The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-04-16
RUSSIA VIEWED
BYW. M. SPRINGER
Land of Car in Sore Distress, Says
Denver Man.
PEOPLE HAVE LOST HOPE
They Fight Because Greek Church
Has Ordered Them.

W NJ Springer OF the firm OF Springer
& Stubbs Of Denver. is in town for "A few
days, guest at the Wilson, having just
returned from Russia. The firm is en-
gagged in importing horses from various
parts of Europe. and Mr.. Springer has
made four trips during the past eighteen
months for that purpose. He is in this
city combining business with pleasure
and speaks hopefully Of the future of
Utah During his last trip abroad his
youngest daughter died while he was on
the ocean.
occasion 70 visit pretty much every part
of Europe, but more particularly Russia
and her suDJugated dependencies. He
went 10 Warsaw. Moscow. St. Petersburg
and thence to Stockholm, Copenhagen.
hamburg, stopping off at various inter
mediate points on the way, and thence
home
i left ST. Petersburg the night before
Minister Won PlehVe was killed, ana, OF
course. missed the excitement conse-
Queut upon that event. he said yeSter-
day. An Russia was then in turmoil.
but IL was nothing compared with what
she has gone through during the past
Few months. I saw many things duri--
my trip through Russia that impressed
me very much. In the first place, 1T may
be well for Americans who contemplate
visiting that unhappy country TO know
something about the nardShlpS which the
ordinary traveller has to put mp with
while going from one part of the empire
TO the other In the first place before
Won start from this country il * ueceSSa-
~ for YOU To get your passport ViSed by
the Russian ambassador at Washington,
but that IL the simplest part Of the whole
experience. n is when YOU get TO the
frontier of Russia that your troubles viii
begin.
"A stranger is stopped at the first town
10y cmissaries of the police. and he has
10 answer all sorts of questions put to
MN 50 that his Identity may be firmly
established The passport is taken from
him and is held by the police until he
wants To proceed on his Journey Then
r. TH IN i'm m ant Of faa
which guarantees the use Of il by him
Tor one year under exceedingly strict
conditions At the next town ne enters
ne has To go through the same process of
Identification, and so on as he makes his
tourney through the land of the Roman
off. but there are no more fees to be
paid. For the native. however. the laws
ar" even more stringent Every one must
nave a passport, and heavy fine is
taxed uDOn each holder each year. This
is done TO discourage persons going from
one town to another. and in that manner
the government hopes to minimize the
spread Of ScditioUs meetings between dis
affected and disgruntIed persons.
W nile Americans as "A rule are treated
win some consideration II does not take
the visitor long to discover that his every
movement Is being watched, There are
spies everywhere, ana II DtnOONeS tOr-
eigner TO be circumsDect TO the per-
sons with who~1 he holds conversation
and as to the places he visits. The Rus
sian government is sustained and fostered
by sDIes. Each person is suspicious of
his neighbor, and As result the peO-
for the reason that they are always aD-
prehensive of the visit of agents of the
police. of an arrest for some trUmped-up
charge. of Incarceration in vile prisons.
of Punishment 10 the mines of Siberia.
and of-which frequently happens-death.
People Heavily Taxed.
The people of Russia arc taxed to- a
point whore one wonders they do not rise
the rcigning dynasty for innumerabIe
years 10 wiring every bit of money posi-
u Is because Of that system that the great
mass of the people are ripe for a revOlu-
ton. bur cannot join i'm concerted
movement for the reason they haven't got
the funds with which to procure the nee
eSsary munitions or war. ! have seen
palaces i'm various parts of the empire
that We're perfectly wonderful in the
matter of architecture and interior fur
nishiuCs. vet the majority of them are
vacant except for the presence of the
carc-ta6ers. And all of these have been
erected out Of the money wruug from
have visited the wretched novels. Gale,
homes OF the common people In all my
travels through America and in other
lands nave never seen so much misery
and wretCheduess as ! Witnessed among
these so-called domiciles. What 1 saw
there was something awful Just think
of men and women and children going
around winter and summer. clad only in
the skins taken from the livestock they
cauiiflower. Just think of that, Why. we
feed our dogs better than that. 1t is nc
aHtTy. as "a rule. shrink away from the
possibilities of war, and il is no wonder
that riots accompanied by scenes o
bloVdshed are almost Of daily occurrence
throughout the land
I found perhaps the highest type OF
intellectual development in Finland. The
people Of that province had for year:
Shown marked superiority over theil
uelghDOrs. but when Russia assumed. by
right OF conquest. r sovereignty over then
and tried to crush their desire for knOwI
o. edge they protested and rebelled RusSis
hfhH- v-ar hrF+
while she succeeded in physically crush
ing them. she could not destroy their kcer
desire for knowledge The result Is to
day that the Finnish people are alive @
the events tTansDiriug on the world
stage and are only waiting Tor the mo
ment when they can. with some degree o
success. throw themselves on their hatet
foe and deal her a crushing blow
Russia knows this, and il is one o
the cars chief troubles. He has. il
consequence. been compelled 10 keep
standing army at home and is not in ;
condition TO cope successfully with IN,
wary fighting men of Japan The lat
ter. too. know this, and with the relenr
lessness characteristic of the mikadOl
people. Japan is tirelessly pursuing tn,
Russian forces to their doom. Weary
sorely stricken, exhausted and with 1T
which they are fighting. the mass Of tn,
men in the Russian ranks can read tn
doom awaiting them. and they have los
even great deal of that courage. dasI
and vim which characterized their move
ments in the early days of the war Wer
Greek church, / think the Russian forces
instead Of being an army Of fighting
men. would degenerate into n wild mol
of deserters.
AS a matter of fact, the Russian GOV
eminent is the church. and whatever tn
car and the nobility may DO. the mas
of the people are made 10 believe that ]
j. done with the sanction of the church
Tor in Russia the great bulk of the pOpu
latiOn is very religious. As a matter o
fact. they would sooner fight for tn
Greek church than they would for tn
r.~n Of nrnfn
How Russia is going To carry on thi
war with japan ard hope to succeed il
the end is something that gets beyond M
understanding. The people have beel
financially bled to the point where the,
can give nothing more. and she nov
turns TO other nations for loans. ! haven
noticed any of the powers iu a grea
hurry 10 take the bonds she offers. but
DO notice that Jaoan has no trouble il
getting all the money she wants from
the leading bankers of the world. Tha
fact in itself ought to teach a highl
moral lesson but I do not think the cza
and his advisers Will be willing TO tax
the hint until too late.
'On my last trip TO Europe / met n
attache OF the Japanese embassy at Lon
don. He was a shipmate on the voyage
and talked with him freely about IN
situaetion. one day he said to me: Don
think for moment that JaDan cannO
keep up its full quota of fighting me
along the firing line in any battle Il
which my country may become involved