Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-02-17
LA10AsrER, PA, February II, 1880.
Barbarous Russia.

The Russian-Siberian atrocities gather
horror from further details, and the
thousands who have followed with SYM
pathetic interest Mr.. Kennan's tales of
the woes of Russia's political offenders
are rightly Indignant at the government
thst could make such inhuman outrage
possible. The truth is that the Russian
people are barbarians when measured
by western standards. The government
is no worse than the people, and there
fore atrocities may be expected quite as
naturally as i'm Europe during the dark
ages. The Russian nobility, and people
Of wealth and culture show their bar
barity i'm social customs that dismay
even the French, and as officers in the
army prove 1t by their eagerness to issue
and execute the most ferocious orders.
A few years ago the Russian troops in
Central Asia deliberately massacred
thousands of men, women and children,
under orders from the governor general.
A wounded soldier during the Balkan
campaign found himself unable to keep
up with his comrades, and when they
kindly offered TO bury him alive he con-
sented and was so buried, the men sub
sequently explaining the matter to the
commander as an act of kindness. The
Russians long claimed great credit for
humanity because, they said, capital
punishment was unknown in Russia,
but they whipped people SO that they
died lingering and horrible death.
The desperate Nihilists are not only the
product of Russian misrule and tyranny
but also of the barbarous instincts that
have not yet been smothered in the
Sclav as thoroughly as they seem
to be in the Celt and German.
The government is no better and no
worse than the nation, aud the few iu-
telligent and patriotic men and women
who are panied alike at the violence of
the Nihilists and the outrages of the
government officials, fully realize that
the only sure relief must come by the
civilization or uplifting of the whole
Russian people church, state and
family.
There is little reason TO doubt that Mr..
Kennan has given an honest account of
Siberian abuse of political prisoners,
many of whom were guilty of nothing
but the rarest patriotism. but as IL is his
honorable aim to arouse public opinion
on the question he has perhaps neglected
to relieve the gloomy picture by
giving the dire necessities of the
government and the natural ad-
vantages that make Siberian life
attractive to many free emigrants.
No doubt Mr.. Kennan has the faults of
all great agitators, but there is plenty of
undoubted evidence that there is firm
basis for his agitation in the barbarism
OF Russian nature. 1t is Just illustrated
In the tale Of the ilogging to death of n
Russian lady. In any other civilized
land the execution of such sentence
would have been impossible troops and
prisoners would have joined to hang the
man who tried it, The news of these
atrocities makes far more stir abroad
than within the empire. "The grand
old character of the Slav" stands
shocks of this kind without q tremor.
Atrocities that would arouse hot
Indignation in other lands produce
no effect in Russia. But all men
are sensitive rs to the opinion of
other men, and the horror of other
civilized nations may awaken in Rus
SLAMS proper sense of their own de-
pravity. So Remnants agitation should
do good, and every means should be
taken to let government and people
know the disgust of the world with their
barbarlty.