POLISH AUTONOMY AND THE LIBERALS
Moscow, November 24 (report from the Petersburg Telegraph Agency). The office of the Zemstvo Congress proposed further consultation with regard to the draft resolution on the Polish question, and voted wholeheartedly in support of a previous congress decision concerning Polish autonomy. Not only had the decision in question nothing to do with the separation of Poland, no, indeed the opposite was true; it was necessary to secure the power and indivisibility of the empire. That is why the reasons for the introduction of the state of siege in Poland as set out in the communiqué do not match the facts. The Congress perceives the following measures to be urgent: (1) Repeal of the state of siege in Poland; (2) submitting the question of Polish autonomy to the first Russian National Assembly, with the condition that the empire remain united; (3) introduction forthwith of the Polish language into primary schools, parish courts, and in matters brought before justices of the peace.† The negotiations commence this evening at 10 p.m.
Moscow, November 25 (report from the Petersburg Telegraph Agency). The Polish question was debated yesterday during proceedings of the congress of zemstvos and municipalities. Struve, the editor of the newspaper Osvobozhdenie [Freedom] demanded liberal administration and autonomy for Poland, now in the throes of the same anarchy as has spread through the rest of the empire. There is no need to fear foreign interference in this process. All Russians would be united against this. Prince Dolgurokov stated that autonomy did not mean separation, and even [Vasily Danilovich] Katkov is not supporting autonomy. The debate was suspended at midnight.
UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE
An urgent telegram sent to the Russkiye Vedomosti [Russian News] reports the Russian government’s decision to introduce a universal, secret, and equal electoral law for the elections of people’s representatives as soon as possible. More detailed information should be published soon.
Like music to my ears…
The Russian Correspondent received the following telegram from Petersburg: Have found out from best sources that Witte is in very difficult position because [Pyotr Nikolayevich] Durnovo* is now following Trepov and the reactionaries, and has the tsar’s heartfelt approval in this.
THE FIGHT GOES ON!
A private dispatch from the Berliner Tageblatt reports: Moscow, November 24. A new strike movement is beginning here in earnest. The fact that waiting staff, housemaids, and telephonists are striking is relatively harmless. But serious disturbances have been taking place since yesterday evening in a number of factories on the edge of the city, work has been stopped, and many factory buildings have been totally destroyed. To top that, rumors are circulating that we can expect a new general railroad strike to begin on December 4.
Petersburg, November 24. The new ministry for Trade and Labor has researched a set of strike statistics. According to these, 119,000 men stopped work on declaring the latest strike in Petersburg, and 10,000 men went on striking after the industrial action had been declared finished. At present, 23,000 men in Petersburg and 51,260 men in Moscow are on strike.
Riga, November 25. The atmosphere in the region surrounding Riga grows ever-more threatening. Revolutionary peasants are occupying the sources of Riga’s water supply. The local railroad to Stopmannsdorf has been totally destroyed, the tracks torn up, the telegraph lines have been cut, and civil servants have been taken prisoner. A variety of peasant parishes have declared themselves to be independent [by creating] communally administered districts, having chased out the civil servants.
Petersburg, November 25. The newssheet Nasha Zhizn [Our Life] describes the outbreak of revolts in Irkutsk as well as the spread of unrest in Poland. In Moscow striking workers are roaming the streets. The residents of the Balashov district have sent General Bakanov a telegram in which they complain about Cossack excesses. The Cossacks robbed, looted, and dismembered residents. In Rostov, 500 workers roamed the streets, toppling over tram carriages, at which shop owners closed their shops and industrialists stopped production. The workers decided to organize a protest strike lasting forty hours, to protest against the massacre of workers by Cossacks.
FOR THE EIGHT-HOUR DAY
Petersburg, November 25. The agitation in support of the eight-hour working day has so far produced the following results—five factories have fired 1,700 workers, while seven other factories have announced redundancies. The new Admiral shipyard, the Baltic shipyard, and a few others are still operating under the old conditions. Workers have gone back to work in the Putilov armaments plant and in almost all the factories in the Narva and Moscow districts, in order to develop their organization.
THE REBELLION IN THE ARMY
London, November 25. According to the Standard, the Manchurian Army is facing an open insurgency; apparently, soldiers have set the city of Harbin on fire.* (It was not the soldiers, of course, but rather the Black Hundreds, led on by the police.—The editors)†
IN VLADIVOSTOK
The Berliner Zeitung has discovered that the following telegram was sent to [Nikolai] Linevich‡ a few days ago: The revolts of troops that began in and around Vladivostok on November 13, and raged in an uncanny way for several days, are still going on. Half of the city has been, at various locations, burned to the ground, ravaged, and looted.
THE REBELLION IN THE NAVY
Sevastopol, November 25 (report by the Petersburg Telegraph Agency). Unrest has broken out among the sailors stationed here, and among the soldiers of the Brest Regiment. Signs of unrest are also visible among the port workers.