The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-02-27
RUssIA,s UNEMPLOYMENT.

The average person in this country
thinks of Russia as an immense. unpro-
duetive cold country. in which the people
are ground down by tyrany, are under-fed
and ill-clad, and are perpetually menaced
by deportation to the terrible mines of
Siberia, to exc out an existence the hor
ror Of which would be mitigated only by
death. In short. our stock of information
respecting Russia is rather meager, and
what information we have is of a biased
sort. furnished either by enemies OF or
apologists for the Russian system Of gov
eminent.
In the February issue Of the North
American Review Mr.. Charles A. Conant
has a well digested and well written ar
ticle dealing with the progress and de-
velopment OF Russia as world power.
In 1t he shows that Russia possesses al
most incalculable natural resources, and
that 1t has been the policy of the rulers
of the country, for the last thirty years
at least, TO develop those resources. Par
ticularly is this true of Nicholas II, the
present Car. Thirty years more of such
development as Russia has seen during
the ten years past will make her cir
resistable" as an agricultural and CONNER
cial nation, Mr.. Conant thinks. The
whole energy of the state is being bent to
the creation of a nation capable of com
peting in the field of manufactures, in
dustry and commerce with the great Yves
ern nations and with the United States"
says Mr. Conant; and that remarkable
progress has been made towards this
achievement"
An earnest OF the desire of Nicholas TO
develop his empire materially is seen in
his proposition for the disarmament of
the nations of Europe If the great mill
tary burden could be laid own the coun-
try could devote itself 10 opening mines,
cultlvating fields, building railroads, utn-
izing forests, and the like, with the wealth
and men which must now be devoted to
the uses of the military establishment;
and that establishment is altogether a con-
sumner. not a producer. Russla's is essen
TALLY a paternal government; therefore,
according to Mr.. Conant, Russia could make
der favorable circumstances, than even
the United States. In this country II
is necessary for a majority Of the people
to be convinced of the advisability of any
projected political or national movement
before that movement can take shape. In
Russia it is necessary only to convince
the Car and his council of ministers:
fbaxy do for
they have determined upon a policy, they
proceed to put 1t into execution. Thus it is
possible for events TO move much more
rapidly in Russia than in this country
Should an arrangement for the limiting
Of the military establishment be reached
| and the Gar determine to devote the
energies of the country to materia. devel-
opment, the process would be in opera
ton under government auspices within
few months. AS illustrating the differ
ence In the processes, Mr.. Conant in
stances the abolition of serfdom in Russia
and slavery in the United States Russian
| liberation came without bloodshed, and
| as the result of a few proclamations by
| the Gar while in the United States the
| same end was reached only after a long
and bloody war. And Russia provided
compensation for her slave owners and
| homes and land for the ex-slaves, while
the United States did neither. In the
matter of specie payments the same celer-
ity was noted in the case of Russia, and
the same hardness in the case of the
United States. Meantime, II must not be
supposed that Mr.. Conant Is an advocate
of the Russian system of government as
| against that of the United States; he is
merely making 1t plain why il is that
quicker development may be expected in
Russia, under favorable conditions, than
in this country. Russia has extreme
Capitalization. and Capitalization can the
sooner proceed towards desired end
Russia is at present a large producer
of iron, grain and petroleum, and she is
forging to the front in manufactures
Within recent years she has established
a number of chronological schools in which
to train her young men how to utilize
the products of her mines, fields and for
ests. Twelve higher schools of this char
acter are now in operation, and others
are projected. Besides these there are
number of less ambitious schools in which
the manual sciences are taught With
cheap labor. trained managers and album
dant1lraw materials. there is no reason
why the country should not speedily take
high rank in manufacturing.
Russian railways, Mr.. Conant says, are
attaining a development which will soon
put the country abreast of the leading
countries of the world. More railway
construction Is going on in Russia than
in any other country of Europe or in
either North or South America. Russia
now has greater railway mileage than
| France. though she has not nearly so
much as is needed and Will be built. The
country has upwards of five thousand mil
lions of dollars of negotiable wealth, all
within the control of the Car. with a
government controlled by the single pur-