Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 67, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 March 1916 — NEW RUSSIA BEING BORN OUT OF EUROPEAN WAR [ARTICLE]

NEW RUSSIA BEING BORN OUT OF EUROPEAN WAR

German Arms Are Blasting the Shackles Off the Backward Empire. NEW PATRIOTISM IS AROUSED Honest Attempts of Government to Solve Problems Encourages Intellectuals to Look For Better Things—Remarkable Exploit of a Russian Soldier. Petrograd.—Out of the tears and sufferings of the great war a new Russia is being bom —a Russia of fair government, progress and economic solidity. This is the belief of many patriots. Perhaps it is all a beautiful dream. The patriots were profoundly discouraged last September when the czar prorogated the duma. But hope revived and was intensified fivefold ■when Nicholas not only called together bin congress again, but a few days ago appeared in person at the opening of this representative body and welcomed the members in the name of •victory. It is hard for western minds to comprehend just what this action of "The Little Father" meant to the Russian mujik. To the humble peasant his czar is a demigod, indeed almost an equal of the Virgin Mary and the Christ. For him to personally 1 receive the peasants’ representatives was an inspiration for the war-driven Russian. The further proceedings of the duma will therefore be watched with more Interest than ever. > The body is patriotic to the last man and the liberal block, or union of parties, has decided to forego pressing for reforms until the crisis in the nation’s history is past. The Premier, M. Stunner, has a record of conservatism which does not recommend him to the liberal elements, yet, like the czar, he now conciliates the most radical and so combines the mighty people to oppose a united front to the German. The honest attempts of the government to solve the frightful transportation problem, which has resulted in famine in one province with a super- - abundance of the needed products in another nearby province, are generally recognized, The efforts have not met with great success, however. Russian bureaucracy, unlike the German brand, is not efficient. But the spirit in which the problem has been met, like the severe measures taken to root out and punish war grafting in high places, have encouraged the intellectuals to look for better things. M. Sazonoff, the foreign minister, is another government official who, though a conservative, has gained the respect and confidence of the people. It is felt that Russia's delicate relations with her allies and with Sweden and the United States are in good hands. Even if Russia should lose this war, or it should result in a draw, great changes are to be expected. Russian reforms have grown out of conflict. When Lloyd-George, the British minister .of munitions, said that German arms are blasting the fetters off backward Russia he told the truth. ' It was the constant incursions of the Tartars which led to the consolidation of old Russia about Moscow. A reign of terror in the first half of the seventeenth century led to the formation of the house of Romanoff, under which the Russian empire has grown to its present greatness. Great Giant Awakens. A century later the war with Sweden brought the nation to a realization of itfi Jieed of western ways. Under Peter the Great the Swedish struggle resulted in the permanent alignment of Russia with the nations of the West, instead of the civilizations of the East. With the Napoleonic ’ wars Russia took several more steps out of her semi-Asiatic seclusion. The Crimean war brought a further spread of enlightened ideas and had much to do with the famous emancipation of the serfs. The feudal system received further blows at the end of the Turkish war of 1577-78. As a climax to the Russo-Japanese war came the bloody revolution of ...1905, the birth of the first duma and the seeming dawn of freedom. But it was a false dawn. There followed reaction of the most terrible sort, pogroms, wholesale arrests, the suppression of liberal ideas and great shipments of the intellectual leaders to Siberia. This era was passing away when the war began. In the spring of 1914 the duma dared to refuse to pass the budget. 11 faught the reactionary government on almost equal terms. The war caused the liberal leaders to consent to delay. Old institutions were allowed to stand unchallenged In the hour of crisis when every nerve and sinew of the nation were needed in the great trial of arms. The war itself has done much to enlighten. The ignorant young peasant, who seldom went more than fifty, miles from his little village, has traveled To the ’battle front and talked with all sorts of men he never dreamed existed. The suppression of vodka has wrought marvels. The, older peasant, instead of spending his evenings in besotting revels, how takes his place in a little group around some man or

woman who can read, and listens to. the latest news about the war or the words of wisdom from some volume purchased at the neighboring town by the joint contributions of many poor folk. Russia is moving and stirring. The world is bound to hear more of the Slavs. Backward, dirty and ignorant the vast mass is today, but it cannot be denied its place. Europe today has about 130,000,000 Slavs to 70,000,000 Germans. In Russia the rate of increase of population is 2.01 a year, while In Germany it is 1.40 and falling. This birth rate of Russia constitutes an insuperable force. Russia has natural resources greater than those of all the rest of. Europe put together. These are almost wholly undeveloped. As the Slavic conscience nnds itself and modern ideas spread, the Slavic influence in the world affairs is bound to grow. Exploit sis Russian Soldier. A Russian scout tells the following story of his successful exploit behind the enemy’s lines: "As I have a good knowledge of Polish I was sent to blow up some bridges in the Austrian rear. I changed my uniform for civilian dress and, having crossed myself, left our trenches and crawled in the-direction of the enemy’s positions. On reaching the Austrian lines I suddenly heard voices to my right, so I quickly changed my course to the left, and succeeded in crossing a trench, from which one could only hear measured snoring. "It was a dark night and very late. I ventured several steps forward, but was then unexpectedly met by a field patrol of 15 men. The commanding officer (an Austrian) seized me, and and began questioning me in Polish. He asked w ho I was, where I had come from, and how I got there at that late hour. 1 told him that I was an Aus-trian-Pole, and had run away from the Russians in Tarnopol, as they had compelled me to dig trenches without any wages. The officer appeared to believe me, and told a Magyar soldier to take me to the staff of the regiment for examination. ‘‘When the guard and I reached the depths of the enemy’s positions he asked me for a match, which I readily gave him, as I had a box in my pocket. He ordered me to stop, and I obeyed. He then leaned his rifle

against a tree and, taking a pipe and tobacco out of his pocket, struck a light. It was still quite dark, and, taking my chance, with the left hand I grasped the rifle, while with my right -I made -a gesture aa isl-intended la. blow my nose. With a violent swing I struck the man on th© bead with the butt end of the rifle, and “he fell down without" even uttering a cry. ‘‘Having satisfied myself that tha Magyar was dead, I took’ off his distinguished conduct medal and searched his pockets, where I found a book, from which it appeared that he had been a teacher in a Lemberg school. Dragging the body to the nearest ditch I laid it down beside the rifle, and continued my course toward the bridges which I was to blow up. Blow Up Bridges. “I wandered about for the rest of the night, and when it became too light to go on I lay down in some vegetable beds behind the ruins of a peasant’s hut. From here I was able to observe the country, and’ to find out, from the map which I carried, the places where the bridges would most probably be. Having spent the day in this position, I renewed my wanderings at the tall of darkness. I reached the first bridge, and saw the sentry with his rifle. On seeing me, the sentry called out, ‘Wer Kommt?’ "Instead of giving him an answer I ran up to the bridge and threw four hand grenades one after the other. They were well aimed, and the bridge, with the sentry, was blown into the air. The body fell into the river, and the bridge began to burn. “Not losing a moment, I ran to the next bridge; which lay half a mile distant The sentry was standing and staring at the burning bridge, without paying any attention to me. As I approached I flung a grenade at a distance of fifteen paces. It struck the man’s feet and both his legs were torn off by the explosion. Then I quickly threw the remaining four grenades, and the bridge collapsed and began burning. “My task was accomplished, and I ran away as fast as I could, and reached the destroyed hut where I had spent the previous day. Soon I heard an alarm, which had been raised to catch me. Men on horseback fired and galloped in search of me, but luckily they just missed me, and presently they disappeared in the distance— An hour after this uproar I 'crept out of my hiding-place and eventually reached the spot where I was first stopped. This time, however, I managed to slip past unnoticed, and, continuing on all fours, I soon got within our lines again. I was taken to the staff, my exploit was verified, and I received the St. George’s Cross of the third degree.’’