Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-06-14
Russian Censorship.

Isidor Goldsmith in the Nineteenth Cen
tury.l
The censorship for all publications is
composed Of two courts-the Censure
Committee and the Press Department.
In addition TO these two there existed
at this period third division for press
censure" organized by the notorious
Third Section, where the CHIEF of
the gendarmerie reigned supreme.
At present this Third Section has
been transformed into a depart
ment of the State police, and
consequently the whole censor
ship is confined to the Ministry of the
Interior. There exists besides these
an ecclesiastical censorship for all
works touching upon religion, and one
Of the Ministry Of Public Instruction
that deals with all books or periodicals
intended for young persons. Every
publication, whether book or periodi-
cal. must undergo either "prelimi-
nary" or - subsequent censorship.
Those subjected to preliminary " CEN
sorship are dealt with IN manuscript,
and the printed text must in no
wise differ from this corrected manu-
script, often cut down wholesale and
utterly spoiled bS the censor. With
regard to publications exempted from
this censorship. once printed they are
presented TO the Censure Committee,
but the permission TO set them in cir
culation is only granted after the ex-
piration Of seven days for books and Of
four days for periodicals, provided that
during this period the censor has not
entered any objection. This formality
complied with, the book or review
passes on to a member Of the Press
Department, who exercises superior con-
troll. If all the censors think the publ
cation ola book or periodical is damaging
or disagreeable to the Government the
printed copies are sequestrated, or, ac-
cOrding to circumstances, other steps
taken. In addition to the administra-
tive measures, the censorship, through
the medium of the prOcureur, can sum-
mon author or editor before the tri-
bunal and the Administration, lthe
" head police,'') and can expel them
from the capital or have them deported
in order to place these " disturbers of
the peace " under the surveillance Of |
the police. 1t frequently happens that
an author acquitted by the tribunal is
deported by virtue of an order
from the chief of the gendarmerie. | |
could cite numbers Of cases showing |
the relations between the Administra-
ton and men of letters. But | believe
that one little adventure that took |
place at st. Petersburg will suffice as
evidence of what law and justice are in
Russia where the press is concerned.
One NJ. Koukol Jasnopolsky was the
proprietor Of printing-ofice. One fine
morning he received visit from Gene
raj Tchebikine, commissioned TO exam
inc all printing stock in the capital.
With the account books before him,
and not in the least knowing how to
set about discovering if the weight Of
the type cOrresponded with that in the
books, he ordered all the different kinds
of type to be mixed up together and
weighed. The weight was exactly that
stated, but the type broken in the
process was useless, and the proprietor
of the Office put to a considerable loss.
The Civil Tribunal condemned the
over-energetic General to pay several
thousand rubles damages. Here the
affair seemed at an end, but the Ad-
ministration, feeling outraged by the
verdict Of the tribunal-which, by the
way, was never put into effect-gave
an order to have NJ. Koukol Jasnopols-
Ky deported to Makarieff, little town
in the province Of Mini Novgorod.
There he remained several years under
police surveillance.