Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1888-04-18
THE RUSSIAN CENSOR.
A coNTEMPTleLE FEATURE OF THE
ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM.

Every Foreign Newspaper Examined and
All Objectionable Matter Blotted Out.
How Letters Are Violated without
scruple-Advice to Correspondents.
The. censor must examine every copy
before it is issued to the public. For his
convenience the papers are printed one
day in advance. The type of Thursdays
paper is set on Tuesday. On Wednesday
morning the forms are made up; one copy
Ia printed and sent to the censor, who
looks 1t over at his leisure during the day,
and returns it to the ONCE with his official
stamp of approval on each page. This
COPY Is carefully fled away as protec-
ton for the editor, who then sets his
presses at work and orders the edition
distributed to the subscribers. If there is
ANYTHING in it that the censor cannot ap-
prove he marks the Objectionable article,
which is taken out of the forms and some
thing else substituted. II the censor is
otherwise engaged the paper has to wait
Sometimes the issue Of Tuesday will be
detained till Wednesday and sent out with
the Wednesday issue, but 1t makes very
little difference. Last weeks paper is
lust as interesting as today's.
. EXAMINATION OF THE MAILS.
All foreign mails are also submitted to
the censor, not the s&ne man who reads
the local papers, but another, who has his
headquarters and staff of readers at the
general postofice. All newspaper mail is
dumped on his table, except that ad-
dressed to the members Of the diplomatic
corps and high officials. That is supposed
to be delivered promptly without exam
nation. So the American minister gets
his papers sometimes q week ahead of
other residents. Every wrapper is opened.
If the paper contains an Objectionable arti-
Gle, something in the way of criticism OF
"the administrative SYSTEM of Russia,
for example, the censor takes large pad,
dips it in the ink and stamps it upon the
article, obliterating it. Thus no incen-
diary ideas are allowed to obtain circula-
ton among the people. No criticisms of the
government are allowed to be read, and nc
news from exiled nihilists.
When the censor has read one copy of a
paper, The London Times, for example,
he tucks it back into the wrapper and
throws it into basket for delivery, pick
ing up the next paper that comes to his
hand. If he finds that it is copy of The
London Times of the same date he stamps
out the Objectionable article that he has
read before and throws it into the basket
without further examination. If the first
copy examined was found to contain
nothing exceptional he examines no more
of them, but throws them into the basket
as fast as they come. To simplify mat
tiers, the circulation of very few foreign
papers are allowed in Russia.
The censors cannot possibly read every
thing sent through the mails, so they con-
fine their labors to the principal journals
of Europe and destroy the remainder
One can receive The London Times OF
News or Standard in Russia, but no other
London dailies. He can have Punch aAd
the monthlies, provided they contain
nothing Objectionable. He can have
Figaro, Gil Bias, The Petit Journal and
one or two others of the Paris papers,
but he cannot get the strong re-
publican papers of that city. The New
York Herald is the only American daily
that can be taken. The censor will not
read any other, so there is no use having
them sent. had two daily papers sent
me from the United States all the time
was in Russia, but not one of them was
delivered. I was told at the postoffce
that the censor does not have time to read
every transient paper that came in the
mails, and none could be delivered till he
had read it. He had only time to read
one American paper, and if wanted tc
subscribe for that 1t would be delivered.
This censorship of the mails is the most
cowardly and contemplate feature of the
Russian administrative system. 1t il
simply q confession of weakness thai
kaupnfa khA AVERAGE man tn gymuathiZf
with revolutionary element, and they
Justly make it one of their chief causes o.
complaint. The Russian postofflce il
under the direction of the police ikt
everything else, and is one of their strong