The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-04-01
millionaire and a man q great impor.

risen In the world, like him, owing to
the Russian advent, and many thou
sands have grown richer In their de-
grees. The cooly's wages, for exam
pie, have gone up with a bound, and
the prices Of market produce have
greatly increased. No wonder most Of
subjects of the car.
A Chinaman known as "Ivan"-the
RUSSIANS "John"-is head Of the Har.
bin Telegraph company, a quasi govern
ment institution. He holds authority
over many Russian clerks and opera
tors, as well as over a large number Of
Chinese. Ivan speaks excellent Eng
lish and is a well educated, widely
Travelled, able man, thoroughly well
fitted for his important position, which
gives him control over the telegraph
lines all the way to Port Arthur, Dali
ny and Vladivostok.
It seems to be commonly supposed
that the Chinese dislike the Russians,
with whom they have no racial afhn-
ity, and like the Japanese, but travel
In Manchuria convinces n to the con-
trary. The Japanese is just as much
a foreigner to the Chinaman MS the
Russian is. and the Japanese Wis too
| prone, in the Chinaman's eyes, to as
| sumo an intolerable air Of superiority.
The Russian, on the other hand, Is
! quite willing to take the Chinaman as
he finds him and to make friends with
him as speedily as he can. There Is
no other white race in the world with
so light a baggage of race prejudices.
Cossack. makes himself at home wher-
ever the car sends him. As soon as
he has finished killing the natives he
grins good naturally at those who are
left and settles down quietly to learn
their ways and marry their daughters.
The thousands Of settlers transplant
ed from European Russia, the Cauca-
sus and T~ranscaspia to Manchuria
have done little to develop that coun-
try or improve their own condition
Many Of them have hired Chinese COO
lies to do the work on their allotments
although by SO doing they eat into
their profits and destroy all chance OF
making a success in their new life. In
q short while the cody becomes NOR
prosperous than his master.
The policy adopted by the Russian
government Is that only the Russian
and the Chinaman shall be allowed tt
make money in Manchuria. There !!
no chance for the American trader
there under Russian rule, or for tn
Englishman, or for the German, or TO
the Japanese. Not only Is foreign com
merce barred out by a cast iron tariff
but in many of the towns no foreign
ers are allowed to own stores or rul
businesses, those privileges being strict
" reserved for Russian subjects ant
Chinese. In Hardin, for example, al
the stores are owned by Russians AM
Chinese, and the latter have consider
ably the larger share Of the trade.
The government Of the great mass o
these peaceful, busy, money maxim
Celestials gives little trouble to til
! Russian authority, but the Mantcho
mobiles, who still remain in the country
and their large bands of disorderly II
, tainers are a constant source OF an
! iety and annoyance. The bandits RI
,, ferred to by Viceroy Alexeieff in hi
proclamation come from this class. Th
!, large towns Of Manchuria are som
what scattered, and practically all til
;, intervening country is more or less il
: tested with these bandits. They hay
! always been an evil feature of life j
Manchuria, but their numbers WEI
: greatly increased by the Boxer on
! break, for the majority of the Boxer
became outlaws after the crushing (
the rebellion. Very few of them WEI
! able to return to their old places in tt
peaceful communities they had left o
i indeed, cared to do SO.
= While the Chinese are favored ar
protected, the authorities look with I
friendly eye upon the Mantchoos, eve
though they may be living peaceful ar
: law abiding lives. The attitude of tt
: Russian toward the Mantchoo is we
. illustrated by a story which the Ru
! sian newspapers delight in telling ov'
and over again.
A drunken Mantcho nobleman wi
was travelling on the East Chinese raj
way startled the passengers by b
uuarrelsome talk and murderO,
:. threats. He got out at n Of the st
lions to take a stroll on the platfor1
n first announcing that he would cut q
!. the head Of anybody who dared to tai
his seat while he was away.
!. A smart young Russian woman e
i. tered the carriage and promptly 8
u down in the nobleman's place, despi
= the warnings OF the other passenger
n When the Mantchoo returned, drunk
than ever, he was furious. He DIRE
his sword and might have carried o
ID his threat, but the young woman CO
- cred him with a pretty little pocket ]
r. volver.
"Do you take us for a pack Of CO
n ardly mandarins?" she asked. "Wh
81 DO we care for your bluster? There