Page:The Pacific Monthly vol. 14.djvu/615

 standpoint, and hence America had to be selected. This of necessity made the supplanting of Cassini by Rosen absolutely imperative, and herein is the actual beginning on the part of Russia to secure peace with the ever victorious Japanese. All this the government of the Mikado knew fully as much as it was known to any of Russia's bureaucrats, and Japan was therefore prepared to govern itself accordingly.

With these facts before us, it is certainly out of the question to think that the Japanese peace envoys have surrendered all that the valor and wisdom of the Mikado's army and navy have won in the far East. The only thing the Japanese envoys did "surrender" was that of allowing Russia's star performer to indulge in his bombastic display of words by which he thought he could make the world believe that his lord and master came with flying colors out of his Manchurian adventure. For let it not be forgotten that when all the terms of peace submitted by the Japanese but that of indemnity were fully agreed upon by the Russian envoys, even then peace was as far away as ever, and it was only after a secret conference between Mr. Witte and Baron Komura, lasting a whole hour, while their respective assistants and secretaries were waiting in an adjoining room, that Mr. Witte managed to emerge with his message of peace. Surely the Japanese, as the victors, had nothing in the way of terms of peace that required any secrecy. Not so with Russia. The mourniul crocodile, having discovered its amour propre in serious danger, after repeated declarations "not an inch of territory nor a kopeck of indemnity," found itself confronted by the alternative of either paying in hard cash for its Man- churian adventure or of fighting it out. Unable to carry on the struggle, it finally secured the consent of the Japanese en- voys to a secret conference where a quid pro quo was definitely arranged to the sat- isfaction of Baron Komura.

Such a proceeding on the part of Russia was made necessary by the internal condi- tions of the empire, and also in order to enable the autocratic government to an- nounce to the world that the "ultimatimi" of the Czar had been accepted by the Mika- do. That is all there is to this supposed "no indemnitv" transaction. ^^

As to Russia's future — it is as dark as darkness itself can make it. The bureau- cracy, strongly intrenched as it is, realizes that any participation of the people in the internal affairs of the great empire would mean an end to their profitable crimes and criminalities. Hence it is, while an- nouncing in high-sounding phrases a pro- posed "national" assembly, they take good care to retain the hangman Trepoff in po- sition of dictator, maintain their firm hold upon newspapers and other publications, help along the massacres of Armenians, Jews, Poles, Finns, etc., and sing Te Deums over the peace message from Ports- mouth. Oh, the hypocrisy of it! To find a parallel to all this brutal duplicity is cer- tainly impossible. For has it not been fully demonstrated time and again that every riot accompanied by murder and ar- son has been aided and abetted by the gov- erning crew ? Has it not been shown that every sorrow and misfortune of the peo- ple of Russia owes its actual origin in the despotism presided over by the Holstein- Gottorp and Anhalt-Zerbst dynasty, the supposed house of the robber Romanoffs? A time there was when neither the people themselves nor the world at large knew much of this actual state of affairs. The day has, however, come when this ignor- ance of the source of Russia's affiictions has been dispelled ; and, whether the world at large lends its moral support to the peo- ple of that long-suffering empire or not, the day is not far distant when the im- plements of destruction so freely and so ^ constantly used against the inoffensive people will be turned upon the guilty heads of the most corrupt and criminal bureau- cracy that human endurance has ever per- mitted to exist.

To contemplate the prospective revolu- tion which, sooner or later, must be fought out in Russia, is certainly a most terrible thing. But every people, it seems, has to pay, and, at times, very dearly, for free- dom from the oppression of priestcraft and statecraft. The people of Russia are at last earnestly and courageously engaged in the struggle with its twin-monster of priest- craft and statecraft, and when that great struggle comes to an end, the curtain will drop over what has so long been in that land a constant tragedy of guilty power and murdered innocence.

Sfptember j. iqoj.