The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-05-22
THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE.

| the material world, he must nave Deen
well satisfied with the splendor and magni-
tude of the display at his old capital yes
| terday, where his youthful descendant,
| Nicholas Romanoff, will be crowned EN-
peror Of All the Russias. And it must have
been especially pleasing to him to see
hundreds of thousands of loyal subjects
of the throne journeying from all parts
| of the empire by private and public
conveyance TO participate in the corona
| ton emonies-ceremonies which will
eliminate in browning a man who shall
rule over one sixth of the land surface of
the globe, and whose subjects mum Der
more than 100, 000, 900.
| The Emperor of Russia is, by what Rus
slams are pleased to call "divine right"
the autocrat of every inch of the vast ma
| ton, besides he is the supreme head of the
church, thus being the vicar of the AL
mighty in all matters appertaining to the
material and spiritual welfare of all the peo-
| pie Of the land over which God has given
him dominion. That this power has been
abused many times since Michael Roman
off, youth of 16, assembled the throne in
| 1913, no one will pretend to deny, nor will
apologists be found for such disregard for
human life and human liberty, but since
! 1861 reforms have been instituted fully as
| rapidly as the people were ready to appre-
| ciate them.
In 1861 Alexander II issued proclama-
ton which emancipated the slaves, or
| serfs, but not without indemnifying those
who had claims upon them. That event
was the beginning of new era in Rus
! sia's social and commercial life, and no
step backward has since been taken. AL
though nihilism has been rampant, even
| conspiring to overthrow the system of gov
eminent, and often resorting to murder,
| the empire has moved forward. The edu-
cationaI system has steadily improved
until it now compares favorably with
neighboring countries, and no more lib
eral patron of art, science and music will
be found in the Old World than the Rus
sian autocrat. Still, his life Is threatened
because he cannot do in day what re-
quires year to accomplish.
Russia is essentially an agricultural
country, and so helping has been the pol
| icy of the Government in recent years
that Russian cereals now exert powerful
| influence in all the breadstuffs markets of
! Europe. American farm machinery may
| be seen in all the agricultural districts,
and in many localities farming is carried
on as scientifically as anywhere in the
| United States. AZ the export points grain
| elevators, patterned after those mammoth
! concerns in Chicago, have been erected,
and whatever other appliances are cal
| culated to reduce the cost of production
and marketing grain have been or are be-
ing introduced. To be sure, private capt.
| tai has done all this, but under conditions
| that were made favorable by the central
| power OF the nation. The Cars have not,
therefore, been inimical to efforts to ex-
/ pand the agricultural interests of the peo-
pie in recent years
But these things are not all the Gear
has been doing for Russia in the last third
OF century. Railway construction has
been steadily pushed between the more
important trade centers. and although
the country is not gridironed by rail lines
of transportation as America and some
parts of Europe are, it doubtless will be
when occasion requires. The Siberian
railway is one of the greatest enterprises
of modern times and when completed it
will have total mileage of nearly 5000
miles. Several hundred miles are already
in successful operation, and by it new and
I
have been made profitable and accessible.
| Over 100000 bushels of high grade
wheat were exported from these new
regions last year-regions that are, as
yet, necessarily sparely settled. The en-
pire and the railway company are offering
great inducements to farmers of other
countries to settle on the line of the ST.
| berian railway, and not few Scandi-
navians have already gone to the Siberian
! country.
Russia has the population, the material
resources and the money to become in
| the near future the leading country of the
| Old World, and if one may Judge by the
progress the empire has made in the last
three decades it would be safe to say that
the people are determined to excel in time
in all that goes to make rich and power
full nation. The Government is encourage
ing the erection of manufactures of every
kind that can find the raw material in the
empire, and boasts are already made that
the time will come when Russian made
goods and wares will be found in active
competition with the manufacture of
other countries in all the markets of the
world. 1t is mistake to think of Russia
as country whose people and rulers are
still cropping in the shadow of barbarism.