The Indianapolis journal., 1903-07-08
THE SIBERIAN RAILWAY.
Omcials Are Exiles and Criminals
Varied Call:ngs Represented.
The Engineer

Ever since the various sections of the
Siberian Railway were thrown open to
passenger traffic there have been increas-
ing complaints of robbery. Not only has
gage vans, but there has been a great deal
of robbery from ordinary goods in transit
by goods trains. To these drawbacks must
be added the many shortcomings in the
management of the line, and the frequent
cases OF accidents and derailments. A
Russian publicist NJ. Sentyanin, has been
inquiring into the education and moral
worth of the staff employed on the line. and
he has published some very interesting de-
tails referring to the staff in 1901. During
that year there were employed about 49,
600 officials and workmen on the Siberian
Railway In January 1892 officials were
employed permanently, while two years be-
fore in 1893, only 5.004 were employed. The
staff increases so rapidly every year, and
the demand for officials Is great that it
is impossible to maintain a high level Of
education or of moral worth among the
aspirants for service on the line. NJ. Sent
yanin was able to investigate the social
value of II, ,1l2 PERSONS Of this number 2.3l1
were illiterate. 1889 had had no proper
school training, 4,376 had attended elementary
schools, and only 123 had received higher
education. To the last category belonged
Strange to say, the educational standing
of an employe seems to have but very little
influence upon the rate of pay. Thus. posts
with a yearly salary of $500 rubles were
held by iliterate persons; badly educated
officials held many posts at yearly wage
of from 200 to 1,S00 rubles, while uni
versity men, were being paid from 12O to
800 rubles year. These latter were exiles,
and they acted as clerks. Nearly 1000
exiles were appointed to posts on the
Siberian Railway in 1901, and of that num-
men had been banished for murder. robbery,
and other violent deeds. and "a for theft
and forgery. These men are employed on
the eastern sections of the line, partly in
tIa flxxyax nd rfl mot fch-
men. OF late the taking of criminals into
the service OF the railway has been re-
stricted, and some of those already en-
ployed have been dismissed. The most
varied callings are found represented among
the Siberian Railway officials. There are
journeymen and artists, teachers, govern
esses. innkeepers, clerks, apothecaries.
photographers. painters, organists. un-
frocked pastors policemen and gendarmes.
The profession of literature is not repre-
sented. at least officially. Evil tongues
maintain that there is a special reason for
the absence of literary men on the staff of
the Siberian Railway; a little time ago the
heads Of certain departments gave strict
orders to their men that no details concern
ing the line were to be allowed to find their
way into the press.
European Russia furnishes the greater
number of officials. as s4 per cent. We're
born there, while Siberia furnishes only 10
per cent. The subordinate posts are held
by immigrants from the eastern govern
ments, Perm. Orenburg and Samara. and
the higher posts by immigrants from CEN
trail and western Russia. The distribution
of the officials according to their capacity
for work is curious. Thus, the better men,
mainly former officials on the Samara &
Zlatoust Railway, were assigned to the
West Siberian sections of the railway. Such
men as proved TO be failures were trans
ferred eastward to the central sections of
the line. If on these latter sections no en-
ployment could be found. and the demands
of the railway authorities were extremely
modest, then the seekers after work trav-
eed again eastward to the Trans Baikal
and Manchurian Railways. Thus. the ST.
berian Railway became a route for tramps.
who looked out for chance to make liv-
ing somewhere along its great length.