Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-09-27

= would DE astOniSled 10 hih WHY
] excellent materials for Ike
: rary sketch of them exist IA fhs
pigeon-hules OF the department
These officials pass their iivCS IL
collecting materials for tile hiOgra
: phy of men unknown 20 fame
+ They can tell you things about your.
: self which you have forgotten--thai
~ ..sSes i,S1iia,,'s srIs '.tr-vrE a WiutNi
! 1T Moscow, that you then went "a
: look at st. Petersburg hnd that you
had a difference with an inI-keeper
at Nijni-NOvgorOd or a mild attack
of sun-stroke at Odessa. IL was
your hotel waiter, dare say, who
reported all this to the bureau. Only
think cf the extent OF bookkeeping
when such particulars are forth
coming Of nearly every other per-
son i'm the Cars dOminiOns. ~
one police Office I'm st. Petersburg
you may learn peoples addresses.
It Is kind of rird UOce directory.
You hand in the name at a
desk and after half an hours or
sometimes an hours search among
innumerable portfolios they give
you the whereabouts Of your man,
III AGAuil AOA MUlAtl N0nhAAhA TAA NAAt
you pay a small fee. This minute
surveillance in jail constitutes in a
large measure the Russian idea Of
good government.
In the higher political circles the
greatest ingenuity Is shown in dis
covering the secret of every official
cipher. TeIegrams are copied, the ci-
pher is submitted To experts, and ina
short time the mystery is revealed.
Ii is easy to do this without open
ing dispatches owing to the modern
system of sending diplomatic COM
munications by wire. At a dinner
party of Prince GortschakOf the
/ conversation turned on this subject,
/ and foreign minister present said
/ that he believed his Government
had a cipher that might defy the
ingenuity of the world. Gortschu-
kOff made "A sign TO a Secretary, and
before they left the table the Minis
ter received neat translation In
very choice Russian Of a cipher tel
egram which had reached him that
very afternoon.
But though Russia cannot be
saved by the bureaucracy and i'm all
probability will not be saved by the
Emperor, it may still be saved by
the saints. IL these sacred person
ages would only part with their or
naments the country might be
relieved of its financial embarrass-
ment in four and twenty hours. The
world has never seen such another
aggregation of wealth in precious
stones as may be found on their inn
ages. In large churches of the great
cities image after image Is covered
with gems. The basis OF the image
is rudely executed painting, of
which all but the face and hands Is
covered with costly enamel, and
this i'm its turn is decked with dia-
mOnd, emerald, ruby, topaz and
the rest-the votive gifts of genera
tions of wOrshippers. If tho saints
would consent to part with their
ornaments the eXchequer might be
filled tomorrow. There would bea
kind OF example for Il in the con-
duct Of the Empress Catherine at
the Pruth, where that heroic
woman saved Peter and the whole
Russian army by sacrificing her
trinkets as a bribe for the Turk.
There would bee one triiling him
drance to any such voluntary con-
fiscatiou of the national goods, viz,
the intense devotion of all classes.
This is not to be conceived by any
one familiar only with the practice
of more civilized communities. The
Russian cabnan crosses himself and
mutters a prayer as he passes Il
church the Russian laborer or pors
ter pFOstrates himself on puts down
his load to enter the building and
bestOw his hurried kiss on the feet
of an image. In the main thorough
fares there are little supplementary
praying-houses where people who
have not time to seek the great
temples may obtain a momentary
refresher of devotion. Something
decisive must he done, for RUSSIA
finds the want Of money the root OF
all evil. This stopped the war
against the Turk far more than tho
dread Of the English fleet and this
makes her a passive spectator of
what Is going on in Central Asia.
She still cherishes the old hate of
her English rival, but for the mo-
ment she is pOwerless and she can
only cCquette with her own revenge.
Shortly before my visit great attCn-
tiOns were bestowed on an American
vessel under the command, / be-
lieve, Of Commodore Selfridge,
which was anchored at CrOnsladt.
The authorities were more than
usually amiable, and one Of the
Grand Dukes went ON board ex-
pressly, as il was said i'm the official
no fg I'll If A..
American flag. At the same time
His Imperial Highness took the
opportunity of reviewing new
kind Of privateer-cruiser which, in
the event Of war, is TO deal a death
blow at British commerce. It IL 20
be swift and heavily armed for its
tonnage and il is to prowi around
the seas, like a second Alabama,
and to strike terror into English
merchantmen, with consequent loss
of the carrying trade Of the world.
These are the dreams rather than
the realities Of Russian policy, bat
who can deny such consolation to
nation in the sulks? The country
is sick In heart and brain and some
great change is inevitable 20 recon
cile the growing desire for progress
with the reverence for the imperial
institution. Other ideas are wanted,
ideas from the outside, but unfortu-
nately Russia is no longer disposed
to benefit by foreign advice. Under
Petershe sought IL; under his success
sors she nOurished the praisewOrthy
10 run alone. The German
is falling into disfavor, although he
still administers the country, and
the serious discussion between
Prince Bismarck and Prince Gorts-
is due 10 the almost univer-
sal hatred Of his name. Still II Is
difficult for an impartial observer 10
resist the conclusion that Russia has
emaBcipated herself too soon from
foreign direction. She might do
worse things than get herself gov
erned by contract for "A period Of ten
years by an American firm.
RICHARD WHITEINC.
THE Fort Wayne (Texas) Demo-
crat reports that in Johnson county
a lady was visited bv two of her