Litchfield enquirer., 1868-06-18
WHOLE NO. 229S
RUSSIAN PROGRESS IN ASIA

1 The Atlantic cable informs us of a fur. ther advance of Russian power in ront.a1
 Asia: The kingdom or rlkhanate of RnLho
 "a, the most powerful state of what nead +o
 be called Independent Tartary, has beeu su
 snbjugated by the armies of the Czar. The
 city. Of Bokhara, the capital, and the more ancient city of Samarcand, once tho capi.
 tai of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, have
 been captured, giving to Russia the entire control of the valley of the Jaxartes. whose l head waters mingle with those of the h. ] The single province or khanate of Khoon- a aooz, aoout O one a, hundred and fifty miles
 actoSs' With 46,OOO square miles of moun-
 Valh ana marsh, occupied by a sparse and
 uncultured population, is all that nov ls i;os 1 between the territories of Russia and tba l Run!aub. the northwestern prov;nca of
 brltlsn indla. That with which Fnolisb
 statesmen and authors have so long scared
 themselves, the advance of Russia towards
 Indla, now looks them in the face as a re-
 ahty. Whether their fears are to he raaI;- zed or not, by any actual aggression on the brltlsh possessions, depends only upon inc Will ot the autocrat, and must be deter. mined according to e-demands of his own policy. This policy he knows enonob I to keep locked up in his own bosom nnf;1 the ezlgency of events shall lead him to deyelope 1t in action. ~ '0
 II we look at the facts in the case. wa shall see that the young Emperor. imme0 alately on his accession to the throne after tne dlsasters of the Crimean war. accented the lessonl of that hard experience as to the power of the richest coffers to win in modern warfare, and thus abandoned the tradltlonary policy of his ancestors. and turned ms whole attention to the improve ment of his dominions, For this he freed the serfs and endowed them With land; for this he enlarges inc powers ot local jurisdictions and gives the peop!e the choice of local functionaries: ana TOT thls he IS putting forth the utmost enefgles of the country in building vessels, c"ni'lS ana railways, to promote internal intercourse, and thus increase tba ovo;1o- ble wealth of the nation against all futnro emergencies.
 1t IS fortunate for Russia that she has entire freedom of trade, in the American fashion, through her whole dominions, ex- tending across two continents. She redu- ces her custom duties to the purely reve- nue standard. Of her whole revenue. bare. y one-tenth IS derived from customs.
 In addition, she adopts another Ameri- can idea, by the instant absorption and consolidation of all acquired territory as an integral portion of the natural domain
 On the first considerable conquest south of the Sea of Aral, the Kirghese or northern provinces of Turkistan were thus incorno- rated and made provinces of the empire
 The khanates of Khiva and Khokand. late ly conquered, are already consolidated with the empire, and their inhabitants admit ted to all the rights and privileges of Rus, slans. The same destiny doubtless awaits the Bokharans. A regular and irresistible government, the opening of the whole country to trade and travel, the spread of civilization, with it's wants and appliances, will presently restore @ good measure of the1r ancient productiveness to these vast plains. Instead of being a source of weakness and door of danger for Russia. this vast region of 75O, 900 square miles promises to become mighty addition to the national wealth and power.
 As little illustration of the effect of these changes upon the course of trade. it may be mentioned that the rhubarb root. one ot the most important articles in the matera medica, is found in it's highest quality only In the regions of Turkistan. formerly It found it way into the western world joy long caravans through Eastern Turkey, and was hence known as Turkey rhubarb Since the Russian occupation of the Caspian sea, and the addition of steam navigation, the best rhubarb has come through the Russian dominions by the Caspian, the Volga, the Don, the Aral to Odessa or St. Petersburg, and is now known as Russian rhubarb. The completion of the system of railroads now in building in every direction through Russia, will great y increase the trade and hasten the civili- zatlon of Central Asia.-N. r, Eve Post.