Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-07-11
| KISHIMEFF VISITOR.
Professor Steiner's Views of
the Jewish Massacre.
HE BLAMBs ozAR's GOVERNMENT.

Returned From Russia Says Hatred
OF Jews Is Not the Fault of the
Russians-He Also Tells of the Ex-
tent of TOIstOi's influence.
Professor Edward A. Steiner of Grin
nell college in Iowa, who went to Rus
sia last fall under commission from the
Outlook company to gather material
concerning Count Tolstoi, devoted his
winter to this purpose and incidentally
stopped at Kishineff a few days after
the massacre. He arrived at New
York recently, and, speaking of his
trip, said:
ct went direct to TolstOis estate,
Yasnaya Polyana, which is near the
city of Talu, about twelve hours by
rail from Moscow. Tolstoi was exceed
ingly i'll when l arrived, and had been
removed from the quarters which he
| had long occupied, a sort of hovel-like
room on the lowest floor of the house.
He had been taken upstairs, where a
physician lived with him. He recov-
cred soon, but he remains, and will
doubtless always remain, a broken
down man, a man who Will be confined
much to his house. and will never
again be able to work in the fields, as
has long been his custom.
AT different times while I lived on
the Tolstoi estate took trips to Mos
COW, and was particularly interested
in studying the cab drivers and prison
ers and what might be called the lower
order of people In the city, with the
idea of finding out from them what IN
fiuence the efforts of Tolstoi in their
behalf had upon them. One incident Is
enough to mark the point. Moscow is
one of the most pious cities in the
world. At every corner there are holy
pictures and statues, at which the citi-
zens reverently stop and bow. The
driver of my cab, noticed on my first
day Of investigation, passed by these
pictures unnoticed.
why don't you cross yourself?
asked
".Tolstoi said we must not he an
swered
$50 1 knew that the influence of
Tolstoi had reached the cab drivers of
Moscow at least.
From my residence on the Tolstoi
estate 1 am convinced that he knows
everything that goes on in Russia.
There is not u revolutionary scheme. l
am sure, that any one Is Matching that
Tolstoi does not hear about All man
ner of men are eager to submit ideas
OF violence to him. and they go to see
him in droves and tell him their most
secret thoughts without hesitation.
But he sends them all away after he
has reasoned with them and has told
them that they must not resort to vio-
lence, that the kingdom of God is
within them. There is no telling how
many revolutionary outbreaks he has
averted.
81 was in Moscow when the news
was received of the Kishineff maSsa-
ere; there was very little about it in
the newspapers because of the censor
ship. There was no excitement-no
more than if n pig had been killed
because the news was so scanty.
There were two or three lines in the
paper Il few days after it happened
from little letter that had got
through. The telegraph and telephone
offices were closed. When 1 reached
Kishinef there was no excitement;
everything had died down.
''The Jews were huddled together in
their quarters, especially around the
synagogues. went among them and
stayed few days. Such horrible things
happened during the massacre that 1
could not repeat them. But. while this
is all true, at the same time the Jews
told me there were also instances of
extreme kindness on the part of a
priest who tried to save them from the
mob. even at the peril of his own life.
"This Jewish problem is a big, Tester
ing sore. We always think of the
Jews as rich, but the mass of them
in Russia are exceedingly poor. They
often die of hunger. There is more
hunger typhus among the Jews in Rus
STA than anywhere else In the world.
"This hatred of the Jews is not the
fault of the Russian people; they are
not to blame. 1t is the Russian govern
ment. The government is anxious now
to keep the Jew as n scapegoat, under
stand? The Russian peasantry is COM
ing to the cities now, and Russia is be-
coming an Industrial country to some |
extent. The peasants are getting So
for a revolution. Never was there such |
a critical time in Russia as now, and |
the government knows it; so it seeks |
10 divert the peasant from the real sin |
ner as much as possible and is putting /
him on the Jews.
First of all because the Jew is an
economic problem there, and he is get
ting to be a great political problem,
and because, naturally, if the Jew is
treated in that way he will be against
the government You will find that
some of the most violent anarchists
and socialists in Russia are Jews. The
government knows that. For instance,
It gave an order not long ago that the
army be closely watched because Of
soeialistic literature which was being
circulated, and that the Jewish soldiers
should be specially watched They are
always the most intelligent in the
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