Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-11-21


lion. What . paltry Russian advance
OF domain by eixhtxn million e com
pared with the English ADVANCE If 10
main By two hundred srd fffv millioni
The United States aud England hsd bet
ter keep still about extYavaxant ard az
tortioazte enlargement 81 donaair,
Calusnny the Fifth Siberia Is ! den Of
horrors, and today people are driven
like dumb cattles no trial is afforded to
the suspected ones: they are nut into
quicksilver mines, where thev are
whipped and starved and sous dag md
themselves going around without any
head. Some OF them do not get 40 Tar
IS Siberia. Women. after being tied to
stakes in the streets. are dikrohsd and
whipped to death in the presence Of
howling mobs. O6enders hear their
own hesh siss under the hot irons.
But what are the factss There are no
kinder people on earth than the Rus
slams, and ~ most Of them cruelty h an
iinpossibility. hold in my hand card.
You see ON u that red circle That is
the governments seal ON . card giving
me permission TO visit ell the priscns oR
St Petersburg, as had expressed =
wish In that direction As the messenger
handed this card 10 me he told mo that
carriage was at the door for my dis
posal In whiting the prisonA II 80 hap
pened. however. that l was crowded
with engagements and could not make
the visitation But do you suppose such
cheerful permission and q carriage 20
boot would have bcen afforded mo Il the
prisons Of Russia are such bells on earth
% they have been Described 20 bel
asked IN eminent and distinguished
American, "Have you visited tho pris-
ons OF st. Petersburg. and how do they
differ from American prisonsy" He NJ
piled, IL have visited them, and they
are as well ventilated and rs well oondi-
toned in every respect as the majority
Of the prisons in America" Are women
whipped In the street, No; that state
ment comes from the manufActory Of
fabrication. mandatory that runs
day and night, 80 that the supply may
meet the demand.
But how about 6iberia3 Ny answer
Is. Siberia is the prison Of Russia, q
prison moro than twice the HEo Of the
United States. John Howard, who did
moro for the Improvement Of prisoners
and the reformation Of criminals than
any man that ever lived, his name a
synonym for mercy throughout Christen-
dom, declared by voice and pen that the
system of transportation Of criminals
from Russia to Siberia was an admirable
plan, advocating open air punishment
rather than enlargement, and also
because it was taking all offenders hum
dreds OF miles away from their evil
companions. John Howard, after wit
Messing tho plan Of deportation of GRIM
inals from Russia to Siberia, commended
It to England. If q man commits muir
der in Russia, he Is not electrocuted a.
we eiectrocute him, or choked 10 death
by halter ~ We choke him TO death.
Russia 10 the only country ON earth from
which the death penalty has been driven,
except In case Of high treason. Nur.
derers and desperate villains are sent to
the hardest parts Of Siberia, but no man
is sent to Siberia or doomed to any Kind
Of punishment In Russia until be be-
fair trial So Tar a. their being hustled
OF In the might and not moving Why
they arc dkilsd o. punished h concerned,
all the criminals In Russia have IN opsn
trial before jury just - we have in
America, except In revolutionary or riot
Gus times. and you know In America ct
such times the writ Of habeas corpus II
suspended. There are IN Russia grand
juries and petit juries and the right to
challenge the jurors, and the prisouer
confronts HE accuser, and, mark this, -
in no other country, after prisoner has
been condemned by juries and judges
he may appeal to tho minister Of the IN
terror, and after that to the senate, and
after that to tho emperor, who = con-
stantly pardoning.
As / soid, tho violent and murderous
are sent to the hardest part Of Siberia,
but the moro moderate criminals to more
propitious parts Of Siberia, and those
who have only . little criminality TO
parts Of Siberia positively genial for
climate. for You ought to know. II you
wide and long that It reaches from frig-
idity to torridity, from almost arctic
blast to climate a. mild - that OF Italy.
world, and you will ind that the lowest
part of Siberia Is on the forty fifth do
gree Of latitude, and the richest part Of
italy is on the same forty-afth degree Of
latitude, so that Siberia reaches from
the furs at the north to the palm leaf
fans at the south. It has been demon
strated that ninety per cent. of the BUS
| sian criminals colonized into Siberia 60
into climate milder than New York-a
| land songful with birds and embroidered
with CORA enough manifold to confound
the botanists. Much Of the soil Ia rich
loan, and harvests wait for q plow to
! liberate them. When criminal is seut
/ to Siberia. in the vast majority Of cases
it gives him an opportunity to make .
, new start under tho best possible cir
/ cumstances. The criminal u allowed to
take his or her family along, and that Il
| q marcy no other country grants. In
the quicksilver mines of Siberia, the
hardest place Of repatriation, only one
fourth OF the miners are criminals. The
other three-fourths 60 there becauee they
choose it IS place to earn their living.
After baing in Siberia swhile the con-
demned 60 10 earning livelihood. and
they come to own their own farms and
orchards aud vineyards, many OF these
people coming to wealth, and thousands
Of them under no inducement would
leave those parts Of Siberia which are
paradises for salubrity and luxuriance.
Now which do you think Is the best
style Of prison-Sieeriao or many Of our
American prisons2 When q man CON-
nits a big crime In our country the
iudre looks into the frightened face O
the culprit and says: "You have beef
found guilty. I sentence you to the pen
itentiary for ten years" He goes b
prison. He Is shutin between four walls
No sunlight. No fresh air. No bath
room. Before he has served his tel
years he dies Of consumption, or IL ~
enervated that for the rest Of his life h,
sta with folded bands--a wheeling in
valid. In preference to the shut in If