Evening star., 1898-11-12
NEWSPAPERS IN RUSSIA.
History of the Press Under the RuIs.
OF the Cars.
Now Nnrl


From tn New York Times
There has never existed a political press
in the real acceptation of the term in Rus
sia. According to immemorial tradition. the
government of the czar only allows the
publication of news which is in every re-
spect agreeable to it's views and opinions
In certain special cases of great import
ance, when it is thought necessary either
TO excite or to calm public opinion, the
Russian government is tritle more lenient
mus, for instance, in 1S12 during the wars
against Napoleon l. two newspanars sud
denly made their appearance, which nj
once became the recognized organs of the
RUSSIAN chauvinist party, the Russian In
valid, organ of the ministry of war ard
the Syn Otetchesva.
Ihe hrst Russian newspaper dates from
the reign of the Car Alexis I645-I676l Ir
was known under the name of Current
news, and was only destined for the i'm
mediate encourage of the emperor The real
louhder of the Russian press was Peter
the Great, who first started the ST PEERS
burg Gazette, the official organ of tbe
Academy of Sciences, a complete collection
OF which exists since 1714. After the first
impetus number of other periodicals were
started successfully. Among these the hest
known were the Monthly Writings in 17li
the aurora, in 1I1S, and the Moscow Jour
nal, in 1791 These publications were how
ever, almost entirely literary in their char
acter and never ventured upon the 6anppr-
Gus ground of politics. unless by order of
the government. During the reign of AIex-
ander l the Bee was first published. This
sheet was by far the most important and
influential organ of Russian public opnion
during the first quarter of the present CEN
tury. Among its most famous contributors
We're De Gretch and Boulgarine Pouch
Kline and Lermontof.
Ihe censorship, in every form had al
h,lt
more powerfully organized than under the
reign of Nicholas l. Every neWspaper
every pamphlet, every Russian or foreign
book, whether ancient or modern was Iirsf
subjected to the censorship There was
even an upper committee of censors" sne-
cial1y charged with the supervision of the
corps or cehsors. Later on. during the lat
ter part of Car Nicholas Is reign special
Censorships were established Not only
were there ecclesiastical censors. military
censors, but every government department
was invested with the power of controlling
every newspaper or other. printed article
published which in any way dealt with the
department in question.
The many difficulties which Russian su-
thors met in publishing their works result
ed in the novel plan OF collective publica-
tion in periodicals known as 'almanacks
II was in these alrlanacks that first an
peared the works of the great national his
torian, karamJine, Pouchkine. Lermontof,
Polejaief, Ryleef. Pogodine and others
These publications had such success that
they resulted in the starting of several
monthly magazines. 1t was then that ap-
peared The Muscovite," THE Patriotic
Annals to which Dostoievski and Herzen
contributed. The various impediments
placed in the way of the Russian press
were of kind to make these monthly pub
locations prosper rather than the daily
newspapers
On the accession of Alexander II all the
special jurisdiction mentioned above was
abolished, An imperial ukase suppressed
every ''eXceptional' law against the press,
exception being made only for offenses
against religion. Ordinary censorship, such
as exists in other countries. was estab-
lshed instead. 1t was at this time that
Katkof and his friend Prof. Leontief
founded at Moscow the Russian Messenger.
large monthly review. The tragic end of
Alexander lis reign QSS1) put a sudden
stop to the relative liberalism which had
Polos the Order, the Moscow Telegraph
and other organs of the liberal party were
suppressed. The remaining organs of the
press became the mere echoes of the auto
cratic regime inaugurated by Alexander Ill
Until the time of Katkof's DEATH in 1888
the Moscow Gazette continued to be the
most influential daily organ in the empire
The principal existing daily papers In the
empire at present are the NoVoie Vremia
Ghe New Times), a newspaper having no
political opinion, but widely read on ac-
count Of its able editorial articles and it's
well-organized system of reporting unique
in Russia. The Noyosti, liberal sheet;
the Sviet, an ardent Slavophile organ; the
Journal de St. Petersburg, published in
French. a venerable organ of the minister
of foreign affairs, and finally the Nedielia,
a democratic organ, widely read among uni
versty students.
There is considerable number of month
ly magazines published in Russia. Chief
among these are the European Messenger,
a liberal and progressive organ; the Rouss-
xii Vrestnik CRussan Messenger), founded
by Katkof. and the Russian Review, new
conner in the field, having among its con-
tributors Paul Bourget, Melchior de Vogue.
Paul Leroy-Beaulieu and other noted
French litterateurs.
Airy.
From Puck.