The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1897-02-25

E =" wall says IL
London Chronicle.
The ostensible object of the tour was
to give the general some advice in the
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 first to
last.
Mr.. Lough frankly holds a brief for
the Russian government. I'VE hear
nothing over here" he says, but the
tales OF nihilists and exiles. That side
OF the case has been heard enough. I
want to tell of the great work I have
seen being done in RUSSIA work
OF government very similar to and
scarcely smaller than is being done by
ourselves in India. What the English
people will not recognize is that the
arguments against constitutional gov
eminent which are still valid in India
are also valid in Russia-that the upper
and middle classes of Russia are mere
drops In an ocean of ignorance and
poverty-a few millions out of n
hundred and twenty; that the religions
OF Russia vary as much as it's popula-
tions; that its frontier is continually
extending In much the same way as our
Indian frontier, and that the govern
ment of this great empire, as far as
the peasants are concerned, is intelli-
gent and humane"
Our representative was shocked and
astounded at seeing so great a change
In n whom he had always regarded
as the bulwark of constitutional rad
icalism. He had heard of such CONVEX
sions before and Of the methods by
which the Russian government brought
them about. But in this case there
had obviously been nc employment Of
force. Mr.. Lough's countenance for
bade all thought Of a Russian dun
geon. So u representative, with an
irrelevant kind of logic, turned the
subject to an inquiry as to the nature
OF Mr.. Lough's tour and the way in
which he had enjoyed it.
Never enjoyed a tour better" said
Mr.. Tough. Gen. Annenkoff, you
know, Is such a swell that a special
wagon was attached to every train in
which we Travelled, with sitting-rooms,
bedrooms and everything provided as
luxuriously as in a small house. We
lived off the very best, our dinners
every night costing more than FL. At
every provincial capital we we're intro
duced to the governors and to all the
swells of the palce. We saw everything
and drove everywhere. To the gen.
eral every door was opened, and, living
on his estates, we were able to wa.ch
the working Of the whole social sys-
tenn. 1t was the same thing with the
army. Gen. Annenkoff Is one of the
greatest soldiers in Russia at the pres
ent moment. 1t was he who modified
the Russian army after the defeat at
Plevna and he who built the Transcas-
plan railway and subdued Bokhara.
Wherever he went he could show us
the troops and the regimental band
would play what tune he pleased"
Our representative began to under
stand.
well, and did he introduce you to
many nihilists?"
1--WE saw one. She was a Young
woman with short hair, smoking a Gig
arctic. She was walking on the plat
form of a railway station. Gen. An
nenkoff nudged me and said Look!
There is a nihilist.' l asked him about
them and he spoke in the most friend
ly way. My dear fellow he said, Il
like the nihilists. They are generally
young women between 20 and 80.
Later on they get toned down and
give 1t up"
But, in spite of that, the general
puts them in prison?"
"As to that. all II English notions
are wrong. Z was told by the British
consul at Moscow, Mr.. Medhurst-who
is paid f100 a year by the for
eign office for that arduous post,
and who has just spent four
months in Siberia-that the stories
about the treatment of prisoners are
s~hocking'y exaggerated. The Russian
penal system is far more humane than
ours and the Russian peasant really
has quite a good time when he goes to
Siberia, The nihilist, being generally
a cultured man, suffers more than the
peasant. But he, too, is allowed far
greater freedom than political pris-
oners and after a time is allowed 70
have his own house and to live az a
colonist. | saw a number of prisoners
being conveyed down the Volga in a
steamer. They were in a large cage
guarded by sentries-not particularly
comfortable, but certainly much freer
than the cells in which they would
have been placed in England"