Morning journal and courier., 1883-05-02
Russian Fossil Statesmen.
About a Queer Set of Men Vvh
 Live in St. PetsrsburE.

Russian Fossil Statesmen.
 Something About a Queer Set of Men who
 Live in St. PetsrsburS.
 (Correspondenoe New York Sum-
 The suicide of State Councillor, Actual Privy Councillor, Secretary of State, ex- minister of the Interior and knight of many orders Leo Saviteh Makof has caused un- usual excitement here. It is regarded by St. season. On my inquiring why the suicide had produced such 8 sensation, I received from everybody invariably the same answer :: 'tWhy, he wss Q statesman l'
 That was real revelation to me. I had known only of the Czar's funotionsries and officers the Czar's servants, and the Czar's subjects, but now they told me that in the Czars country there were statesmen, men whose duty it is to look after the interests of the State. I knew that the Russian auto crats lived and acted according to the famous maxim of Louis XIV, ''The State, it is I.' I had seen enough of Russian life to be fully persuaded that the interests of the Czar and those of the Czar's country are, as rule, in compatible. Therefore it seemed to me that Russian statesmen, if they could exist at all, must be queer species of humanity. A Russian friend of mine tried to clear away my doubts on the subject.
 ''There are more things in heaven and
 
 philosophy" he began, and added, "write down in your note book that the Russian statesman belongs to a peculiar species of Russian amphibia, and don't you trouble yourself about the creature"
 But I could not help studying such interesting variety of mankind. There are several places in this capital where Russian statesmen, alias Russian anphibia, can be found. Most of them are in the hermitage or the museum of the Winter Palace, stand ing on the very shore of the Neva. Officially the place is known as the Council of State. There are about a hundred members of the Council, among them five Grand Dukes. As to the statesmanship of the Dukes, it is well known here. Michael, the president of the Council. knows everything about all breeds of chickens and nothing more. Nicholas knows something about some breeds of hor- ses, and nothing more. Constantine once knew 8 magic trick by which he could keep the whole Russian navy in his own pocket. Alexis, like the Prince of Wales, knows eve- rything about professional beauties. Vladi- mir dreams of transforming the Russia of the nineteenth century into the Russia of the fifteenth century. Of the majority of the statesmen it is known that about quarter of a century ago they took an active part in actual life. Some have been Ministers, others have commanded the army or navy, and some have taught youths in the universities. But now almost all of them are regarded by the Russian contemporaries as fossil statesmen, good only for the Imperial Museum. Re gently on the occasion of the Czar's ascen- sion to the throne at the Isaac Cathedral, there was performed a solemn Ie Deuna. There had 8 good chance to see many fos- silized statesman. What 8 queer sight Imagine human skeleton dressed in gor- geous glittering uniform, or 'vice-uniform, as they call 1t here, then swaddled together with many colored ribbons wound together
 AZ -Sy- looms, and ornamented with score or more of medals, crosses, stars and feathers, and you have good idea of the Russian states men that move in the Imperial Museum.
 stWhat do all those ribbons, chains gal looms, and decorations ?" mean I asked Russian friend of mine.
 'GThey mean very much, The replied, ''take the swaddling bands away and the fossil statesmen would fall to pieces"
 Among the members of the Council of State there are sixteen secretaries of state and one secretary of the Empire. Each member of the council receives 30, 900 rou- bies, and yet they are said to be serving only for honor's sake. Counts Melikoff, Ignatief and Milutin, though members of the council, can by no means be classed among the Rus sian amphibia, and for that very reason they have lived abroad since they were forced to resign their Ministerial posts
 Another place where Russian statesm en can be found in the governing Senate on the Neva quay is the Alexander garden. There are about hundred Senators. What cos- mopolitan body this is one can judge by the very names of the Senators. Together with MT. Ivanhoff, MT. Sazonaff, MT. Selifontof, and the like, from Russian names, there ar @ Solomon Tisenhausen, Pride, Jacobi, Jerve, Peters, Kreuz, Zee, Frish, Hoiningen-Hune, Schmidt, and so on. Russian Senators never speak Russian among themselves, for the reason that they would never understand each other. They speak either French or German. These guardians of the law'' and supreme judges in Russia exist simply for the purpose of whitewashing any arbitrary acts of the Czar's detectives and spies, police men and gendarmes, and of suppressing any protest, though it be in the name of the law, and for the sake of justice.
 Side by side with the lay statesmen live the holy statesmen, the members of the most holy governing Synod. AtAong them of Archbishops and Bishops. Though all are monks, yet they are deemed to be the best judges of the troubles and scandals of the married life, which bring unfortunate hus- bands and wives to divorce suits. These holy men also write rules for married cler- gymen-that is, priests, deaeons, and psalm ists.
 The Grand Duke Constantine, who, by personal experience, knows of the sweetness of bribery, made good Russian pun on the Senate and Synod, whose buildings orna- ment9d with grand arches. ''The members of both Senate and Synod" he said, Hive 210ddTcGDaee. The word means both under arches" and by the bribe."
 All the Czar's ministers are regarded as statesmen of the first magnitude, and indeed they have to do with state affairs far more than any other statesmen, whether those moving in the imperial museum or those liv- ing 'under the arches y The minister of s,,ka Ser, o4 but leo a minor Czar, or the Czar in fact. He is the head of the triple Russian police, and by vir- tue of that fact he is the supreme master of the life and death of all Russian subjects. Even the minister of war, the head of one million men, is under his command so far as the affairs of the interior are concerned. But the post of the minister of the interior who has to run the autocratic machine, is exceed ipgly hard and dangerous. Since 1880 four statesmen have tried the job and given it up, and now the fifth man is at it. Timssheff, Makoff, Loris-Melikoff, Ignatief, Tolstoi- who next?
 Some Russian statesmen, not satisfied with their sublime amphibious honors, try to win fame in arts or letters Timasheff, ex-minis- ter of the interior, and now member of the council of state, has just finished 8 life-s1ze bust of the present CZaritza with which her majesty is said to be very much pleased Some years ago the same statesman artist naQ6 U DuSt OI tue lht0 SZdI, WARoA1 "oo hibited in both capitals. In addition to his novel, "Lorin," already forgotten, Cou nt valueff is working on his memoirs of his own administration. Count Adlerberg, ex minis ter of the imperial household, is said to be preparing history of the nberater. No man knew the late Czar so well as Count AL derberg. Count Tolstoi has written the his- tory of Catherine II. Count Loris Melikoff prepared notes on his own dictatorship. ssThs National Defence Against Napoleon the First" by Count Milutin, ex-minister of war, is regarded as classical work on the subject.
 In connection with the suicide of States man Makoff. immediately followed by the suicide of another statesman, Perflieff, 8 delicate question has been raised here name Iy, What are the moral views of Russian statesmen ?" A few years ago Prince Liven, the minister of State Domains, ''appropri- ated" about two million acres of state land, and every statesman here spoke of him as having much brain" MRkof and Perfilieff committed suicide because the safes of their department were found empty, and every statesman called it scandal. Statesman Lev shin was found guilty of having stolen hun dreds of thousands of roubles during the late Rueso- Turkish WAT and aoain thav talked af