The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-09-15
Russian yastness.

1t would hardly seem possible tor SEN
timental travcler-supposing person an
swcring that description to exist in our
days,-to arise for the first time at st. Pc
! tersburg at this moment without a mixture
of feelings in which sadness predominated.
lie Is aware that he had crossed the from.
tier OF large State, the largest of all co liz
pact States, aud, perhaps, only second to
that of the United Kingdom Of Great
Britain and Ireland, with all ITS colonies
and possessions; 80 big State that from
the frontier station at Vierzbolow, or Wir-
ballen, to the St. Petersburg terminus,
there is distance Of $50 miles, far ex-
cecdlng that between London and E lin
burgh, and yet this first journey of two
nights and two days only brings one to the
capital, which lies in corner of the em-
pirc. A glance at the map will satisfy us
that the surface Of the smaller half of this
empire-European Russla-is considerably
| larger than that of all the other States of
Europe put together; while the other half
siberia, with the rest Of the Asiatic
| l'rovinc SIS not far from covering one
third of the Asiatlc continent; aud that a
recent traveller, the Rev. Henry Lansdell,
in his five months journey from London
TO the mouth Of the Amoor, all across the
Cars dominions, went over 9, 600 miles
by rail- 6,7OO miles by steam, and 5000
ny horses, or. altogether, 800 miles
almost IN straight line.
so far, then, as man may take pride
in the mere bgncss of his country,
Russian has ample reason to be proud.
But State, like a man, may be none
the happier for all that. A. lofty stature.
to be sure, enables a man to look over
the heads of a crowd, an unquestionable
advantage, and mere height imparts Oh
air OF dignity and command which the
undersized fully appreciate. But o six
fool-sxgiant, such as once saw, doubling
himself up and drawing in his legs to pet
into lady's brougham is ludicrous
sight; very tall men are seldom well pro.
portioncd or robust, and in war they offer
too easy target to the wicked breech.
)oadcrs of modern construction. In the
same manner Russia is made unwieldy
by her very bulk She has to struggle
with her prodiglous length aud width, and
to DO 1t at greater disadvantage than any
other large States. In the Western Con-
tinent, for instance, in the United States,
Brazil and the republics of South America,
man was powerfully aided by nature in
his fight against ENORMOUS distances by
The length OF navigable water-courscs, the
Mississippi and Missouri. the St. Lawrence,
The Plate, Parana and Uruguay, the ANA
zon, the San Francisco, ETC., even before
he could help himself by his railways:
whereas in Northern streams both of Eu-
rope and Asia, tho Nicmen, the DwiDu,
the Obi, the Yenisei, the Lena, etc., empty
themselves either in the White and Arctic
Seas, chokcd with Ice for six or eight
months III the year, or in the Baltic,
also frozen in tho winter months, and for
long time placed beyond the reach OF
the Cars sway; and the southern streams,
tue Volga, the Don, ETC., ended either in
tho Caopi"n tho of AnoH ond tho
Enxine, both closed for centuries against
Russian enterprises and expansion.
With respect to railways 1t was Russia's
misfortune to 90 late to work about their
construction, and even what she has
achieved between the Crimean and Turkish
war-l854-l876-scar amounts now
TO H. 900 miles, to which, after the peace
OF Berlin, she is barely adding 700 yearly
"A striking contrast to other laTge coun-
trics-as TO the United States of North
America, for instance, which boast OF a
net of railway lines Of sc, 900 miles, with
an average annual addition Of 10, 900 miles.
This backwardncss Of Russia in her ell
deavors to annihllate space by rapid and
easy means Of locomotion cannot be with.
oat grave conscq lcnces for her commercial
and social, rs well as financial and political,
interests 1t is lost ground for her in her
battle CT life; in the inccssant struggle
against tha, geographical position which
from tho beginning doomed her to seclu.
sion from the civilized world--a struggle
the evidence Of which may be read in
every page of the country's history. and
may be followed in every shift OF It's
governments policy.