The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1897-02-09


development Of his estates. but this
would hardly account for the gigantic
distances over which they were taken
By the general. and the state with
which they were treated from hrst 70
last
Mr.. Tough frankly holds a brief for
The Russian government I'VE hear
nothing over here" he says. but the
tales Of nihlllais and exiles. That side
Of the case has beea heard enough.
want 10 tell OF the great work have
seen being done In RUSSIA work
OF government very similar 10 and
scarcely smaller than Il being done BY
ourselves In India. What the English
people will not recognize Is that the
arguments against constitutional gov
ernmen, which are stili valid IN India
are also valid In Russla-that the upper
and middle classes Of Russia are mere
drops In an ocean Of Ignorance and
poverty-a few millions out Of one
hundred and twenty: that the religions
OF Russia vary a. much as its popula-
tons. that its frontier Il continually
extending In much the same way a. our
indian frontier. and that the govern
ment Of this great empire. as far az
the peasants are concerned. ls inielll-
gent and humane"
Our representative was shocked and
asiounded al seeing 90 great a change
In one whom he had always regarded
az the bulwark Of constitutional rad
icalism. He had heard OF such CONVEX
slona before and OF the methods BY
which the Russian government brought
them about. But In this case there
had obviously been no employment OF
force. Mr.. Lough's countenance for
babe all thought OF a Russian dun
geon. So our representative. with an
irrelevant kind Of logic. turned the
subject to an inquiry as 10 the nature
Of Mr. Loughs tour and the way IN
which he had enjoyed H.
Never enjoyed a tour better" said
Mr.. Lough. Gen. Annenkon. you
know, IL such a swell that a special
wagon was attached 10 every train IN
which We Travelled. with siiting-rooms.
bedrooms and everything provided as
luxurioasly AZ In a small house. We
lived on the very best. our dlnners
every aight costing more than Il. Al
every provincial capital We we're intro
duced TO the governors and 10 an the
swells Of the palce. We saw everything
and drove everywhere. To the gen
eral every door was opened. and. living
on bis estates. We were able TO watch
the working Of the whole social sys-
ten. Il was the same thing with the
army. Gen. Annenkof Is one Of the
greatest soldiers In Russia At the pres
eni moment Il was be who moblllzed
the Russian army after the defeat Al
Pleyna and be who built the Tranacas-
plan railway and subdued Bokhara.
Wherever he went he could show he
the troops and the rcgimenial band
would play what tune he pleased"
Our representative began TO under
stand.
We'll. and did he introduce you 70
many nihllistsi"
we saw one. She was a young
woman with short hair. smoking Gig
arctic. She was walking on the plat
form Of a railway station. Gen. An
nenkon nudged me az said 'Looki
There IL q nihllist' I asked him about
them and he spoke IN the most friend
~ way. Ny dear fellow. he said. 4
like the nihillsts. They are generally
young women between 20 and so.
Later on they SET toned down and
give Il up"
But. In spite Of that. the general
puts them In prisonf'
AS to that. an our Engllsh notions
are wrong. ] was told by the Britiah
consul At Moscow. Mr.. Medhursi-who
h paid fi0o q year by the for
elgn once Tor that arduous post.
and who has just spent four
months In Slberla-that the stories
about the treatment o. prisoners are
shocklngly exaggerated. The Russian
penal system Il far more humane than
ours and the Russian peasant really
has quite a good time when be goes 70
siberia. The nihilist. being generally
cultured man, suffers more than the
peasant. But he. too. IL allowed far
greater freedom than our political prls-
oners and after a time Il allowed 10
have his own house and 10 live a.
ooionlst. ! saw a number Of prisoners
being conveyed down the volga IN
steamer They were IN a large cage
guarded by sentrles-nct particularly
comfortable. but certainly much frcer
than the cells In which they would
have heen placed IN England"