The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1896-05-23
BUILDING AN EMPIRE.
Prodigious Labors Of Car Peter
of Russia.
REGENERATION OF BARBARIANs.

Maaasrs aad Customs of u People Trans
tsrmsd-Ancient Usages struck Down
aad Rekuilt-Ths Barbarian spirit 90.
oasionally Cropped Out.
tCopyrisht. 1893, by John Clark Riipath.I
XII.
IMPERIAL ARCHITECT AND REFoRMER
A hundred and seventy five years ago
one might have seen in northeastern
Europe gigantic carpenter plying his
task. He was builder by instinct as
we'll az by practice. His manner of
structure was as rough as the age and the
country, but it had strength Of material
and correctness of plan. The builder
was not carpet craftsman who made
drawings for others to examine and fol-
low, but veritahle workman, who
with barbaric sketch of the thing to
be done in his prodigious mind took an
Ak that might be likened to that of Sieg-
fried or the Lion Heart. and went to
the forest. There he cut the timber for
himself, hewed it after his own patterns
and went Oh with the building in the
manner Of true frontiersman. Such in
deed he was-the frontiersman of Slavic
civilization.
Peter earned his title of Great as an
architect Of empire rather than as con
queror His war with the Swedes may be
disregarded, but his internal conquests
were necessary part of that order to
establish which in Russia seemed to
be his mission and his inspiration. A
large portion Of his preternatural energy
was consumed in the battle with his
own subjects and with those who were
becoming his subjects as the result of
war. There were times when insurrec-
tion with its nine heads was veritable
hydra, every particular head splitting
war and death. But it was dangerous
to spit war and death at Peter the
Great He always accepted the first and
defied the other. In the course Of time
the hydra, seven times slain, lay still.
though still writhing in it hinder parts,
and the czar found time to build new
institutions and to lay the foundations of
that vast imperial structure which has
become the wonder and the menace Of
the rest Of Europe.
The actual reforms accomplished by
Peter would require volume for their
record. The life Of the czar lay half and
half over the dividing ridge of two CEN
turies. He inherited the expiring ener-
gies Of the one and gave fashion to the
springing powers Of the other. He was
by much the greatest creator of the
epoch. His task was the regeneration Of
q vast barbarian society whose vices
were in himself by hereditary descent,
but over which he 1ose like lighthouse
and monitor in the darkness. His re-
forms reached in every direction. Many
were political in character. Others were
social. Some had respect to the domestic
estate, some to manufactures some to
commerce and some to education. The
great motive in 1t all was the determi-
nation on the czar's part to create civ
iliged Russia out of the barbarous and
half barbarous races over which he
reigned.
The political reform was radical,
though not complete. The autocratic
principle was retained az before. A
council OF state, consisting Of eight
members, was appointed to assist the
GEAR and to exercise authority in his ab-
sence. The direct execution of the laws
was assigned tn procurator general.
Ten departments Of government called
colleges were nstituted-foreign affairs,
war, admiralty, treasury, revenue, jns-
tice, property Of the mobiles, manufac.
tures, mines and commerce. These func-
Stons OF the imperial state were to be
administered in accordance with new
code Of laws derived from Sweden and
Germany. The old Muscovite methods
were abandoned. So great was the
change that the czar was obliged to i'm
port many foreign officers and put them
into his colleges Of administration. The
old division Of the empire into feudal
governments was broken up into 80
provinces, to each Of which governors
and vice governors were appointed. The
provincial administration was similar to
the imperial. Cities were ruled by bur-
1omasters and council Of eight. In st.
Petersburg superior municipal council
was constituted, having control of all
subordinate councils and also an over
sight Of commerce and manufactures.
The towns might have their own mill
tary organizations
Against the political vices of the coun-
Try the czar set himself like an avenger.
Old Russia was thoroughly corrupt. OF.
dec was peculction, and administration
was crime. Woe be henceforth to who
ever was found out in corrupt practices
and robberies by the czar! He was
obliged, SO he reckoned from existing
conditions, to establish a secret police
throughout the empire. having its head
center and ramifcations into all parts
This institution grew into an inquisition
before which offenders were hailed in
secret and punished with tortures and
death.
The social reform was perhaps most
did1ouk of all It involved a transfor-
nation Of the manners and customs Of
the people. Before this epoch Russian
society was essentially Asiatic. The wo.
men were secluded. There was terem,
like the Persian harem, which was said
70 b locked with 27 bolts. Women must
wear wells over their faces, and the lit.
tess In which they travelled must have
closed curtains Marriage was contracted
BY the parents, and the betrothed might
! not 80 each other until the bridal night.
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