Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-11-06
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RUSSIA IN THE EASE.

| frtH-t .#f t..rf bH-----' yuF Goa
Her March as a COnquerOr and Chris.
tIanizer in Central and Southeast
ern AsIa-EnKIand' Anxiety for Hn-
| dia. gHU i-. ra' .N fHf TAsIJ
[From the London Globe. Oct. II, EVENING".
What is Russia doing in, the far East
Away in the heart of Asia, in the central
regions of that continent which for long
centuries have been as lost and hidden from
the European eve as the similar regions of
wild Africa-what are the operations 1.-the
Muscovite Power of which we are now be-
ginning to hear so mach? No impartial
and definite reportcomes to us. Theshouts
of the conquerors, the plants OF tire fvan-
uuished. die away in the vast. inland soli-
tudes, without reachin sthe ear of Europe
lost like the waters of the land, which are
absorbed and disappear in the sands with
out reaching the outlet OF the sea. Uncer-
tain rumorsof growing conquest are borne
over the Himalayas to our Indian empire
by rowing merchants who cross with their
campls the lofty ridges of the HUdoO-Koosh
at Bameean, or who straggle down with
their laden yaks through the narrow, desc
late valleys of Ladak into the paradise of
Cashmere. And official reports of distant
Generals. with u1pronounceable names
ending in vich or oil, appear from time to
time in the Gazette of st. Petersburg, care
fully giving to the tale of conquest the di-
plomatic aspect of pacific development and
commercial enterprise. .g j. b. II n..
Only three or four Europeans have ever
penetrated to that secluded region since
Marco Polo with daring Courage entered
it six centuries ago. What we do know is
that Russia finds there no unknown civilized
States such as flashed and fell before the
daring bands of Cortcz and PiZarro. Once
upon time there might have been differ
ent tale to tell. Balkh and Samarcand were
great places in their day; and the great
| Macedonian. cOnquerOr thought it worth
| his while to lead his Army OF Greeks iuto
| those central parts of Asia to establish there
| his conquering power in arcgion then peo-
pied and cultivated quite up to the average
Of Asiatic countries. But greatness, civil
| ization, fertility have long since died away.
The tents of tue Golden Horde have disap-
peared as well as tue imaginary court aud
empire of Prcster John. Iawlessness and
barrenmess have usurped a region still
strewed with the remains OF former fertii-
ty and civilization. There is nothing there
for the Russians to destroy which is worth
preserving, unless it be that independence Of
peoples tohich is a glory Of humanity although
| there it is but another word for the mainte-
| nance Of barbalism and fanaticism. Mo-
| hammedanism, dying out, or at least losing
| its rigidity IN the countries where 1t first
BECAME power lives on in its worst aud
most aggravated form on the secluded
| plains of Upper Asia. Long ago that re-
| gion witnessed the wars of the old Per-
slams, celebrated in their great epic, with
the pagan forces of Afrasiab; it was the
/ stronghold OF rude pagaDiSm- which defied
I, and struggled against the growing might
OF spiritual religion. And now the same
L i, In, f,a.yN
rifed and int nsified MOhammedanism is in
its most bigoted shape, coming into con-,
flict with the arms and civillzing power OF
| ChristendOm. gHf gl.7r.r ... r.. -rfH
| There has always been a religious prop
agandism in the conquests of Russia. Tue
/ triumph of the Cross over the Crescent,
| however little it may weigh as. an end in
| tile councils of the sbrewd, calculating di-
plomatists at st, Petersburg, still as ever
| lies dear and close to the heart of the mass
es of the Russian nation. 10 these, if not
to their court, the conquest of Constantino'
Pile is more thought of and yearned Tor as a
/ triumph of Christianity over the Crescent
| than as useful extension of MuscOvite
power. And there can be no doubt that
Russia is destined to be the great CtriSttansiag
as 1oeU as ciuilizing PO1oer in CeRtrdl and
| southeastern Asia. .rrt ..,,l--.ggrs-g 10
| But the official gazettes, the circulars of
the dplomatists Of st. Petersburg, say lit
| tie Of the religious character of their pro-
| gress in Central Asia. Still less do they
speak of their successes as either inspired
| by or conducive to the military ambition
OF their State. 1t is the interests of COM
merce only, they say, VIII ch has drawn
their forces into that distant region. All
that they want is TO obtain safety for the
caravans of Russian traders carrying the
produce OF Mini -NOvgorod into the wastes
of Khiva and Bokhara and kokand or OF
the caravans with goods from those places
to Orenburg and tue adjoining emporia of
| Russia. If there be awar waged there by
Muscovite battalOns, it is only, they say,
| in the interests of peaceful induslryH-to
| put down the lawlessness, violence and OPP
! position of the khans and chiets-and allow,
| the people te cultivate the pursuits OF COM
merce. .| -....f wn.|. 05 LS Hg7
| And no doubt this is partly true. Russia
| is becoming q manufacturing State aHd desires
to become more so; and, AS hertabrics will
not bear the con petition to which they are
exposed in the markets uof Europe, she
seeks all the more eagerly toopen a market
| for them in the semi-civilized countries OF
| Central Asia. Even there-eYen in that
most secluded of regi0ns--She finds the
goods of Europe, and especially of Eng
| land, competing with heriOwn. They pene-
| tfate to the marketsOf the Steppes through
| Trebizonde aud Persia, aud even find "a way
over the mountain girdle of our Indian
empire, by Cabul aud Ladak. Russia
| wants all Central Asia, north of the great
mountain belt, for lier own. iIt I0iH be a
yt5le field Of expansion for her population and
! for her commerce; and once she is installed
there as mistress she ,uiH take good care either
TO exclude, by prohibition, the entrance 9tsOtSer
| European goods, or aoiH saddle them ,Gt euery
point Of entry, dt ecery frontier post in the JeU
roads aChicb lead ittiter from Persia and In.
did, aoith daties tdRtdnaountt TO prOhibltOTy. Il O.
All this we know. or may know lfiwe
! take the trouble to reflect. We may know
the objects of Russia; we may discern the
impulse which Leads her forces into Gem
trail Asia; but what.we long to know also
is, what is she actually doing there 7. What
success attends the progress of her arlls?
How far is her frontier actually advanced?
How far Is her power consolidated? iii Z,
| The ArdI Sea, IKE the CdSpida, is no,6 a Us
sian lake. She has Stedt1erS and dottkldS uDoa
both; she has joined them by Cossack milf
tary settlements, digging wells deep down
| into the arid intervening steppe; and can
now bring her power to act with effect
upon the countries on their further shores.
The great rivers Syr and Amu+whiehd de-
bouch into the Aral Sea, both flowing from
/ the plains of the southwest, with their head
sources in the Hiudoo- Koosh aid the THAN
Chan mountainsMare the highways of her
| progress, the line of her advance. Shehas
light steamer or two on these rivers, and
| flat bottomed boats for the navigation of
| their upper waters, and the green4coatel