New-York daily tribune., 1849-06-09
The Russian Inroad.

This could not be otherwise RUSSIA ls ''0
citadel OF despotism. The principle OF divine rght
Of absolute authority exercised by one man over
millions Of tyranny without Law or hmts'o"'
there supreme-is the soul OF governments ""a
policy. The Gar is the dispenser OF inc ""'
death and throughout bis whole VAST ooi"''''"'
from Archangel TO Odessa and from p" afsa" ~
Tobol.k there is no man who Is not his s'a'e'-
Prince and serf alike Kiss the ground oe'o'e "ii"
Ia. ,~,. that Ra.sis apes the culture oi Europe,
- a.no,s in public in some OF the externais OF
-;.;,;x.,;oo IL is true that she has introduced
into her territory many Of the pursuits and IN
vs,,ions of civilized industry. Herein she does IN
deed undermine the foundations OF her desPotism'
,or Labor is death to all tyranny aud the beginning
OF Industry is the beginning Of an insurecIloh'
whose end is niverssl freedom, universal irater-
nity. the coronation Of the Workers as JOINT kings
and masters Of the Earth.
Rot what civiliza alton there is in Russia has not
changed it's nature it has only rehned ana o's
,;.aa ;,s barbarian an educated Russian is
mora cnnnine and less brutal speaks French aud
wesrs glazed boots, but az the heart he Is stDh
barbarian. else bow could he be asave There are
honorable exceptions, no doubt men OF too much
intelligence b remain bsrDarOus or savish men
who must everywhere be honored but the mass
of the Russian nobility cannot be counted with
these exceptions. And es for the real body OF the
people, what can be said Of them, when out OF
sixty odd million souls comprising the population
OF the entire empire, near fifty millions are sers IN
state of slavishness and ignorance even more so-
iect than that oftbe negroes OF South Caronna IL
would require long centuries TOR civilized iuuus"y
and culture 10 transform that people They are ana
must be ruled by military desPotlsm' caPaole oi
no Immediate internal charge except palace
,svoIt the assassination of an Emperor and the
.nh.,;,n,ion of one family of despots for another,
g. .noh s ever the condition OF barbarous,
despOtic States.
The dominant idea of such state and OF such
n people is foreign conquest. 1t has never oceh
otherwise as all history attests The russians
form no exception TO the rule. Ever since fe'eI
the Great founded their empire, aud framed the
machine OF its policy, they have dreamed ol over
running Europe, as did their predecessors the
Goths and Huns; and not only Europe bat Asa
They have followed their bent steadily and shrewd-
lv far the hypocrisy oftheir Government equal to
IT'S arrogance First Poland annexed then Turkey
and Persia m ade dependent, and Austria and Ger
many converted into outPosts. They nave Au-
vanced slowly indeed, but have never os' s'Bn'
Of their aim. France and England have been IN
their " ay and delayed their movements but they
have never doubted that their time would come'
The design of this moDstrous power is thus two
iold-the suppression of liberal ideas III Europe
and foreign conquest 1t must put down hepuo-
6cism and Socialism, because they are aggressive
and dangerous To itself. 1t must extend Its terri
tories because the wild instincts Of its people de-
mand still wider theatcr OF devt vtlopment The
one it does by the necessity OF seli-preserVa atoh'
the other to crafty its spPeties.
What are the resources with which this is to
be executed
There is no country whose statistics are so OBJ
scure as those of Russia. But little rehance can
be placed on the official statements, when are 'he
only sources of information on the important suo
jects of revenue aud forces. In despouc oaroa-
rism the business of public officers is not to make
sucb matters plain and intelhgible, but to hide
and obscure them. The great lie ON which the
State is founded ramides and reoppears IN all It's
departments.
The total Russian domlnions, including those IN
Asia. but not those in America, contain seven
millions of square miles, about three times as
much as the present territories OF the United
sts,es. OF this Siberia forms about two-thlrds
The population of the Empire is now between
sixty five and seventy millions. The main pur-
.oit is agriculture, which is in the rudest cond-
ton The effort to naturalize manufacturing IN
du.trv. though prosecuted long and earnestly, has
not been successful whatever DO the report o'
superficial observers. The Russians, like the
Greeks, have a genius for trade la 1923, the
last wear for which the statistics are before u.s. the
imports Of the country were In round numbers
So. 500 600, and the exports s66,25O,OOO. lhe
mines of Russia are not so productive as they are
generally supposed to be. The annual yield OF the
cold silver and platina mines together, Is aoou
$4,000 600; the copper mines produce s5,oOo'oV'
the lead and zinc mines e25O, 900; the iron mlne'
about SIC, 900 900, in all sl7, 600. The entire
Revenue of the State is put down. by the oes
authorities, at a sum equivalent to ssO'2'o'Voo
though the acute aud welliniormed author OF the
.Revelations on Russia reckons It above sloo,
100000. The special income OF the Imperial esteo
hshment is above $4,000 600. The National Deb
was, on Jan. !, lsis, equivalent to s226OoOOoO
and has since been increased. 1t is said tina
there are immense sums of gold and silver STORED
up in the citadel of st. Petersburgh Probably
there is truth in this story; possibly, however
there is some humbug also.
Now we do not pretend to say whether thes'
statements, which be il remembered are draw
from official sources, are too large or too small
though il seems more probable that they are owe
rather than under the mark, the policy OF Russi
aud the character OF her people have noth'hS
that meekness which seeks to appear oi les
account than it really is. Russia has always en-
deavored to impose other nations. But al an
rate if the above be al index, the resources
the Car are not so inexhaustible as they ar
sometimes represented The commerce OF Franc
with half the population Of Russia is twice
yrea, and the revenue three or four times as sre'
as that of Russia. Is it then true that husS'a
stronger or can better endure war than Franc
or Germany We shall see.
The great bugbear OF Europe is the hussia
army. 1t is certainly formidable affair." an
Nicholas has taken care that it should be regular