The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1879-08-01
St. Petersburg Under GOurkhO.
THE CITY, THE DICTATOR AND TIN
pyoRNIKI.

DGOhEIAis
General Gourkho has a high reputa-
ton for energy and personal courage.
His name viii remain eternally associ-
ated with the first passage of the Balkans
by our troops, that brilliant bat rash
feat of arms which brought about so
many deplorable results. The soldiers
and officers who have served under him
Always found that he was not a man 10
let obstacles stop him; he goes straight
to the goal he marks out, and is quite
insensible to humanitarian eonsidera-
ti9ns. It is, indeed, said that he never
felt much pity for the soldiers at whose
cost a victory had 10 be bought, and one
may infer from this that he viii feel still
less eompunction for the revolutionists
and nihilists he is fighting now. In this
sense the choice clearly is n good one; (;
every system ought to be carried ont by
tools which are appropriate, and If die
tat0rship is introduced in order TO
frighten the foe, q tender-hearted chief
would be wholly ont Of place. The regu-
lations by which General Gourkho sig
nailed his entrance into Office have been
already published by the European
press. The new duties devolyed on tho
poFters, called dr0FRikf. and the prohi-
bition against persons keeping, buying
and wearing arms Of any description
without legal authorization, were un-
derstcod TO be the only DEGREES which
are directly due to his initiative. The
utility of both measures is much dis
eussed, and is often denied. The dr0r-
niki have always been considered as
sort of public guardians, belonging
partly 10 the police. They are Obliged
to attend to the passports of the dodgers,
and to inform the police If anything sus-
pieious or irregular happens IN the
house; they are required 20 assist police
men in arresting malefactoEs, and 50 on.
By the recent regulation the Governor
General has practically promoted them
90 higher rank, intrusting them ct the
same time with a more Arduous task.
They are, as the reader knows, to sit day
and night at the house doors, taking
care that no placards or advertisements
be stuck up on the walls without the due
legal permission, and seeing that no
dangerous or inhammable substance be
cast on the pavement; and they are TO ar
rest every suspicious looking person.
This latter right gives them a power
which viii very likely turn out TO be a
source of many abuses. The drOT-
piki are generally recruited from
among the peasants, or the lower
classes. They must have received
an elementary education, for they have
to possess the first rudiments o. spelling
and writing, as well as some notions Of
the law, and the regulations in use by
the police. But the number of these
comparatively learned porters is not very
great, and when it was ordered that the
dUOTT,ikf should Immediately be doubled,
and in the case Of many houses even
tripled, the supplementary men had nat
urally to be sought IN other classes. The
house-owners are obliged 70 have n
watchman sitting at each door, under
the penalty of a heavy fine of 500 rubles;
and not knowing where to get them, they
were glad to hire any one who offered
for the duty. 1t may consequently be
guessed that the set of dUOJnili now sit
ting with a discontented lock in our
streets present very mixed and strange
array. Most of them do not quite know
what is expected of them; still less are
they aware how they are to discover sus-
pieious persons. In their methods Of
going about it great variety is to be
found. The apathetic natures say that
they cannot distinguish innocent from
dangerous men, and they let everybody
go their way, meanwhile reading q news
paper or sleeping on their hard seat.
Another class of them, endowed with a
sanguine temperament, look more seri-
ousIy upon their duty. They anxiously
scrutinize every passer-by, and if the
man stops on his way, or puts his hands
into his pockets, or even throws frag-
ment of paper or some other tride into
the river, they are Immediately after
him, asking him his explanation of such
alarming deeds. If he hesitates and does
not give ready answers he is led to the
authorities. Is it not possible that after
some practice acquired in this line, these
energetic dUornfki will bethink them
selves of drawing some advantage from
their powers? The majority of the per-
sons threatened with summary arrest
viii be glad to escape from it by paying
a few rubles. As to complaining after
ward Of such exactions they well know
that there will not be much chance Of
their being believed by the magistrate.
The government will think it incumbent
upon itself to take the part of its agents,
not letting shadow be cast on their
honesty. The most prudent course
obviously is To pay the blachmail in ST.
lence. If all these drawbacks are taken
into consideration, even without dwell
ing on the heavy tax imposed by the |
house-occupier, what good is to be |
looked for from the watch of the |
dUornikis Its usefulness appears very |
problematical, and nearly everybody i
thinks that such mode of rule cannot |
last long C0nteDtpordgy Rerietc.