Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-04-13
Horrors of Imprisonment on Russia's
Convict Isle.
WORSE THAN THOSE OF SIBERIA
Men and Women Under the Lash
for Petty Offenses.
NH q NAN RUELTIES


| Written for The Evening Star.
From the colony of russian exiles in Lon
| don one gets a definite idea that great
| revolution is brewing in Russia-greater
! than the bloody attempt of the seventies
| that ended in the assassination of Alexan-
| der II in 1881. The working classes are in
terested to some extent this time, whereas
| they took little part in the previous affair.
Just now the smodering flames are being
| famed by news that is leaking out from
Russia's mysterious Tile du Diable,' a
| place guarded more closely and less known
| tnan the terrible bit of land on which Drey-
| fus was penned, and on which every en-
couragement to die was given to him.
T. 5sia's Tile du Diable" Is Saghalin.
sometimes spelled Sakhalin or Saghalien.
and 1t appears that it Is now the most
! frightful place on earth, where the cruelty,
| wickedness and wretchedness that once
| were spread over Siberia under the old ST.
berian convict system were concentrated
| chiefly when Russia abolished that sys-
tenn. The abolition consisted largely In
getting the horror out of sight. where trav-
eler5 like George KEENAN, could not see it
and tell the world about it.
| London happens to be the best place in
which to find out some of the facts about
Saghalin, for the metropolis and it's SUBJ
urbs contain the largest gathering of Rus
sian eXfles, free to speak their minds that
can be found anywhere. They are watched
closely by the police, and any one of them
w--o goes to experimenting with chemicals
is put down forthwith in 'Melvilles books"
l. e., he is placed under the keen observa-
| ton of the Scotland Yard police inspector
whose special province is dynamiters
This uesolate island to which Russian
| convicts are now exported looks on the map
to be scarcely stones throw to the south
east down the Boring and the Sea of
Okhotsk from Alaska.
Had to Walk 1000 Miles.
1t is les han fifty years since SaghaIin
was occupied, thirty since the first batch Of
convicts was sent there. twenty-five since
the southern part of the island was taken
over from Japan, and twenty since deporta-
ton on large scale began. In 1884 the
penal business had become so great that
| governor with full executive staff had to
| be sent out from St. Petersburg and the
| island divided into three administrative dis
| tricts.
At first the convict parties were sent
| overland. and the greater part of the way
| on foot-a journey of between four and five
| thousand miles. and cases are on record Of
men who survived this Journey escaped
| from prison after it. and made their way
| right across Siberia to European Russia
only to be captured there and sent back
| again Soon. however. land transportation
was abandoned and the convicts were
| shipped in periodical patches by steam ars
OF the so-called volunteer fleet (dobrovolny
| 1otD by way of Odessa and the Suez
canal. The wretched conditions Of this traf-
| ic drew much public attention in the early
sos, and afterward a better type of Iesssl
| was built. Several years ago the 1umor
| that one of these prison ships-ftted with
cages for the prisoners and a hose ar
| rangement by which they can. be Loied
| alive with steam in case Of mutiny-was
| being built on the Clyde reused good deal
OF feeling in England The vessels carry
| 500 prisoners tween decks. and only twenty
| are allowed on deck at time in fine
| weather.
| AbOminatiOn of DesOIation.
| Exile to Saghalin. like exile to Siberia be-
| fore 1t. had In the eyes of the Russian gov
| eminent three objects The first of course
was to get rid. in the easiest and most eff
fectiVe way. of real criminals and Inc on
venient people who. to the autocracy, are
the worst kind Of criminals-political agi-
tators The second was the profita Bile
| working Of the coal mines of the island
| The third was agricultural colonization
The first Of these ends has been achieved
| SO completely that man or woman de-
ported thither is lost to the world. "All
| nope abandon, ye who enter here" might
in literal truth be written over the rortal
| OF this hermetically sealed island. In it's
second object the cars government has
| been less successful. for the coal is Of Door
quality. convict labor is not cheap, and
markets are far distant In the third OBJ
| 1ect 1t has failed completely, and this fail
| ure is the best indication of the cruel lot of
|
| this abomination Of desolation.
| Except for a few weeks of uncertain mid
| summer sunshine, the island is ice-bound
| and fog-bound the climate Is harsh: even
| In June the hills are covered with snow and
| the soil is frozen twenty inches deep; dwarf
| forests cover the mountains, and the val
leys with few exceptions are narrow and
marShy; roads are made and kept with
! great difficulty; there are no good harbors
The novels Of the few settlers who try to
make living out Of the icy soil are de-
| picted by DR.. Tchekov as being like the
oens or Wild beasts. The whole population
food. Va
Too Much for the Doctor
No breeze Of culture or freedom ever
reaches this terrible place. Even in St. Pc
tersburg public opinion is not strong, and
omclal outrages are frequent. What hap
pens In the dead isolation Of the SaghalIn
| prisons. 5000 miles away. where the jailer
Is more nearly supreme and unfettered than
perhaps on any other spot on earth cannot
be told In full. Every year or two some
hint Of scandal or atrocity leaks out-Prince
krapotkin mentions doctor who wrote al
ludlng to the Korsakoff Hospital on the
| south coast: my colleague abandons his
post; he can no longer bear all that Is go-
ing on there. The chief of the settlement
seldom visits the barracks: he does not ap-
pear otherwise than surrounded by armed
Warders. The governor Of the prison dare
not appear among the convicts."
An account in a st. Petersburg paper
which shortly was suppressed. of disorders
discovered by the commander of the Rus
sian Pacific squadron shows that The poor
er convicts were compelled to do the heavt-
est labor in chains, rich criminals being
Kept In privileged position and hobnob-
Ding with the authorities. A few years ago
| news reached London through Odessa IRON
East Siberia that so terrible state of af-
fairs was prevalent on the island that the
governor had to Interfere for the protection
or prisoners against minor prison officials
Men and Women Under the Lash.
1t must be remembered in every aspect
| OF the Russian penal system that those
| who have been tried and those who have
| had no trial. burly ruffians and delicate
victims Of culture and conscience, the
murderer and the gentle sectary, the
adulterer and the political propaganda,
men. women and mere children. are treat
ed under 1t almost Unfortunately unless
they have money enough to bride the jailers.
By decree issued In 1888 to the governor
of Saghalin corporal punishment was re-
imposed In the case Of political Offenders
men or women mo difference must be
admttteO' If ordered hotp