The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-08-26

northern parts or SIBERIA; they ale turnlsned
with the means for building houses. and receive
allotments of land to clear and cultivate. They
can employ their surplus time in hunting fishing,
or any other occupation not incompatible with
the life of a back woodsman. 1t is not an agree
able fate to be sentenced TO become q coonst
in Siberia, especially IL one has been tenderly
reared, and knows nothing OF manual labor
until the time OF his banishment.
Many exiles are "dratted into the army" and
assigned to duty as common soldiers. They
receive soldiers pay aud ratlons, and have
the possibility of promotion II their conduct
is meritorious They are generally assigned
TO regiments on the frontier OF the Kirghese
country or in Circassia, where the opportunities
for desertion and escape are very slight. The
regulations forbid more than certain propor-
ton of'such men in each regiment, and these
are always well distributed among the faithful
In some instances TeVolts have occurred among
the drafted men, but never heard that they
were successful. Desertions are occasional; but
as the 6eseIters generally flee to the countries
beyond the border, they find, when too late,
that they have exchanged their frying-pan for a
very hot ire. The Kirgbese Turcomans, and
other barbarous Asiatics, have an unpleasant
habit OF making slaves of stray foreigners who
enter their country without proper authority;
to prevent escape, they insert horse hair into
a small incision in prisoners heel, and cripple
him Tor life. He is thus secured against walking
away, and they take good care that he does not
have access 10 "A horse.
The exiles in Asiatic Russia are far less
numerous than the descendants of eXiles, who
form a considerable proportion of the popula-
ton. Eastern Siberia is mainly peopled by in
voluntary emgrants, and their second and third
generations; while We.tern Siberia is very
largely so. The ordinary deportation across
the Ural Mountains is about ten thousand
year, nearly all of them being offenders
against the civil laws. Each revolt in Poland
makes a large nun Der Of eXiles who are not
counted in the regular supply. From the revo-
luton of 1868 twenty:four Thousand Poles were
banished beyond the Urals-ten thousand being
sent to Eastern siberia, and the balance to the
Western Provinces. Many of these men were
liberated by the ukase of 1867, and Others have
been allowed to transfer their banishment to
countries outside of Russia. Quite recently |
met in New York a young Pole who went to
Siberia in 1865, and was permitted in the follow
ing year to exchange that country for America.
it Is hardly necessary to say that he promptly
embraced the opportunity, and does not regret
doing SO.
Exiles are found in so many occupations in
Siberia, that 1t would be hard TO mention any
thing in which they are not engaged, unless it
be holding high official position. Many subor.
dinate offices are filled by them, and believe
they do their duty quite as well as the average
of the rest of mankind. 1t was not unusual in
my journey TO find them IN charge Of post
stations, and / was told that many exies were
in service as Government clerks, messengers,
and employees of various g1ades, During a
months stay at Irkutsk. the capital OF Eastern
Siberia, l encountered far Lumber of men /
knew TO be eXiles, aud probably great many
more of the same class whose condition was not
mentioned to me. The clerk OF the principal
hotel was an exile, aud so was one of the
walters; an officer who dined there with me
said the clerk Was his schoomate and graduated
IL his class. merchant of whom l used to
buy my cigarettes, was an involuntary emf
grant; and l believe that the man who fabri-
Gated them and whose shCD was near my lodg
ings, journeyed 10 Siberia against his will. My
fur clothing was made by an exlled tailor; my
boots were repaired by banished coObler, and
MY morning beefSteak and potatoes were pre-.
pared by a cook who left St. Petersburg with
the aid of the police. A gentleman of my ac.
quaintaL ce frequently placed his carriage at my
service, and with it driver who pleased me
with his skill and dash. One night this driver
was a little INTOXICATED, and amused me and
friend at my side by his somewhat reckless
driving. We commented in French upon his
condition, and laughed little at the situation;
when he set us down at our door, ne protested
that he w pc erfectly sober, and hoped we would
not say to his master what we had talked
between ourselves. He happened to be au
exile from st. Petersburg, where he had been
coachman to a French family, and learned
something of the French language.
Most of the exiles condemned to be colonists
are sent to the provinces of Yakutsk and Yene-
seisk, where they are little likely to be seen by
strangers. l saw very few of those now colo
nizing Siberia by involuntary emigration, not
enough to enable me to fotm an opinion from
my own knowledge. think, however, that my
comment and conclusion regarding the conVlcts
in the mines will apply very fairly to this other
class of laoorers
We come now 10 the exiles, pure and simple,
II man can forget that he is deprived OF liberty,
badly off in Siberia. He leads more ndepen-
dent lite-Unlcss under the special eye of the
pOlce-than in European Russia, and has a
better prospect of wealth and social advance
ment. If laboring man, he can generally be
more certain of employment than in the region
whence he came, and, except in times Of
| special scarcity, can purchase food quite as
cheaply as where the population is more dense.
| Every body around him is obhgious of the fault
that led TO his exile, and he is afforded full op-
| portunty for reformation. If a farmer, he cul-
| tivates his land, sells his surplus crops, and sits
in his own house, with no fear that he will be
! disturbed Tor past ofenses. If he brought no
| family with him, he is permitted, and encour-
| aged to marry, though not required TO do so.
! The authorities know very we'll that he who has
| wife and children is more fixture in the cOun-
| try then one who has not; and hence their read-
ness 10 permit an exile to take his family to
! Siberia, and their encouragement for him to
| commit matrlmony II he goes there unmarried.
EXilcs to Siberia, especially those who marry
! there, and ale not cursed by fortune, frequently
| become as much attached to the country as the
! men who visit California or the West intending
! to stay but lew years, and never finding a
! suitable time to return. Many eXles remain in
| Siberia after their terms of banishment are
! ended, especially If they have been long in
| the country and hesitate to return to Russia
| and find themselves forgotten. Some men con.
slider their Punishment piece of good fortune,
! as it enabled them to accomDllsh what they
! never could have done in the old country.
| Especially is this the case among the serls,
| banished "at the will of their masters" Every
eXiled seri became a free peasant as soon as he
! could be re-enslayed. His ch ldren were free,
and enjoyed a condition far superior TO that of
| the sert, under the system prevalent before 1852
Many descendants of eXiles have become wealthy
through gold mining, commerce and agriculture,
and occupy high civil positions. | know mer-
| iG fAl ~ mil M