THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1906.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7931, 3 January 1906, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1906.

The man of the hour in Russia is certainly Count Sergius Witte, and from the latest oable messages concerning the revolt in thai; country it would seem that the Count, whose career has been a most remarkable

one, to say the least, will yet succeed in rendering supremely great nervices to bis country. The Count's position is undoubtedly one of the very greatest difficulty, and added to the stupendous nature of the work he is attemDting there is, indeed grave reason to fear that his life may be terminated at any moment by the hand of an assassin. Count Witte at the present moment is supreme in the dominions of the Czar, and tho intelligence that he is devoting £65'0,000 towards the aleviation of suffering from the famine augurs well in favour of the policy that Russia's Prime Minister would introduce, if he can only make himself sufficiently powerful to compel the bureauoracy to yield to the mandates of the true reform party. It dofia not appear to be a question of what Count Witte is, or is not allowed to do, but rather the extent to which he can coerce the present nominal aathorities. The news that the armed insurrection has been, practically, stamped out for the time being may justify one in holding the opinion that the hardest part of Count Witte's task has only just ■ commenced. In the trying time which has been experienced of late the bureaucracy sought the assistance of Count Witte in order to save themselves from the handn of tho people, but now that the revolutionists are crushed will they submit to the regime that Count Witte desires to institute? Writing on November 15 the St. Petersburg correspondent of the New York Herald contributes an extremely interesting letter to his journal. The writer remarks that the Winter Palace la occupied by that king of democrats, Count Sergius Witte, a man hated by the Emperor, an enemy of the Grand Dukes. And Countess Witte is there, tou, waited on by Imperial servants. He who until a few weeks ago had been banned from appearing at Court (!). j Count Witte, is virtually in supreme command of this great country. He has shown a taste of his temper by dismissing four peccant governors of provinces in one day, and at his belt hang the political scalps of six M inisters, who fell the same day. ' 'lf Russia is to be saved from the terrors of general anarohy people must have patience." Such is the cry of Count Witte at this great moment of trial, the greatest in the history of this country. The terrifying truth iB that at tha present moment only a slender thread stands between renovated, reconstructed, liberated Russia and anarchy let loose throughout this ill-starred country on a j scale that the world has never known. That thread is held in the hands of Count Sergius Witte. should it snap, desolation, disorder, bloodshed and epen civil war are sure to follow. Count Witte makes an urgent, almost piteous, appeal to the people, asking them to be patient. The difficulties Count ! Witte has to face are almost midless. If he overcomes them and succeeds he will stamp himself as one of the greatest men of the j century. He has against him a ! powerful bureauoracy, the army, | the reactionary party, and the Anarchists. With him are the Liberals and intelligent classes and a very fickle, impatient and suspicious public. One of the great troubles of the situation is that the Russian people have grown acoustomed to the idea that the law can be ohanged by a sweep of the pen. They forget that each action is possible under an autooraoy, but not with a constitutional government. They have been so often deceived by unfulfilled promises that they have grown intensely suspicious. They insist quitV unjustly that the word should be followed by the immediate deed. That is impossible. But Count Witte knows full well the value of time. He is hastening. The race is a hard one, and the threats of the revolutionaries are heard aloud. The new Ministry consists of men of whose sincerity and Liberalism there aan be no doubt. Count Witte himself holds no special portfolio: There are those who profess doubt of his sincerity. I have constantly talked with him in regard to the state of Russia. The last time I saw him he said with emphasis:—'Russia is in a most dangerous position. The only thing that can save her is a complete overhauling, a thorough change of her administrative methods, and if it is not done soon it will be too late. The man who mundertakes it must have quite special powers.' Count Witte to-day has those powers. Hiß einoerity to my mind is unimpeachable. He hates the bureaucrats as the curse of his country. He will sweep their power away relentlessly. He knows all their tricks and how to counteract them and will enjoy doing so. He has the fullest faith in his own powers. His only and his supreme doubt lies in the question as to whether the people will give him time."