The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-11-04


Il wheat field and cotton field. desert
and steppe empty country and crowded
town--what is the upshot OF IL all. what
are the dominant impressions left upon
ones mind?
Vastness OF area. OF course, TO begin
with. The extent Of the Russian empire
Is almost terrifying. The British empire
il enormous, too. but though one may
have seen most OF 1t, the same impress
sion is never produced, for II Is scattered
over the world and divided by great seas.
Russia is whole-you could walk from
Archangel to Kushk, and from Heising-
fors to Vladivostok. The great Russian
. mystery is how all this is governed from
the city on the Neva The world mas
never known such Capitalization.
Again, and similar TO this first impress
sion the apparently inexhaustible variety
of races In Central Asia you come upon
a company OF recruits. they are Poles ana
Firms Your servant in Siberia is Cir
cassiar The Russian officer who took
Nerv for her is Mussulman native
Gen. Alkhanoff: you see-Aii khan-ong
Great Russians and Little Russians. Co.'S
sacks OF the Don and Cessacks or the
Urais Germans and Jews and Creeks
never did so muitifarlous crowd bear
a single name.
1t Is obvious. you conclude, that with
so vast and varied territory. and so
ulation. the natural penalty OF centraliza-
tlon--'aui trop embrasse nal etreint-
must naturally be in process or develop
ment. The Russian empire. from Its very
size and promiscuity, must be showing
signs of going to pieces? i can only
say / saw no such signs. The sacred
personality of the car and the heavy
hands OF the authorities In 81. Petersburg
are just as evident and Just as inevitable
on the circumference as at the centet
Russia revoives as smoothly as the we'll
welded fiy-wheel So long as no nav de-
velops, nothing could be more impressive
or more powerful than the fy-wheel; II,
however. II once cracks. II goes to rag
ments. and everything around 1t goes TO
fragments. too.
After the vastness OF country. the mix
ture OF peoples. and the Capitalization,
comes the impression OF strength. Russia
Is indescribably strong. Her strength
makes you nervous II is like being In the
next field. with a golfing jacket on, to an
angry young bull. The bull does mot
realize that the gate Is there to stop
him--therefore 1t will not stop him. Rus
STA walks roughshod over and through
obstacles that an older. more civilized,
n more self-conscious country would ma
neuver around for half a century. She
wants Siberia--she take 1t. She wants
Central Asia--she takes 1t. She wants
Manchuria- Is taking II. A consti-
tutional Finland Is in her way-constitu-
tional Finland must become q Russian
province Money makes the mare go.
and the lack of money usually makes the
would-be rider walk afoot. Not so with
Russia There IL an exceeding lack or
cash in official Russia. One project OF
a fresh loan after another has failed.
Trif1ing sums have been borrowed at high
rates from American insurance compa-
MES. The Transsiberian railway is eat
ing gold. There IL devastating coal
crisis There has been series of ter
ribie famines. The war in the far East
Is costing an enormous sum- In view OF
all this, you argue once more. all ex-
pensive national enterprises must be
stopped or postponed. Not bit of n.
Everything proceeds as regularly as
though million rubles came floating
down the Neva every morning. The
Transsiberian railway il being pushed at
all speed. The army IL being increased
The navy Is being strengthened rapidly.
Railways are planned in the Southern
Caucasus. In Persia. in Central Asia. Dur
ing the ten years ended in 1899 1900 miles
of railway were constructed. Last year
alone the increase was 2.64o miles. And
everywhere that Russia reaches she
erects handsome and permanent build
ings-railway stations, cathedrals. admin
istrative Offices. barracks. Few provin-
cial towns In Europe or America have
theaters and museums as fine as those
OF Irkutsk and Tihis.
The strength of Russia. again. strikes
you In the. inexhaustibie masses of her
common people. They are physically Wig
orous. they can live on n Chinaman's
daily expenditure, they are wholly init
crate. wholly superstitious. absolutely
obedient. even to death. TO what they are
told Is the will Of the czar III "A couple
of hundred thousand of them are needed
IL.
II they must I've sacrificed in shoals to win
a battle, well. they are never missed ex-
cept each group In It's own village. and
not much there There are two countries
In the world whore flesh and blood ara
cheap-China and Russia. This Is the
| strength OF the one: II win be the strength
| OF the other II ever she Is organized.
| Under the fostering care Of VI. de witte.
| whom should personally be- Inclined TO
| rank as the abiest and most far-seelng
| statesman now in Office In Europe Rus
sian manufacture IL making Incredible
progress II has It's ups end downs its
] fat years and it's lean years. It's crises
| and iis booms. but these are only serpen'
| tine movements and ifs general advance
r. uninterrupted In my letter from Mos
| COW 7 spoke OF the enormous dividends
| earned ~ the cotton spinning compa nies
/ there The iron industry has enjoyed IN
! the past almost equal prosperity. but
/ think q crisis IN THIS trade r. approaching
| now. The population ~ Russian Poland,
i where both manufacture and agriculture
flourish. has donhled IN forty years IN
/ this city 81 Warsaw the output 81 the
] farfeffes amounts to &c per head Of tho
1 entire uoDt,iatfan 7 learned 81 half 4
! dazen Industries which promise a for
| tune TO She foreigner who irF starts
I them IN Rgssia. Ar enormous mining De-
| velopmen, only awaits The nomsnt when
/ foreign canitaissta shall wake up q the
\ FAC, that RusSla Offers them BY FAR the
/ noat remuneratfve fleli FOR Investment
II 7 became capitalist the day after
| reach home shoalld leave for Russia
| the next week. and y would be a msits'
| ~ ccr1naraiivs. Indifference 20 me whsth.
| er ! turned up "a the Trials or she Can'
1 caSas ~ Trnnscaepia. This. ihen. "a an
| other impression iefi upon my mind
Finally. though have not set about
| 20 write of politics upan this Journey
one sitaI political Impression has cpnf
4 hof,a With me Namely. that IN the ra-