The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-12-14
THE RUssIASs IN ASIA.

THE RUSSIANS IN ASIA.
 Their Absorbing Power Exempiifed in
 the Orient-Engiand is Jea -ous-semi-
 Barbarians on Chinese and Persian
 Frontiers-Linguistio and Pathological
 Traits that Banis Philoioglsts and Arch
 asoiogists.
 From tho Chicago Inter-ocean.l
 A brief historical survey of Russla's advance in central Asia and a descrip- tion of some of the semi-barbarias tribes on the Chinese boundaries. who are gradually being Russlanized. is of interest just now when all the world is specuiating on the prospective foreign policy of Czar Nicholas II.
 The first steps of Russla's march to the Indian ocean dates back two hun dred years Prince Tscherkaski was then commissioned by Peter the Great to find a route to India through Tur- klstan. The expedition collapsed when Khlva was reached. and more than a century intervened before new one was equipped. which occurred during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I. But even this one proved failure and eight years later, when a better planned expedition was undertaken, Russia succeeded in gaining a firm foothold in Asia by building the forts around the Aral sea and at syr-Dary.
 Operations were interrupted at the outbreak of the Crimean war until the Emir of Bokhara began to meddle ag- gressively In the Khokan insurrection, which called for Russia's interference. Now followed until 1886 remunerative conquests in rapid succession. Julek, Turkistan, Tashkent, and the capital Samarkand were taken one after the other, and even the Emir was com pelled to place himself under Russian regime.
 In 1884 Samarkand was included in the great telegraph net of the empire and since 1886 government official holds sway there, who has deprived his emirship of every vestige of indepen- dence. China protested, however, when in 1871 an attempt was made to conquer the Kuldscha provinces. situa- ted northeast of Turkistan. Had the Berlin congress put an end to further advance, Afghanistan would have been conquered and the Arabian sea would now be the extreme southern boundary of tAe Russian empire, for the troopers had already marched to Herat, Cabool and Tschitral. Further conquests in Af- ghanistan would have induced serious complications with England, as Rus sia had already stepped few times on the British lions toes. Boundary reg ulations followed, and within a period of thirty years Russia had succeeded in gaining that vast and fertile terri tory in central Asia between China and the Caspian, covering not less than four hundred and sixty thousand square miles. Even the Turcomans of the southern districts of Turkistan are losing their independence more and more and are being merged in the Rus sian amalgamation.f
 That the Russian government has such phenomenal success among these Mongolian and Mohammedan tribes of central Asia is due to the national knack of absorbing nationalities of a lower civilization. This has been ex- emplified time and again. During the last half century, for instance, all the tribes, of the southern steppes of the Don and the vdga and those of Trans caucasia and the more recently sub- jected race tinhabiting the region east of. the Ural hhve been Russianized without much compulsion.
 An almost Jesuitic pliancy and affa- bility is exerted on the Asiatics by the Russian officials and border traders. The Semi-Mopgolian character of the colonists themselves and the general sociability of the Slavs facilitate this intercourse. Russian customs and ten- dencies are gradually imbued, inter- marriages are of frequent occurrence and complete ethical coalescence re- suits. The tribes thus absorbed learn to regard themselves the sooner as one with their conquerers, since those do not prove oppressive dictators nor con- sider themselves as 8 higher order of beings It is possible for every Asiatic of a subjected khanate to rise to the highest office in the. government. Thus the Armenian, Loris Melikoff, became one of the most influential personali- ties in the great Czau-dom, while the two Asiatic generals, Tergusakeff and Lazareff, commanded two of the largest regiments in the Russian army. The governor of Merv, Alikhanoff, is really a native of Daghestan, who has added the suffix "off" to his Moham- medan name. Ali-Khan.
 It Is different with the English. It will take centuries before Hindoos and Englishmen can form a social ensem- ble. The English traveller, Curzon, ad-' mits that Samarkand,, though but a few years under Russian rule, has been changed into Russian city, while Be- mares and Peschawer cannot be called English cities to this day. On the Per- sian frontiers, however. the conditions are no. so promising. .Fiere Ccssacks and Asiatics' are still in constant strife.
 What is most astonishing of all Is that the Russians manage to overcome the language problem so easily. For every tribe conquered speaks differ- ent tongue. not simply a provincial di- alect but a full grown language with a well defined grammar and vocabula- ry. though no civilization it may seem ever so crude and unpronouncable. As soon as Russia annexes the territory of one of these tribes. traders and militia " men settle among the peonle and