The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-06-13
AS A

The greatest political sensation of the
day comes from the tidings that the
Gar is considering the abolition of
transportation to Siberia as a penalty
of crime.
This means practically the breaking
up of Siberia; for, with its trocha de-
stroyed and railroads running freely
into Europe and Asia, the Siberia of
old will be no more. 1t will be cut up
into Russian provinces and great cities
will flourish where there are now poor
villages.
The Car himself is very frank in the
matter of the opening up of Siberia, for
he says that it is on account OF the
fertility of the country and not on ac-
count of the political exileS.
Although his Majesty has always
sympathized more or less with nihilists
and has been very lenient with them in
many ways, he comes out very fiat
footed in the decision which says that
they are to be punished, and only rec
ommends that the place and manner of
punishment be changed.
Siberia beyond the Ura1 Mountains is
a beautiful, fertile place, all reports to
the contrary Notwithstanding. It is,
from the standpoint of physical geog-
raphy, lovely, fertile plain, wherein
there grow all the essential products of
the universe. EIemmed in as it is on
three sides by the Ural, the Altai and
the Yablonoi Mountains it is protected
from the fierce winds of Thibet and the
hot winds of China, and is held secure
from the strong western blast which
sometimes sweeps across Eastern Rus
STA, making st. Petersburg and MOSCOW
cold before cold is seasonable-
Washed by warm waters upon the
East and a very mild polar stream upon
the north, and dotted with many beau
tiful lakes and crossed by numerous
rivers, Siberia would be an ideal living
spot were it not for the circumstances
and conditions that now surround it.
gentleman who spent some weeks
in Siberia upon business declares the
climate to be very much like that of
Maine-and a more beautiful country
than Maine it would be difficult to find.
Even the lake States are not eQua-
Bile in temperature, as the northern
part of New England and Siberia, pro-
tected by mountains and warmed by
the sea, is more even in climate than
any of them.
The point of interest which most ap-
peals to this country is the agricultural
one. Hitherto Russia has depended
upon the United States for it's grains,
particularly that of corn. Corn is a
luxury in Russia, and corn bread and
corn cakes are a delicacy. Corn upon
the cob is unknown, except upon the
tables of the very wealthy.
With Siberia raising its great corn
fields and supplying an immense
amount of corn to Europe, this condi-
ton will be changed, and as far as Eu-
rope is concerned, for the better. This
would Immediately show itself in the
condition of the poor, for every one
is in this country upon the moderate
tables. Its peculiarities are such that
it can be made into homely food well
as fine food; in this respect it greatly
resembles the Irish potato.
The Gear, who is strange mixture
of progress and conservatism, has been
secretly employing his agents to visit
Siberia. Other Cars have done the
same, but the agents were handicapped
by fear. They dared not tell what they
saw. If they saw an exiled family Gull
tivating a piece of land and living COM
fortably upon it. they dared not draw
the conclusion that the land was fer
tile. Instead, they would carry back to
his Majesty the Gear, the word that
his exiles were starving upon a barren
tract of land, and that his Majesty
would do well were he rid of the land
and the people.
The news that the Cars agents had
been through Siberia carried terror to
the thousands of exiles who are doomed
to live there.
They knew from previous experience
that a visit of the Cars agents meant
cOnfscation of property and a harder
way of living; and the report, there
fore, that the agents had been through
Siberia for the purpose of reporting
upon the land as a dwelling for the
Russian nation, drove them wild with
joy mingled with apprehension, for