Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-05

sian officialdom. from the lowest "gorodo-
vol policeman) to the head of the ladder,
must have been written by one who knows
thoroughly Russian internal affairs and is
literally true. Look at this map of the
Siberian railway Take this one case: Tomsk
is the capital OF Siberia. its only intellectual
center. the seat of government and of
great university. but the main line passes
ii by distance of sixty miles Why? Be
cause the local authorities would not give
the engineers the brides they demanded.
For long time you had to get OF At a
wayside station. Taiga, and drive those
sixty miles. At last branch line had to
he built" So IL is with churches. the funds
disappear mysteriously: so ii is with the
Red Cross in the present war. In MOSCOW
the president of the local committee. Nine.
vishnevska, and her husband the office staff
had been dismissed on account OF grave
Irregularities and disorders" Nothing is
sacred to the vultures. How great the peccu-
lations with regard to the Baltic fleet were
before IL could start on its sad errand, after
many vain attempts, will perhaps never be
known. The blood penalty paid by the
brave Russian soldier I'm Manchuria, the
sickness and sum total of misery and suf-
fering produced by the constituencies THEY
cry of high and low commissariat officers.
would be appalling were 1t entirely known.
The money collected I'm fines that are never
registered, when his excellncy the police
mas ter undertakes his daily drive through
the city, real raid of piracy. accounts for
the lofty station of that autocrat ZEN minia-
ture, VINO Is more absolute III his Do"tf
than the car himself; no noblesse obiige
mitigates his tyranny. except. perhaps now
and then an assassination by a wronged
father or brother.
The Passport Tax.
The very existence of every human being
born is taxed In the form of the passport.
which must be renewed every six months
and accordingly paid for As there may ne
delay in issuing 1t, and as Ii Is danger
Gus to be without It. extra bride Is in
order TO obtain this sine qua non in Rus
STA, without which life is impossible. There
is anecdote OF a Russian child asked
In school during religious instruction. ''Of
how many parts does man consist?" 'Of-
three was the prompt reply. How do
you make that out?' 'Of body. of soul ami
of passport" There is a deep sense in this
child's answer.
Ten years ago a United States consul.
intimately known to the writer, travelled
from st. Petersburg to Berlin to visit Ills
dangerously sick child He had his special
passport signed by the then Secretary OF
State. the Iamented Walter Q. Gresham. One
station before Wirballen. the frontier town
on the Russian side. the passports were
taken from the passengers. At Wirbaiicn
the train halted, and the United States
consul was driven from his compartment
and, without giving him time to put
evercoat or hat. he was conducted by two
gorodoyois like criminal along the long
train to the police station What was the
matter? The consul thinking that his Of
fetal special passport would insure him the
same treatment as is accorded to Russian
officers of like rank In the United States.
and that 1t was sufficient guarantee of Sc
curity. had failed to obtain the wise Of the
Stadt-hautmann of st. Petersburg.
The train left, and the American consul.
inc, .al
chief of police, and threatened that If he
uttered another word he would he sent
back to st. Petersburg a prisoner. was
finally released through the good offices of
the then minister of the United States %
Russia, Mr.. Andrew ID. White. Herewith
the case ended. by diplomatic amenity."
and the friendly relations and Traditional
affection so happily existing between the
two nations closed the incident until The
next outrage. Truly the empire of Japan
is waging war for civilization. Her VIC
tory will indeed be that of a war Of libe-a-
ton also for the millions of good Russian
people who are worthy of a better govern
ment, of an enlightened constitution, Of
personal liberty and the pursuit Of happi-
ness.
A few months ago there was a bitter
complaint that the Russian cruiser Smo-
lensk stopped the German ship Prinz Helm
rich near the Suez canal and possessed IT.
self of the International mail carried by
the German ship. just as 1t happened re-
Gently to American ship in Chinese
waters. The complaints can hardly be gen.
uine. since the Russian government ras
every letter opened in the red chamber OF
their post offices IL any interesting news 10
the police to the government is sus-
pected. In many cases the worthy officials
do not even take the trouble to close the
letters again. They arrive with n delay
of a few days; that is all. The ambassador
of a great European power at st. Peters
burg once said to the writer: I'VE send
only those official letters though the Rus
sian mails of which desire unOfticialiy
the Russian government to take cogni-
Zance.