Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1905 — RUSSIA LONG TORN BY STRIFE. [ARTICLE]

RUSSIA LONG TORN BY STRIFE.

Thousand. Killed in Internal Out- - breaks of the Year. For over a year Russia has been torn with internal dissensions which have culminated in the affair at Lodz. Thousands of lives have been sacrificed in conflicts with the soldiers and police, and hardly a city of any importance in the empire has been free from rioting and bloodshed. Wholesale executions have taken place of which the world has heard but little, one account stating that GOO hangings had taken place in Warsaw, Moscow and Cronstadt having been published as far back as May 26, 1904. The Russian government discovered evidence of plans for inaugurating a reign of terror throughout the empire last October, according to reports from St. Petersburg, which stated that the secret agents of the government had located a band of revolutionists in Switzerland. The growing discontent of the people with the industrial conditions and the war policy of the government finally led to the general circulation of printed proclamations Jn St. Petersburg on Dec. 10 calling for a public demonstration outside of the court in which the trial of Sasoneff, the assassin of Minister von Plehve, was to open two days later. The proclamation brought several thousand persons together in front of Kazan Cathedral, many carrying red flags and crying “Down with autocracy.” In the midst of the anti-government demonstration the mounted police charged the crowd at full gallop and scores were injured. The riot was said to be the worst since that of 1901. A week later there were a series of riots in Moscow on the Czar’s fete day. Each day following the dispatches told of the growth of the hostile spirit toward the government and the rapid spread of industrial discontent. On Christmas morning, after the celebration of midnight mass, hundreds of workingmen paraded the streets of Bazom, in Russian Poland, waving red flags. They were attacked by troops and many were killed. On Jan. 12, 1905, 6,000 workingmenemployed in the Baku petroleum district went on a revolt and were attacked by Cossacks. A three days’ conflict ensued in which Scores were killed and injured. More than 300 oil wells were fired and millions of dollars’ worth of property destroyed. Minor disturbances were reported daily in all parts of the empire. On Jan. 19 a charge of grape shot was fired across tiu River Neva into a pavilion in front of the Winter Palace while the Czar was attending the annua, ceremony of blessing the waters. Plans for a demonstration In front of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg were started, at which a petition was to be handed to the Czar in person, came to the attention of the police, and the government took steps to check any uprising with troops. The demonstration came on Jan. 22. Father Gopon, at the head of a throng of 100,000 workingmen, started to the palace and was 'confronted by soldiers. Volley after volley was fired into the dense throng, and the snow-covered streets were crimsoned with blood. It was estimated that 2,000 were killed and 3,000 wounded in less than an hour. Rioting continued three days altogether, and the time seemed ripe for revolution. Encounters took place between the soldiers and the people in all parts of the empire. One hundred workingmen were killed in a battle with the troops at Radom. The workmen of Moscow went on a strike. Thirty citizens were killed Jan. 27 at Riga and clashes were reported at Odessa, Rcval, Libnu, Kieff and Kovno. The strike began at Lodz on jan. 26 and has continued with growing violence. Seventy-eight persons were killed at Sosnovice on Feb. 10, and on the same day more than 100 were killed or wounded in a revolt at Warsaw. Nine students, all of them mere youths, were slaughtered at Tomsk, western Siberia, by Cossacks and police on Feb. 20. The killing was regarded as so unjustifiable that the government punished the officers responsible.