The post and telegraph civil servants’ strike action is holding strong. Most of the telegraph wires between Petersburg and Moscow have been cut. All railroad stations in Petersburg are being guarded by troops. Railroad stations in most cities are overflowing with freight cars leaving the capital that cannot be unloaded because of the workers’ strike. The unemployed are leaving the capital and Moscow and are moving to the villages to escape a potential famine. This means that revolutionary agitation will of course be spread in increased measure to the surrounding countryside. While that is going on, absolutism is under threat of a financial crash.
There is most serious concern about the government’s financial situation in Petersburg, as the Times reports from the city. The semi-official newspapers are publishing reports on the rich profits being made from the brandy monopoly, written in an almost ecstatic tone, forecasting an income from this source of over a million marks for next year. It is believed in Petersburg that these articles betray the government’s intention to mortgage the brandy monopoly to German banks. The presence of Fischl, authorized signatory from the Berlin Banking House Mendelssohn in the city, adds weight to this belief. We can at any rate assume that the “outstanding revenues” from the brandy monopoly can at best be traced to the Black Hundreds’ copious consumption, which the government pays for out of its very own pocket.
As regards the workers and peasants, it has just been ascertained that their brandy consumption has dropped noticeably during the last year of revolution. If the German banks are willing to enter into this pretty business, then we can count on it being a resounding flop. Priest Gapon has apparently turned up in Petersburg again, his presence—as has usually been the case to date—only causing bewilderment and tensions inside the workers’ movement.
As reported in the Russian papers, preparations are being made for the reopening of the eleven sections of the workers’ associations organized by Priest Gapon, closed after the disturbances in January. The return of the sequestrated sums of money should also occur in the near future. The Socialist Revolutionary Party has already begun its campaign against the “workers’ association” and Gapon. The Socialist Revolutionary Party passed a resolution stating that the measures proposed by Struve and Gapon could only lead to ruin for the workers.
We cannot rule out the possibility that the government is now intentionally reopening the Gaponist clubs and associations to spread chaos and confusion in proletarian circles. The railroad strike continues to draw nearer. As reported by a Lviv dispatch from Petersburg, an assembly of railroad civil servants passed a resolution yesterday, that if the post service’s central board did not retract numerous redundancies, then they would go out on strike. The general strike has broken out in Nikolaev.
The peasant uprisings are also continuing, as is proven by the sparse news that still reaches us from Russia. As stated by Laffan’s News Agency: peasants have looted a large estate in the Penza Province belonging to Prince Naryshkin, son-in-law of Count Witte’s. The stately home and other estate buildings were destroyed.
Paris, December 5. The Journal reports from Petersburg that a total of 60,000 workers are currently on strike. A local assembly passed the resolution to continue the strike under all circumstances. Clashes continue on the streets.
TSARISM AND ITS FOREIGN RELATIONS
The good old days of Aranjuez* are gone, in which Russia was seen “as the strongest bulwark of international reaction!” Now the capitalist states are barricading themselves off from Russia as fast as they can, and with that from the dangerous revolutionary horde. A whole series of telegrams illustrate the majestic picture—the tsar’s old empire, going up in the revolution’s huge sea of flames, cut off from the world, viewed with horror and mistrust by the other “powers!”…
Washington, December 5 (report by Laffan’s News Agency). The State Department has not received any news from the American embassy in Russia for the last two days.
Constantinople, December 5 (report from the Vienna Telegraph Office). As a result of events in Odessa and Sevastopol, and in ports where the arrival of revolutionary ships is to be feared in the aftermath of the Potemkin affair, the same measures have been taken for the Bosporus as were ordered while the Potemkin affair lasted. Several torpedo boats are stationed at the entrance to the Bosporus.
Stockholm, December 5. The Aftonbladet reports that the Marine Ministry will send two warships to Russia to protect Swedish subjects. The Psilander, a torpedo boat destroyer, will sail tomorrow to Petersburg. A second torpedo boat destroyer shall be sent to Riga along with a merchant steamship, to be available for the Swedish consul in that city.
Vienna, December 6 (H.O.).† Despite the Austro-Hungarian ambassador’s intervention in Petersburg, the Russian government is refusing to grant claims that the injuries incurred by Austrian or other citizens during the disturbances should be compensated. The government points out that those concerned could sue in court in accordance with Russian law.
AN APPEAL TO HUMANITY
In Mainz, in the big hall of the Liedertafel,* an assembly of more than 1,000 people was held on the evening of December 5. A committee had invited numerous city councilors; the member of the regional parliament, Dr. Schmidt; Dr. [Eduard] David, the member of the Reichstag; as well as representatives from all political parties. After introductory talks by Mr. [Eugen] Leviné from Petersburg and Prof. Staudinger from Darmstadt, the following resolution was passed unanimously:
The assembly meeting on December 5, 1905 in the large hall of Liedertafel in Mainz expresses its utmost indignation concerning the thousands in Russia who, under the eyes of the authorities, can be murdered, maimed and robbed of their property. The assembly declares the atrocities that have taken place cast derision on the achievements of civilization, and hopes that all of decent humankind will share its indignation. We expect that the pressure of public opinion makes a repetition of such experiences impossible, and that the unfortunate victims receive their share of moral support from the cultured states, particularly through the endorsement of equality of rights for all citizens of one state.
There is much talk here of “humanity” and “public opinion.” The fact is that the hard-fought proletarian class struggle is the only protection against the bestiality of absolutism, and not these two very problematic powers, blurred as they are in their conception by the bourgeois.
NICHOLAS’S FINAL “SWISS GUARD”
Petersburg, December 5 (via Chernyshevskoye, from the Petersburg Telegraph Agency). A regimental party of the Semionovsky Guard Regiment was celebrated yesterday in Tsarskoye Selo, at which Tsar Nicholas addressed the troops, highly praising their proven loyalty to duty. At a breakfast with the officer, the tsar proposed a toast to the officer corps. He thanked the regiments again for their exemplary services and concluded with the wish that the Semionov regiment may always remain so strongly united as it was currently showing itself to be.