St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-12-29
CENSORSHIP IN RUSSIA.
Very IrksOlne tS tho C.ar's Subjects and
20 Foreigners Well.


censorship of the Holy Synod. which
watches over religious matters and
tries TO prevent the publication or in
PRODUCTION into the country of books or
printed matter likely to injure the in
terests of the Orthodox Greek Church.
This censorship is the most stupid o.
all. 1t has list of condemned books
something analogous to the index oi
the Pope of Rome. and such authors rs
John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spenc>.
and. OF course, Darwin. are include:
in it.
Some years ago a French scientist
published Monogram on mushrooms
n which he maintained that all mush-
rooms were poisonous. This book was
prohibited by the censor Of the Holy
Synod ron the ground that, as mrsh.
rooms were the staple food of the Rus.
sian peasantry during the numerous
fasts OF the church. it would be detri.
mental to the best interests of religion
to publish anything that might bring
this article Of food into discrcdit.
There is also a censorship of books
and Of the press, foreign censorship
and a censorship of the foreign press.
The police also exercise censorship
over placards. theaters. handbiils, etc
All these different censorships have to
keep up large and expensive staff SC
that the attempt to mu1zle and shut
Town public opinion costs the Es-ssias
government pretty penny.
The press censorship is arbitrary and
peculiar. Most papers are allowed to
print what they like without control.
t.t If they print anything that dis
pleases the government they are mott.
iea of the fact and receive what is
called . first warning. This warning
nay be accompanied with suspension
COR definite period-a week. "A month.
or a year. That. of course. means a
heavy fine. for n paper that is unable
20 earn any money on the capital it
has invested for a given time loses
heavily. 1t has to keep up its staff. al
though it can not do any business. It's
expenses go on. but it's receipts are
stopped Then advertisers lose conf
ience in IA paper that is warned. After
1 paper has been warned three times i
may no longer appear. Thus the Golos
has ceased to lie. Yet such is the ire
pressibiiity of the newspaper man in
Russia that il is safe to say that there
is not a big Russian paper published at
the present day which has not had its
second warning.
Some papers may not be printed
without previously submitting all their
proofs for the approval of the censor.
This causes delay and is OF course very
irisome. There is daily paper in
Tisis which appears only twice a year.
owing 70 the di>tanc of Tifis from the
central censorship at st. Petersburg.
to WHICH every number of the paper
must be submitted before it can be
published.
Under the book and theatrical cen.
sorship the Russian literary man, bs
he Journalist ov author. has been com
peiled to invent \ style of his own-a
style in which more is meant than
meets the eye, which his reader under
stands perfectly, but which the censor
IS too stupid to perceive. Dramatic
and art criticism, book reviews, and
articles on travel and social customs
are the disyuiscs under which the Rus
sian ruhlicist presents his political
'ei1,efs, Ths foreign sooJ censorship is the
most absurd and ri sieulous While OBJ
iectional books an ruthlessly contis-
cated the public hich wants to read
them-and it is q necessity limited
,an always get lem. because in the
interests of science and knowledge
sseertsin neop!e ars exempted from the
operations of the hScesss2rs .sdie', Thus
all professors are excluded, a.t.-+s',S- -
srnors of provinces. all senators.
OF officials and numerous 9TH
Ars. Consequently very large num-
ber of people who are not among these
privileged mortals are sure to know.
who is and can get their
books through him.
The foreign censor has particularly
pleasant office. lie is generally man
IF taste and refinement, and can fill
his library with the best of the forbid
len books, if he will. and hang his
wallis with the most. charming prohib-
ted prints. Very often. when he takes
! fancy to an etching or a book, he
confiscates and keeps it.
Very different is the fate of the for
ign newspaper censor. His is dull |
nd dreary life of routine and India |
nix. The foreign press censorship is a
apartment OF the post office, and |
hereby hangs a tale.
theoretically no foreign newspapers
re admitted into Russia. The only
erson who is entitled by law to re-
Give foreign periodicals is his majesty
he emperor. He has what is called his
st. BY great graciousness his maies-
y has made present of this list to tho
ountry. People may subscribe
trough the post Office and obtain the
apers on the imperial list, but no 9TH
RS. and a foreign paper that presumes
10 much on the toleration of his mai
sty is likely to be struck from the list.
The London Daily Telegraph, for i'm
.ance, met this fate years ago, and
nee then copies of that paper can not
e obtained in Russia. nor is the paper
lowed to have correspondent there.
hnS oAVs GIL tuc shmc. Out MS POSI- l
ION is secret and risky.
As soon as a foreign paper crosses
ae Russian frontier its troubles begin.
II the foreign papers that arc sent to
ussia must enter that country through
!. Petersburg, the window. as Peter
le Great called it, for Russia to look
1t of at Europe. When the papers
It on the Russian train they are
rted and arranged by a staff on
ard, who lay aside q sample of each
r the censor's eyes. When they ar
vc at the general post Office in st.
the censor's work begins.
reads through the samples carefully
I'd marks the 0bjectional passages.
hieh are then obliterated BY means
India ink. OF course, even censors
e human, and occasionally something
capes their watchful eyes. Then ,
ey have . warm time of it. On the /.
hole. however. they do their work ,
,st eficiently.-N. Y. World. T.,
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