It is with deep regret that we record the death
of M. Stolypin, the Russian Prime Minister, who died of his wound on Monday night. The assassin Bogroff was actually in the service of the Russian secret police. He played one of those almost incredible double parts of which the notorious Azeff is the best remembered practitioner. It appears that he has betrayed many terrorists in order to make quite sure of gaining the confidence of the police. This he succeeded in doing, and ultimately he received a regular salary from the secret police. At Kieff he declared that terrorists would be present at the gala performance, and that he would be able to recognize and betray them. The police therefore made it easy for him to be near M. Stolypin, and with their consent he caned a revolver as though for his own protection. M. Stolypin's wound was not necessarily a fatal one, but his heart was weak, and it gave way after the operation. The crime has caused a good deal of anti-Semitic feeling to be expressed throughout Russia. It is expected that M. Kokovtsoff, the Minister of Finance, will succeed M. Stolypin as Prime Minister. We have written elsewhere of M. Stolypin's great, though often misinterpreted, services to Russia.
