The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1904-06-29
R1ssIl FROM INSIDE.
|, al. Popular Unrest Visible
to the Foreigner
.u,,arsB OF THE CHANCE VISITOR

p..ween Conditions as
pihe Eound In St. Petersburg
The' low and as He Had Elk
anu Them to Be-Frenkness OF
russians pF" In Di'ou''inS the Govern
t-Dfect of Spy System
,.,,,,.,o Is as civilized, prosperous
hu U.s. % any nation need wish to
anu IN Tbot Is the verdict of many a
pe' nr who visits st. Petersburg or
forsls r FOR the first time with letters
hO sat,oauction to some Of the well to
:. o. , notives. says the London Standard
~ ~, Is agreeably surprised at their nos
De ~ re which. In truth, is generous
pun, nortoneous; with their knowledge
anu t1 sL tongues, which is Otter mar
Oh , iUaJ thorough; with their prod1gal-
seiV ~ snending money and with their
ny - oss in criticising their govern"
Ia" an+ So he smiles at the absurd
i uen Of a vampire bureaucracy, q
l aes.n+rodden people, a reign of terror
u uUd an atmosphere Of suspicion. 1t Is
1I .1.suo Of inventions, thinks the visitor
% he enjoys the good fare set oefore
d. a. ~ and drinks to the perpetuation OF
. .s,- rs they are. But the simple
r InL foreigner resembles a Belgian
MI 49, Russian once conducted over
w. ~ Nova in winter and who fancied
~ mas walking over snow covered
colds Looking at the improyised
s+ropts divided from each other by
,,nos of spruce trees, at the lamps, the
,rotcbmen's booths, the workingmen
,t.b nfckoxes and sledge hammers, and
,bo electric tramway cars plying to and
sro every few minutes, he could not
,oolfzA that beneath the white, hard
..,st which bore the weight Of all
those persons and things the broad
river was swiftly flowing to the Fin
rlcb guIf, And it is even more difficult
FIR tbe foreigner who cannot speak the
Ioroago TO discern at first any signs
If unrest among the people and still
more any reasonable causes for 1t IN
+ba government. But none the less
both exist and are rs real and tangible
&c tbe rush of the cold current beneath
the Nevas Icy crust.
Nowadays 1t is much easier than 1t
used to be to discern signs Of the times
and the shadows Of coming events,
for people are more outspoken than
they were, although, Of course, even
now they dare not carry their hearts
on their sleeves for DAVIS to peck at.
But those who fear to censure damn
with faint praise" what do you
Russians want with more liberty than
you have" inquired an American SEN
atOr who travelled through the empire
two years ago anG then published a
volume on the people and the country.
ave want breathing space and elbow
ROOM was the reply he received from
q nobleman, and. we have neither.
Although no longer babies, we are
kept in swadding clothes, and, pining
for meat and bread, we are sustained
on milk from an infants feeding bottle.
went yesterday to a meeting Of Of
fClals who almost all think as / do
And what do you suppose was the
theme of our conversation? Anecdotes
Of Nicholas I. before and during the
Crimean war We dared not speak or
comment on current topics. took up
q Russian newspaper this morning. 1t
had been read and censored by our
rulers before it reached me, and had
it contained a line Of which any min
ister seriously disapproved 1t would
have been sent back to be altered. My
BOOKS foreign and Russian, are read,
revised and bOwdlerized in like man
ner. The journals and reviews which
we receive from abroad have whole
pages cut out, whole columns black
ened, before we are allowed to get
Them, | go to church to hear q SER
mon, and l know that every word the
priest utters has been submitted to the
censor before he was allowed to preach
H. l read advertisements about fats
and cooks and Coachmen. They, too,
nave been perused by the Catos of the
ponce | retire to my study in disgust
anu take up the letters which the post
mah has brought me from Germany,
SPAN and the United States, and am
aware that they, too, have been read.
perhaps copied as we'll, by the cabinet
nVF' And those are but a few exam
pies OF what we have to put up with"
linus Russiahs who know exactly
"nere the shoe pinches have a most
VI tale to tell Of spies who cross
'Helr path in pEotean shapes, of caves