The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-08-21
The Russian Empire.


tribu ted over the surface of the earth, itwould
he inhabited by $50, 10000 souls. At present
ITS population is supposed TO be not half that
figure, reaching, in all probability, as high as
Is or 7o,oooooo. sun, 1t is by far the mightiest
empire In Europe, and If its resources were
fully developed, it might become the miShtiest
that the world ever saw. Its policy Is, more
over and always has been, aggressive l'eoh-
uuer. wherever il can. and never releases wha'
has once come within its grasp why 10 ~
tho, th.. The Russian eagle has not long
SIM. ,,.rc,sa unon the dome OF ST. SOPHIA -
wa, - 9, ,ha. Turkey, so long an object OF de-
.,ra 20 tb,s mighty neghbor, has not long since
,a,Ien q victim to II, in spite OF all Europe In
,~ns7 Why has the catastrophe been delayed
<rom dav to day. and from reign TO reign, I'M
Ill IL seems lust now TO be almost indefinitely
mos tr,oned Those who will read with atten-
zion the late publication of Prince DoLeoRoU-
Kow, entitled LA Verite sur Is Russie,"
{" the truth about Russia,'O will find no diff
Hculty in answering this question.
Russia, with = European mask upon her
face, is nevertheless thoroughly Asiatic in
poiut of fact "Scratch Russian" said TAI
LEYRANp, and you will find a tartar under
meath" Her government, her institutions,
Der manners, her customs, her habits of
thought, are all Asiatic, and Asiatic in the
very worst sense OF that term. There is no
such Thing as justice in Russia, any more than
there is in Turkey or in Persia. Justice halts
on the same foot in all three of these coun-
tries. A sutton in the simplest cases has 10 go
xhrough ten different processes, always with
his purse In his hand, before he can get his
cause is such a situation that it can be laid
before the Emperor, who is, in his own per-
son, The Court OF last Appeal And the En-
svror. absolute over all, decides according 10
his own will and pleasure, and may by word
of his mouth upset all the proceedings, and
render vain the labor of suitor's whole lie
The administration OF the law is, in the mean
time, yenal from beginning TO end. Every step
in The proceedings must be paid for, atan enor-
,nous rate. Every Judge must lick his fingers
as the case passes through his hands. Among
Them they contrive, most generally, 10 fleece
che suitor SO entirely, that he breaks down
!ong before he gets in sight of the Emperor
The Russian clergy is the most debased in the
world, playing the sycophant always to the
Emperor and his representatives, and the ty-
rant 10 those of their own profession over
whom they have power. There is no such
thing as liberty of conscience. The press is
PARTS of Christendom. The mobiles all feel
that they are slaves, and keenly desire to rise
20 the condition of freemen. A bureaucracy,
in the name of the Emperor, irresponsible in
point of fact, rule the country with rod Of
fron Their only object is to make money out
of every ug they touch. All parties are dis
satisfied with this bureaucracy, and the cam
ariils which is its representative, and which
do ha pffpCtually
keep the truth from ever reaching his ears
The mobiles cha fe under 1.-THE bourgeoiSie long
for a change-the serfs are eagerly expecting
emancipation and will not be put Off Most
ominous OF all, the army is becoming exceed
ipgly restless under the regime of the stick,
and long for the time to come when they shall
be placed on the same footing with the French
and Sandman soldiers whom they fought
against in the Crimea. They are fully aware
of the practices which the public plunderers,
known as army contracto have been putting
sn play against them, and they burn for re-
yenge.
In country managed as Russia is in other
respects, ii would be vain to look for anything
like order in its finances. There never was
such chaos in the affairs of any government,
as those of Russia present, entirely through
lie officers. The whole country is on the
verge of bankruptcy, with resources such as
probably, no other country ever had before,
altogether undeveloped. 1t is this condition
OF affairs that cramps the energies Of Russia,
and arrests her troops in their march to Con-
stantinople. Gold has, in great measure,
disappeared from circulation-paper will not
pass beyond the limits of Russia-and this
DoLGoRoUKow declares that, beyond her own
boundaries, Russia could not maintain an
army of 10000 men, having thus, as it were,
voluntarily reduced herself to the condition
of a second rate power.
There is something hideous in the corrup-
ton which pervades all branches of admins
tration in Russia, but more especially that of
war. The idea of spec ulating in the blood of
the soldier who fights the battles of his coun-
try is, beyond measure, horrible. Yet it is
familiar enough to the Russian contractor
During the war in the Crmea, the Minister of
War called in his father-in-law and his
brother. in law to assist him, and both having
been appointed TO office, the management of
the army became, from that moment, family
affair. The troops were supplied with rotten
meat and mouldy biscuit. They took TO the
hospitals aud died by hundreds, but the loving
kinsmen pocketed the advances made to buy
wholesome food for them. Ii a colonel was
honest enough to resist bride, they paid no
atten ton to his complaints, confident that they
would never penetrate the seven-fold shield
of the bureaucracy, and reach the Emperor
If he happened to be a rascal--as was common
enough-they bought him off by share in the
gains. The commssariat officers, under in
for 600 bIllocks, when they got but 500
They made up the mum Der from any herd they
happened to meet with on the march. For five
or six roubles, so general is the corruption,
the local authorities at any particular place
readily gave a certificate of the slaughter of
bullock which never had any existence. Dur
ing the retreat from the Danube, an agent ex-
hioited the same dead bullock every night, OBJ
tanning a certificate for a fresh bullock sIaugh-
tered every time he paraded him. One official
was paid for 1900 bullocks which he alleged he
had purchased; next he was paid for feeding
them several months; then for killing them;
and finally, for sailing them. The best part
Of the joke was that there never had been any
snch cattle at all. When the Russian troops
entered the Principalities, in 1853, orders Were
received to purchase large quantities of hay
corn, oats and rye, and TO lay them up in re-
serve, and heavy sums OF money were for |
warded for that purpose. When the country |
was evacuated next year, representations were |
made OF the impossibility of Transporting
these enormous reserve stores, and they were
ordered 70 be burned. As they had never ex.
listed, the officials burned large number of
hay stacks and granaries belonging TO the
Wailachian prepristors; and thus claimed TO
have executed their orders. The clothing de-
signed for the soldiers never reached them
When a soldier was wounded he was removed