The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-07-28
DRIVEN FROM Russia.

The peremptory order of the Russian
government directing the immediate de-.
parture from the country of Mr.. George
Kcnnan viii surprise few who have read
Remnants work on Russian prisons The
| enforcement of the order however, ought
to be matter of more serious considera
ton than its issuance. According to the
press dispatch, Mr.. KEENAN, has been or
dered to leave because, in the estimation
of the Russian authorities, he is political
ly untrustworthy; and the authority Tor
the action taken is supposed to be found
in Russian regulation which authorizes
the exclusion Of undesirable foreigners.
Mr. Remnants book on the Russian exile
can public sentiment 1t revealed the
Siberian prison system as being quite as
bad as the enlightened public of different
countries believed it to be- The informa-
ton embodied in it was obtained, no
doubt. by methods which the Russian
government would be justified in regard
ing as unworthy, and involved continuous
imposition en+the Russian prison authori-
ties. Its publication was no doubt very
dIsagreeable to the Russian car, but. IN
it's ultimate effects it was valuable I'M
dertaking regarded even from the Rus.
sian standpoint. 1t made necessary re-
forms which put an end to the most in
human features of the system, and the
development which has since set in al
it's inception in the exposures which re-
suited
On its face it gems incredible that the
United States will quietly submit to the
driving out of Mr.. KEENAN,, if his So
journ in Russia is for lawful purposes.
No doubt every nation has the right to
deny asylum to foreigners whose pres
ence is inconsistent with the maintenance
of national authority or the object of
whose visit is in any sense criminal in
character. But because Mr. KEENAN,, in
the pursuit of a literary Undertaking,
found it necessary to make certain puf-
lizhed statemen.s regarding a Russian
domestic institution, the truth of which
has never been successfully ga:nsaid,
ought not in itself to constitute a suf-
ficient reason for his exclusion
Intima lens have been offered from time
to time since the appearance of Mr..
Remnants literary work in tie columns of
popular American magazine that he en-
tered on his work Of exposing the
horrors If Siberian prisons in cen
summation of a political purpose No
evidence has ever been made public of
any such purpose on his part. His de-
livery OF lectures throughout England
and other countries embodylng the sub
stance Of his Siberian experiences does
not OF itself sustain any such imputa->
ton. If it can be made plain that he
was as has been claimed, an emissaYy
of the English government in the under
taking, Their, certainly is nothing for
this government to do but to submit
| quietly to his exclusion from Russia.
His political untrrstworthins in the es-
timation of the Russian government IS
no Goubt based on some such theory. But
if it is 10 more than theory it would
seem an extraordinary proceeding to deny
to him, an American citizen, the right
of temporary sojourn in the cars DO
lninions.
II Mr.. KEENAN, insists upon his rights as
an American citizen to visit Russia, or
any country with which the United States
are at peace, it becomes the duty of the
federal government to inquire as to tire
| circumstances CT his exclusion and make
its protest against such exclusion felt in
all proper ways by the Russian authori-
ties