Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1879-10-09

She faded fast away
The roses died from out her checks
Like sunsets flush in May.
At last, when Autumn's withered leaves
Lay sere upon the ground
The swallows long had left the caves,
And night was closing round
Her soul departed ere the dawn,
And her angel home she found.
stood beside her grave;
The funeral chant rang sad and slow
Throughout the ancient nave
mourned, but owned that God was
just,
When he took back the soul he gavel
RUSSIAN NEWSPAPER MEN.
A Thankless, Dangerous and Poverty Striok.
d en- Profession.
From the New York Sun.
Among all the millions of Russians
now leading a constrained existence, the
journalists and other writers are not the
least wrctched. However limited the
rights of other classes, and however onerr
GUS their duties, both rights and duties
are definite, and leaves them some mar
gin for free action. Even this poor taste
of liberty is denied to the Russian who
writes for the press. He has no rights
that are likely to be respected; he has no
clearly defined and limited duties to-
wards the authorities observing which he
is out of danger. He does not know
from moment to moment when the police
may lay hands On him. Even silence is
dangerous in his case, Whether he writes
or ceases writing, he is liable at any time
to find himself IN the darkness of the
military prison or the deeper darkness of
the Siberian mines.
The history of Russian journalism Is
full of the misfortunes and suferings of
the ablest writer's, most profound think
ers, and the most patriotic publicists that
Russia has known. Indeed, not q single
prominent writer Of Russia has had
tranquil life, or has died of old age. The
lot Of genius in Russia as poverty, prose-
cution, the prison, exile and premature
death.
Born in the brilliant courts of the
famous empress, Catherine H., Russian
journalism was, from the very beginning,
humble servant. Its representatives,
especially Sumarokof and Trediakoysky,
were mere court hirelings, who confined
themselves to glorlty everything that was
done by the Northern Semiramis. But it
was not long before, among the servile
scrlbes, able and bold men made their
appearance, the first martyrs of the Rus
sian press. While Catherine, elated by
the worlds admiration, was playing at
constitutionalism, Radizcheff published
his famous book, "A voyage from St. Pet
ersburg to Moscow" In which he gave
most faithful picture of the miserable
situation of the serfs. The empress, who
had listened respectfully to the sound adj
vice of Voltaire and Diderot, was not so
tolerant of advice offered by one of her
subjects. Radizcheff was sent to Siberia
for life.
From that time to the present day the
role of the Russian press has remained
unchanged. The Russian writer must be
either serf or a martyr. R1leef was
hanged; Internationally, Michailoff,
Zchapoff, Prijof, Dostoevsky, and others
were sentenced to hard labor in the sibe-
rian mines; Herzen, Ogareff, Bakoonin,
Laurof, Tkatcheff and many others fed
to foreign lands; Pisareff passed the
greater part of his life in prlsen: Bel
Gnsky, Dobroluboff, Hohol and Pomia-
lcvsky were starved; Poshkin, Grlboie-
dotf and Lcrmontoff we're exiled to the
Caucasus; Flerovsky, Zechedrin, Shul-
gum and legion of others are kept IN
der surveillance by the police in towns
remote from the capital; Nekrasoff, ''the
poet Of grief" who sang the Decembrists,
has been forced to appear at the officia-
receptions and to speak against the Nj
itshili.
Such is the fate of the Russian writer's
who dare to be honest. The lot of the
servile writers is not more enviable, at
least so far as the financial side is con-
cerned. "Ninety per cent of our Russian
literary men, says the Globe ''are poor
and daily struggle for their daily bread.
Add to this the various accidents that
befall literary work, wretched pay (by
the line, and the restrictive and repres-
sive regulations under which they do
their work, and you have true picture
of the situation of the Russian journalist.
Under such circumstances the writers
cannot help themselves, and this is plain
ly proved by the experience of the Socie-
ty for the AID of Needy Literary Scien-
tifc Men. The literary fund is unable
to satisfy the most urgent demands: al
though eked out by public charity, it is
far from sufficient. Who of, US journal.
lsts," adds the Golos; "doesnr know how
many writers are living on the verge of
starvation, how many suffers premature
death, and what misery their families
undergo2"
Take some suggestive figures from its
accounts Of the society just mentioned
for the months Of May and June. The
fund was 10000 roubles. In the month
of May the income was $3.50 ronbles.
Of this sum 1000 was granted by the
car, 1000 by the minister of instruction;
80 roubles had been repaid by debtors.
The expenses were 1000. Of this sum
$40 roubles were given out as pensions,
and the rest was given as subsidies or
loans Tor different periods of time. The
figures for the month of June we're about
the same. In these two months, among
thirteen applicants who we're granted
subsidies, were three sick persons, five
destitutes, three widows, a lady writer
and an aged journalist. The sum advanc-
ed was from rs to 100 roubles apiece.
Eleven applicants we're refused aid on
different grounds. Three persons obtain
ed leans of 800 roubles each.
The poverty of the writer's is due, also,
to the insecurity of the newspaper buei-
ness. For example: A few years ago
Mr.. Korsh, editor IF the, St. Petersburg
Ne'cs,, a very prosperous paper, was Of
ficially ordered either to change the char
acter of his paper or sell it. He chose to
sell out. For the most trifing offences
journals receive warnings; an unheeded
warning means total suppression. In some
cases newspapers are suspended for sew
eral months; in others they get off with
burdensome fine. In this state of af-
fairs publishers cannot afford to pay their
writer's and editors with any approach to
to- hberality. The surprising thing is,
not that the Russian journals are so poor,