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Show "HOLY PROPERTY" IN RUSSIA. The present Czar does not seem to have the same success that former Czars have had. in charming the peasants peas-ants of his Empire. In former times a word from the "little father" was the same as holy writ to them; but now the Czar may speak without receiving attention, and his word will not stop oven one peasant from furious attacks upon the uutocratlc order. There are many reasons for this, one of which, and the moat Important, is that the peasants are no more the mere chattels that they were; there has come to them with the revolutionary revolution-ary teachings, some notion of their real power, and of their rights as men and women. And then, this Czar showed the white feather at the great demonstration of last year In St. Petersburg; Pe-tersburg; he was afraid to appear when tho great delegation asked for but a word from him. Again, his words, when he docs send them forth to his people, are uncertain, meaningless, or vicious. The people never know how much trust to put In them, so they remain re-main on what they consider tho safe side and put no trust In them at all. Such a .talk as the latest that he Is reported to have given, that to tho dep- j utatlon from tho Kursk peasants, can hardly be supposed by any sensible peasant to have much pith in 11, or to be of any advantage to the peasants. peas-ants. He gave them some taffy about his solicitude for tho welfare of tho peasants, and promised to care for them; but of what forco Is that, when the peasants see their friends nnd neighbors shot down without mercy, or banished to Siberia, with no real offense of-fense committed by them? The Czar dwelt fondly on property rights, and closed with this Injunction repeated: "Remember always that the right to property Is holy and Inviolable." But even those who hold the highest Idea of the right of property must admit ad-mit that the Czar puts the matter strongly when he say3 that these rights are "holy." And the poor peasants of Russia might surely be pardoned for thinking that some other rights better deserve to be called "holy" than the rights of property. A man's right to life, Vor instance, that Is so ruthlessly disregarded by the Czar and his blood-letters, blood-letters, might fairly claim priority. The right of a family to Its home privacy Is also a right that could well have somo regard whore now It has none; also, the right of an accused to have something proved against him before he Is shot or hanged or banished. These rights are more sacred than the rights of property; prop-erty; nnd until there Is a firm disposition disposi-tion in the mind of the Czar to give heed to the common personal rights of mankind; until he Is ready to let his subjects live and be treated fairly by his officials, a little less Insistence upon the holy rights of property would much become him. |
