The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1903-02-12

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| n R&nyG&TNg together, relates writer
tTXVNNE77k in the London Mail.
| II GeSolI II With the newcomers
ISSYt19sE9lh eagerness to investigate
IE:w;saM1Z!F all things Russian, |
turned to a gentleman who had lived
many years in the country and said:
do explain to me this mysterious per-
sonage, the Russion censor, and do tell
me about Russian newcomers. In
Stantly his eyes warned me not to pro-
ceed, and his reply was, Tomorrow you
are coming to see us, and we will talk
then about Russia as much as you
| please"
Later he took me aside and whis-
pered, THAT Russian gentleman is
J delightful fellow, but he is in the SER
vice of the government, and one must
guard ones tongue .s,t~ /.
A few days afterwards an absurd ar
ticle in an American paper reached my
hands. 1t announced in ,faring head
lines that the car intended to divorce
the czarins a statement as preporter-
Gus as it was nonsensica1, for his devo-
| ton to her is the talk of the whole
court So that afternoon as sat in the
drawing room of an Englishwoman
began. discussing the article with much
merriment. "Do be quiet, you foolish
person. she interrupted me, then went
softly to the door and opened it sud-
denly to discover if a servant was
within hearing. "Of course, here you
are among your friends, but let me en-
treat you not to talk about such things
seriously that visions of the censor came
before my eyes, with Siberia looming
UP distinctly in the distance.
If you are a foreigner in Russia. the
I first thing your country people there
tell you is Don't talk; think what you
! like, but don't talk" If you dabble in
literature and journalism, conceal the
| fact as long as you legitimately can.
you are very interesting and agreeable
and have enjoyed meeting with you,
but you must not mind If | ask you
not to mention that we had been to-
| gether," a governess in the family Of a
cabinet minister said to me. Il have
| lived twenty years in Russia, and never
had any trouble" she went on, "but
one never knows what may happen"
If private individuals live in constant
| uneasiness if the native and foreigner
distrust everybody but intimate friends,
If they are always afraid something
may happen" in case they make inju-
dicious remarks, one can imagine the at
mosphere in which a newspaper editor
lives and works.
Every day or two he receives from
the censor a new list of subjects which
he may not discuss, and his safety can
/ never be absolutely assured. In the
news and editorial columns he is super
vised, and he dare not accept an ad-
vertisement without the official sane
| ton of the government. But | would
nevertheless, not agree that the infiu-
! ence of the Russian censor is in reality
all that it is generally supposed abroad
| to be, and | would not agree that the
Russian press is characterless, color
less, and merely the obsequious mouth
| personally aware of the existence of
the censor. His letters will probably
not be opened, but his newspapers will
often have a COLUMN of "cavisre"-as
the Russians play fully call it-some-
thing being blackened out. fastening
to borrow paper from friend in the
diplomatic or consular service, who is
exempt from censorship, he discovers
| often that he has missed only a silly
scandal or a piece Of petty gossip about
the imperial family. Serious articles,
unless relating to Russian internal af-
fairs, will probably be intact.
The censor seems to adopt much the
same attitude towards the national
press. He is in way omnipotent and
omniprosent, and the editor has to keep
him always in mind. But when you ex-
anime his work as publicly exposed and
privately discussed by people who I'M
! derstand it you find great gun heavily
loaded which sometimes creates havoc,
| but which does not often bring down
big game.
The Two papers most recently sup
pressed will serve to illustrate this. The
minister Of the interior. who was as
sassinated last spring, punished the ed
itor of the Rossia by suspending the pa
per and sending the editor himself to
| the Province Of IrkutSk, in Eastern ST.
IBERIA, and the publisher to Pskoff, on
the Baltic. What had they done? They
had published vile and senseless libel
on the imperial family, entitled, "The
| Obmanoffs," which would hardly have
passed unnoticed even in republic,
had it been directed against the head
of the state. The sentences of both ed
itor and publisher were light, although
the publisher is said to have lost 3O0,-
600 rubies, { 6 $4,000 The avowed pur-
pose of the Rossia was to conduct dig
| uluOU, SANE COuSluGIdL1Ou VI
rights. When the article on 'The OBJ
manoffs" was shown to the car he is
reported to have said: "Ah, drunk
again." 1t is the best explanation, for
no editor could have expected any good
to come from it. But it is a good illus
tration of the recklessness of the Rus
sian editor.
The Serveny Kourley, which was sup
pressed in the winter of 1901, was ed
tied by Prince Bariatinsky, who got in
to trouble when the anti-Jewish play,
''The Children of Israeli" was present
ed in st. Petersburg. The scenes at the
theatre were disgusting, and were be-
coming worse each night, under the in
stigation of the Serverny Kourier, when
the paper was suppressed Everyone
must admit that the Jewish sympathiz-
ers had right to protest against the
play, but the part Prince Bariatinsky
took was an Indictment to violence
which no strong government would
have tolerated.