumed that the

uiasses were inert and mere plastic .specimens of humanity. f lhe knout has played its part in nnimalising the pcoplut, 'whlla tbo prison, {the nynesi and vxilo havo raljh claimed a heavy toll from the population. Destitute of ar nv<—as of roost other things obtainable by friu citizens—they were powvrloi* to resist, ui<*l hud no option but to submit to every cruelly and degradation that a semi-bwbnr-ous despotism could conceive. Vet they ' were supposed to be happy and Contented. also loyal and overflowing with faith in, and gratitude to, the Tsar. Wo have seen only too plainly of late that the old order oi things in Kussia has passed away, «md with it that belief and loyalty wh ch Was looked upon as the safeguard and safety valve of the nat on- To-day we are realising the meaning of the vanished ideals which were only skin

deep at best, 'llie myth of a huTsar .Ji.is. died hard, l!n i'l's death warrant was signed when ! 'i" Father of his people refuKud to li-,;r the despairing potiticwi of pence.'u! workmen, but, instead, made the.n h"ar and fed the grinding clash of the steel, and the horrible rattle of the musketry of his soldiers. They asked protection and received th# bayonet thrust or bullet, or snnie such kindred answer, revealing to them the h/ipelessrtess of their faith, and awakening their demoniac nature to resent with all their power (he tyranny, cruelty, and opposition onduned niih t>u<:h n>a rv elluus meekness for generations> All the censorship that even such «n adept (loas Russia can cdovise niu&ti Ik 1 impotent in its endeavours to stem the sirttiad of niews of Imrlmrk* acts like these. 'Jluj germs of revolution thrive lustily on human bloixl, and the latest cables testify to lbtruta of t<hi.<J statement. In Bnu(.ltern Kussia ami in Poland the state of affairs is lurid with revolutionary activity, in which tho death dealing timrji 1s playing u. prominent part. Simultaneously with 1 the mutiny on the Knia'z Potemkin nt Odessa, there is news of other outbreaks, and a slate of war has been declared by the Tsar. The Cossacks have cl/jiie (heir liesl, HS usual, (o fill (lie streets of Odessa with killoil anil woundud. tin' t'i rnr-stricken citizens lH'ing ruthlessly shot as they sought to cscaj*? from the horrors of till conflict. "The nuissacre was awful." It is significant that not only have tliera been instances of soldiers refusing to fire on Iho people, nnd sailors revolting and seizing arms, but. as the cable nuscage stated, "events at Odessa. Lilian, and Ttevel appear so ominous that official circles in St. Petersburg dou.bt whether the gunners of the Baltic Sea fleet will "Tiro on the Kniaz PotemJtin.- It is feared thn.t_ifJl)C crews mutiny they will against the Eoldiery^^^^^L|^^^m' i <l, organised troops."

in.v at Odessa has miule a far dcepr iirijjrc. siiui than the- clt-fcm in 1 ilnnc (in ; i and the annihilation of ' heltaltic Kluets. To the outsido vorhl, li t ilisloyalt.y winch mam- i es'tad i'm■!f iu the llultic Khvt was i warniu of what Ims .viht hapjenerl, r.ul the full elTect, of the Odesia mutiny will not bo apparent un-

til (hv news has pcriiwulod thj! I 'lvor's • : inions, mid .shown the 5 people. '.tie power they possess if t t.hey re to tdo of die. That only , 1 two (if tluiiral Kruger's ship* havo J sailed !'• r Odessa—the crews ol th« , | [other.; lieinp untrustworthy—is nt itsoli iiv indioition of the spread of 1 the re\ nlutionary f .'vcr. Meanwhilo the rows at tint seaport arc <i&scriln (! ns appalling, and the people are inui;curatinK their nov: role with fren/icl destructhviiess and fanatical (lisle :r<l of life-a veritable baptism of file mid bloodshed which bids fair to reveal itself in other places. The question is : Can the available fortes of the Tsar prevail and save the | totteil'R monarchy, or will the latent power of the people assert itself in 'ho cattso of fr>:«loni, to the 1 extinction of a tyrannous autocracy ? Time Will show.' The outlook ail f present is fraught with intense gra ■ vity. and the issue is one that may ha\e a momentous bearing on future hlst-i-y.