Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1886-10-23

-lOsH SOULS or sIBERIA.
Graphic Picture Of the Lives snA euAu.
Sngs NJ Russian Csnvisss In axle.
A graphic picture Of the condition
those unfortunates who are fitly described
s.lost souls" il drawn in the work on ST.
IBERIA BY the Russian writer Jadrinse6,
German edition Of which has Just been
published BY Prot. E. Petri, Of Bern.
But few Of the exiles ever attain 10 The
possession Of . "house," by which i
meant miserable hut. Most OF them
are in reality the bondsmen Of the Sibe-
rian peasants, By whom they are hired;
that is to say, they remain IN their debt
a. long - they live, and are satisfied
when they can get money for drinking
on holidays from their masters. But 6
the majority Of the exiles are rogues and
vagabonds by profession, who are afraid
Of work, the number of fugitives il CON-
stantly increasing, who steal rob and
plumber whenever chance offers, and
thus intensity the natural antipathy Of
the settlers against the class OF the de-
ported. The peasants have every cause
to be incensed against them, for, besides
suffering from the malpractices Of tho
convict class, they have to bear the cost
of the erection and preservation of pris-
ons for the exilee, organize hunts for the
capture of runaways, provide guards for
them, and find the taxes which can not
be raised from among the deported class.
But the greatest gaps in the ranks Of the
exiles are caused by the almost system
attic escape of the latter from forced L.
Dor and from the convict settlements.
No less than Is per cent. at the deport-
ed escape during transport Many oe
them are shot down like wild beasts BY
the peasants and natives, and an observer
Of Siberian life made very true remark
when he said that Siberia would Scarcely
have been able to overpower the runs-
way exiles if the peasants had not ami
hilated them.
The most extreme measure &c check
the system Of escape are the hunts by
natives. The native receives three
rubles if he delivers the prisoner, ''dead
or alive" to the authorities. The peo-
pie are provided with good arms and
ammunition, SO as to make hunting the
escaped prisoners perfect success. One
OF those few who manage to escape was
seized in his native village, and then
brought before the court he said: For
two years have wandered abont, have
swan through rivers and seas, have
crossed through Siberian forests, passed
through steppes and mountains IL and no
one has touched me. neither man nor
beast; but here, in my native village, I
have been seized and cast into chains"
The escape from forced labor had become
so common that the administrators of
convict establishments were in the habit
of calling out, when receiving prisoners
"Whosoever wishes to stay, let him take
clothes; be who wants to run away will not
need them" It should be observed that
the clothes left behind by escaped con-
victs SO as to guard against capture, are
the perquities of the prison authorities.
While the statistics show an incredi-
able increase in the number of crimes
committed by exiles, proving the ineffi-
cheney Of the system of deportation as q
corrective delusion, they are equally
condemnatory of its much. Wanted
cheapness to the state. The cost of
transport of Siberian deporte is esti-
mated at fifty rubles esq.,, SOY.
But in this estimate are not included
the transport to the main route (steam-
ers on the Vulga and Kama }, and thence
to the place of destination, the mainten-
ance of his family, If he il accompanied
by it, the maintenance in prison till the
spring, as transports in winter have
been abolished as well as the cost of the
military guard, 80 that the expenses of
transport for each convict to bis place Of
destination amounts to about 300 rubles
($225), a sum which would be sufficient
to keep him at least four years IN the
dearest prison of European Russia. But
this sum is raised to 800 rubles ($60O)
by the expense attaching to the main
tenance Of etappe routes, escorts, prisons
along the route, and etappe houses, not
to reckon the burdens imposed upon the
who have to provide vehi-
cles and hospitals, and their losses
theft and crimes Of all descrip-
tons.
A simple calculation, consequently,
ought to be in favor of those in Russia
vino raise their voices against degrading
Siberis intos receptacle for '.lost souls"
Jadrinzsf says: 1.-THE system Of depOr-
tation has been the cause OF much in
Justice and harm done to the country.
By mixing the deported with the popula-
lion, crime was accorded wider scope.
The exiles are at present in an extremely
miserable and Objectionable condition,
md Siberia receives, instead of the useful
numerous, homeless, and lazy
proletariat. By the present deplorabls
condition of the banished, the punish
nent inflicted does not lead 10 reform,
,ut yields result quite the reverse, con-
listing in the Generalization of the ex-
les, and an increase in vagsbondim and
rime."
The Russian Censorship
L. James Gazette.
A copy of the Standard Of the 26th Of
august, which has passed through the
Russian postoffce, has been exhibited In
he Liverpool exchange newsroom, and
reated great amount of interest, from
he fact that the first of the leading arti-
les was completely oblitersted BY the