The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-06-25
Life in Russia.

A St. Petersburg letter to the London
Times says: Now that the regime of
military law has got into something like
working order, it may be possible to give
some idea of the aspect which things
really wear under this temporary sys-
tenn. There have been many moditica-
tions of and additions to the imperial
ukase ofApril II, providing for the main
tcnance of order. The minor dispositions
and orders of the police are endless.
Little confidence is felt in the army. The
cases of INSTRUMENTATION and breaches Of
discipline brought before courts martial
are numerous. Most of the police orders
concern the dvorniks or house door por-
tiers, who seem to be the only persons the
government has any faith in. They
number about thirty thousand, and are
selected principally from the peasant or
mechanic class, and their withdrawal
from regular pursuits renders it difficult
to procure workmen, thus interfering
with trade. The dvornik now holds
sway in every house and street in St.
Petersburg, and of every other large
town. They are all ticketed with the
name of the street and the number of the
house to which they belong, and are
being still further brought into order
and efficiency by a special commission
appointed for the purpose. There are
vague rumors that many of them have
been talking among themselves Of lcav-
ing St. Petersburg in q body. At any
rate there is reason to suppose the au-
thorities see the inutility Of forcing the
hOuseholders to maintain such amass OF
idle men, and are thinking of a%bolishing
the system, or of reducing it to normal
limits, in favor of an increased police
force.
Dealers in gunpowder and firearms are
subjected to great Inconvenience: l
know a merchant who has been forbid
den to receive a consignment OF powder
now on its way here. Very detailed and
stringent rules regulate the private gum
powder factories throughout Russia.
The police offices are full OF arms taken
from the inhabitants. 1t was found that
there were about two revolvers to each
resident of St. Petersburg. Still, with
all the pressure Of military law and the
police and the dvornik regime, with all
the opportunities it gives to extra m
ployees to make hay while the sun shines,
q very large number ofthe people are not
troubled ut all. The strict enforcement
of the passport system in the provinces
has been productive, perhaps, of more
trouble than anything else, and of no
little distress. Some ofthe factories are
deprived of half their workmen and
these workmen of the means of subsist-
ence, by being obliged to travel fifty or
sixty versts to the chieftown of their dis
trict in order to take out the necessary
passport. Even the women and chill
dren. who formerly were not obliged to
have special passes, are now compelled
to submit to the same rule. Besides this
we hear of a nocturnal census of the
populations Of Perm, Kharkoff and
Kieff, causing no doubt a great deal of
annoyance. Altogether, the living under
exclusively military law here is perhaps
worse than it was in Bulgaria during
actual war; but although this state of
things does not sit lightly on many per-
sons, there are still plenty who a find
it in their hearts to enjoy themselves and
make merry ut the opening of the sum-
mer season. 1t is not a reign of terror
nor a state of siege. 1t is only q state of
military law, where one-halfofthe popu-
lation is set to watch the other. A state
of siege is n step further, and we have
not come to that yet.