The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-05-21

ST. PETERSBURG, May 3, 1881.
Among all the Wild things talked about in
st. Petersburg society during the fortnight Of
lowing the assassination of the Emperor,
thrc were few so wild us the fantastic project
of discstablshing st. Petersburg rs a melrop
oils, and transferring the seat of government
according to enthusiastic loyalists, too pure to
be breathed by Nihlis,s. There arc four srti.
fetal capitals IN the civilized world Madrid,
Berlin, Washington and st. Petcrsburg-and
the last has perhaps the smallest amount OF
raison F6tro of them all. That may be freely
granted. Peter the Great, whose character
seems to have been an odd com pound of a.
savage Calmuck chief ard a shrcwd Dutch
his selection Of the site for the capital. Of
which he intended to make "a window looh
ing into Europe" by some whimsical predi,
lection for the physical geography of Holland
and for the structural economy of Batavian
towns. The canals which intersect st. Peters,
burg closely remind you Of Rotterdam and
Amsterdam, and the architecture Of the for.
trcss cathedral, with the adjoining buildings,
is altogether Dutch. Alexander T. and Nico.
las continued with energy the great works of
their predecessors, and not gradually but
rather "by leaps and bounds" there arose an
astonishingly splendid and luxurious city,
which, Its splcndor and luxury no.wthstand.
ing Is, from roo! to basement, a sham, ill-sup.
ported as 1t is by decaying piles, IN the center
of morass surrounded by barren and IN.
hospitablc tract of marshy territory. On the
accrbiiy of the climate IN winter and the ia
tolerable business of the streets in summer,
the Embellishments to foreigners of the wa
ter of the Ncva aud the virtually chronic
prevalence of cholera and typhus among the
lifted and filthy.housed masses, 1t is needless
to dllate. With all these disadvantages St
Petersburg has thoroughly metropolitan
cachet, and, were the curse of the political
deadlock lifted from it, would be far more
agreeable capital than either Berlin or Mad.
rid. Moscow, on the contrary, although pos
seSsing II population exceeding 100000, and
although DANGEROUSLY asser,ive Of its rank asI
u metropolis, Is only very large, handsome
provincial town, and I should say that il
would be about as practicable to restore the
city of the Krcmlin to its ancient supremacy
as the capital of the domlnions of the "Grea,
Duke of Muscovy" as it would be to compel
the Russian nobility to revert TO the long
boards and curously furred and embroidered
caftans and kalpacks worn by the old Boy.
ards. IL the Imperial Court the museums,
picture galleries, the University and Acade-
mics of Arts and Sciences, the National Bank
and the other departments OF state, and, IN
particular, the barracks and riding schools Of
the Imperial Guards, were all removed to
Moscow, 81, Petersburg would probably in q
very short time tumble to pieces and nobody
would find II worth his while TO build 1t up
again. But 1t IL extremely questionable
whether Russian poiitlcians, with only Mos
COW for a capital, would be quite satisfied.
They might be yet hankering for "a window
looking into Europe" There Is such win
dow to be found, looking both into Eu-
rope and into Asia, at certain place called
Seraglio Point on the Sea of Marmora. A
march of the Russian System" to Moscow
would practically mean an advance OF Rus.
sian ideas towards Constantinople.