davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-15

pire. The decisions of the holy synod
are in the name of the car, which
gives him the authority of an infalli-
BILE spiritual head.
The fourth great agent of imperial
administration is the council of minis
ters. This august body dates from
1902 and consists of thirteen members.
all appointed by the czar and respon-
sible to him alone. Besides all these
governing and advisory bodies, the czar
is provided with abundant private
chancelleries, whose business it is to see
to the execution of the mandates of the
superior officials and to supervise the
police service of the empire.
For purposes Of administration the
Russian empire is divided into gov
ernments, provinces and one district.
At present there are ninety six govern
ments and provinces. The provinces
alone number eighteen. all of them in
Asia and the Caucasus. Several of the
governments are united under the rule
of governor general. In each single
government there are a deliberative
assembly and a civil governor. To
make matters absolutely certain it is
quite likely to be furnished also with
military governor, which adds to the
complication.
Each government is divided into dis
tricts, usually from five to twelve. In
each district there is also a so called
deliberative assembly. the zemstvo.
These are the bodies which have taken
| advantage of the internal disorder to
become truly deliberative and have
uttered sentiments that in ordinary
times would have been held as treason
able. They have formed a certain kind
of union and have met and passed reso-
lutions demanding of the car and his
ministers the privileges OF a represent
alive body. but have received nothing
but promises.
The zemstvo is an elective body, as
nearly so. that is, as anything in an
I absolutism can be made. Its members
are chosen by three classes of voters
landed proprietors, burghers and in
habitants Of the rural cornmunes who
are twenty-five years of age and pos
sess certain amount OF property or are
doing profitable business. Members
of these district assemblies are elected
for three years and are paid no sala-
r1es or fees. In spite of this fact there
| is great competition to secure the Of
nee. Their powers are extremely linn
tied and extend only to local matters
the repair of the highways, the ad-
ministration of charities and the regu-
lation of public health. In 1894 it wal
AOOA0 IAdI lnS Z6InSIVOS were raIn6l
too active in the affairs of their dis
tricts, and their powers were somewhat
curtailed by imperial mandate.
The lowest form of administrative
unit in the. empire is the commune
There are about 107, 900 of these il
European Russia. The chief executive
officer of the commune (starosta) anc
some of his assistants are chosen BY
the householders of the commune at al
election having many points of re-
senablance to the old fashioned Ameri.
can "town meeting" One of its maiI
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-15

among themselves the business of col
Iecting the taxes--always a lively gov
ornamental industry in Russia-the use
of the public funds, the preservation
of the archives and the maintenance Of
order.
A third administrative body is the
greatly misunderstood holy synod. It
Is charged with the administration of
ecclesiastical affairs, and in Russia
that means a great deal. In the dis
cussion of Muscovite government as a
whole it would be impossible to elirni
nate the church. It is as manifestly a
factor in the scheme as is the czar
the great central figure. Church and
state are not only connected insepara-
bly,. but they are practically one. There
is no well defined line between matters
ecclesiastical and matters political. 1t
is impossible to tell where one begins
and the other ends. Religion in Rus
STA is an essential feature of the bust-
ness of living-formaI religion, that is.
From car to humblest Tnoujik there
must be no disposition to evade the re-
sponsibilities which the church i'm
poses, and they are many and great
The majority of the members COM
posing the holy synod are ecclesfastics.
There are in it the three metropolitans
of st. Petersburg, Moscow and Kiev.
with the archbishops of the Caucasus
and Poland and several bishops. There
is one lay member, with the title of
procurator general and he is the
mouthpiece of the council of the en-
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-15

before the Norsemen came. There was
quite a large settlement of the new
corners at Kiev, and in time Rurik's
grandson, Oleg, made that now thriving
city his capital. The inhabitants of
this town became so rich and powerful
i a few years that they made a raid
against Constantinople Olga, Rurik's
granddaughter, became a Christian.
That was the beginning of the Ortho-
dox church in Russia--s45. The next
ruler was wariike pagan. The Scan
dinavians had by this time become
thoroughly amalgamated with the origi-
nal Slavs and race distinctions were
growing fainter with each succeeding
generation. Vladimir the Great, who
died in 1918, extended the boundaries
of Russia on all sides. He adopted the
Christian religion and made it obliga-
tory in his domains. A metropolitan
was sent from Constantinople to Kiev
and thus it happens that it is today the
seat of a patriarchate.
The wealth and Importance of the
country were UNNECESSARILY increased
during the succeeding two centuries.
Then came the Mongo1 tide oS invasion.
Genghis Khan and his hordes came in
and overturned things generally. This
catastrophe gave the country a ire
nendous backset. It also gave Russia
an oriental character which she has
never lost. 1t was not until the be-
ginning of the sixteenth century that
Ivan the Great was able to throw off
the Tatar yoke. His grandson, Ivan
the Terrible. was the first car, and
his wife was Anastasia Romanoff,
the ancestress of the present royal
family.
Over rs per cent OF Russia's vast pop
ulation lives off the soil, and it is to
this that one must turn for a glimpse
of the real Russia. This is the slow,
half somnolent force whose sudden
awakening may some day sweep from
existence the highly veneered and ar
tificial class which has misrepresented
the Russian people for so many years
To understand the fundamental and
final working of possible great popu-
lar movement for the overthrow Of the
present Russian government one must
have some sort of understanding Of the
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-15

duties is to apportion the land held
by the commune among the members.
It also grants permission to peasants
who wish to change their residences
passes upon the admission Of new
members to the commune, appoints
guardians for minors and tries petty
offenses. Feeble as its powers are,
they are constantly subject to inter-
ference from the superior authorities
and really amount to little more than
a pIacebo to the vanity of local dis
tinction.
Several communes grouped form acan-
ton (volost), of which there are 10000
in European Russia. Each canton is
presided over by an elder (starshina),
who is elected by members Of the COM
munes. All of these minor elective
offices are almost purely social in their
nature. The government recognizes
them in a half hearted manner, but
never hesitates to ignore them when
they become assertive. The faintest in
ciination on the part of one of them
to expand into reality is met with in
slant rebuke.
Previous to the Russo Japanese war
It was common occurrence for po-
litical writer's to cite Russia's COM
posite nationality as an argument
government. When the war was fair
ly under way and the early Japanese
successes had dissipated little OF the
glamour which had in some inscrutable
way attached itself to Russian enter
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-15
: TYPICAL RUSSIAN SCENES.

prises, it was predicted freely that the
empires greatest danger lay in the di-
rection OF her conquered provinces. 1t
was pointed out with great particular
ity that both Poland and Finland might
be expected to embrace the opportuni-
ty to redress their wrongs.
These prophecies, so unhesitatingly
accepted at the time of their utterance,
have been unfulflled. The great COM
posite empire has been made pitiable
both on land and on sea, but thus far
no concerted national movement has
threatened to dismenber her. Riots
there have been without number and
bloodshed and mutiny and protest
against the established order of things,
but the very lack of homogeneity
among the empires widely differing
constituents has kept it intact. A
revolution in one of the conquered
provinces might serve to unite all the
others in an effort to Quell it. The Ill
used inhabitant of the grand duchy of
Finland is so absorbed in the contem-
plation of his own misery that he feels
little interest in the wrongs of Poland.
The Pole himself is revolutionist in
theory only. The commercial spirit
has taken possession of him. and the
Russian Pole is no longer the unrecon-
ciled hero of romance. There have re-
Gently been grave breaches of the pub
lice peace. but patriotism has not in
spired them. The riots in Warsaw and
other Polish cities are not the prelimi-
nary signs Of a great national upris-
| ing.
When revolution comes-there are
portents in the numerous agrarian dis
putes which have risen OF late and are
still far from settlement-it will in
volve the participation of the true
Russians, who form three-fourths OF
the population of European Russia. AS
| long as these upward of $4,000, 00C
4 united true Russians are content tc
| live their lives OF doglike obedience t.
| the teachings of the Orthodox church
whose supreme head is also the ma
TONS executive, the Romanoff dynasty
has nothing to fear from them. Dis.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-15

aster may come, but it will come from
without.
The true Russians are divided into
three groups. Much the largest division
is that of the Great Russians, or Mus
covites, who occupy the ef4Eire center
of European Russia and number about
&C. o0o, 900 souls. The Little Russians
are in the southwest and number about
Is, 0o0, 900. To these belong the Cos
sacks, who are settled in a compact
body in Little Russia, whence they
have thrown off colonies to the south
east. The White Russians live in the
west and number about 100000. Be-
sides these, there are at least 5000, 900
| true Russians in Asiatic Russia.
| Only America can compete with
Russia in the variety and number OF
| its foreign peoples. The following par
| tial list will demonstrate that this is
true: OF Poles, Russia contains about
! 5000, 900, tfree-fourths of them living
/ in Poland and the remainder in the
western governments of the empire
Bulgarians, Czechs and Serbs, about
| 200, 900; Germans, 1000. 900, mostly in
the Baltic provinces and in colonies in
south Russia; -Swedes, 100000, mostly
in Finland; Firms and Karelians, about
1 2500 900, all in Finland and the neigh
boring parts of Russia proper; Estho-
mans, about $4,000 in the Baltic re-
gions; Mordvins, Votyaks, Tcheremis-
ses and kindred peoples in northern
Russia, about Loot, 000s aEetts and
Lithuanians. about 100000, the for
n1er in the Baltic country and the lat
ter in the west and in. Poland; Ar
menians, Kurds and Persiaas, about
| /, 800, 900, all in the Caucasus; Rouma-
mans, 100000, all in southwest Russia;
| laws af least 1000 900. in southwestern
Russia and Poland: Georgians. Min
grelians, Kirghiz, Turcomans, etc.
about s,000.00o; Buriats and Siberian
Mongols, fully 100000. This list. II
will be observed, does not include any
of the peoples fnhabiting Russis's IN
fortunate Asiatic acquisitions.
In this nation of 13o.oo0,Ooe people
embraced in forty distinct races anC
speaking more than a hundred Ian
Euages and dialects, there is only one
genuine Russian type-the Slavonit
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-15

Maolay. And the widow of the silver
king is not going to step aside for the
p-lshful and brilliant Chicago woman
without a struggle. It is strongly hint
ed that this Is the main reason why she
intends giving some entertainments at
her magnificent residence in Carlton
House terrace this season, which viii
recall her best efforts when she reigned
undisputed over the American colony.
Mrs. Mackey has for some time re-
joiced in the possession of a motor car
which is acknowledged to be the most
luxurious, gorgeous and costly vehicle
of it's kind in London. It attracts more
attention than any other conveyance at
the fashionable afternoon parades in
Hyde park. But, it is said, it will soon
be eclipsed by a motor car which Mrs.
Mackay has ordered from France and
which will represent everything that
is latest and best in automobiles re-
CARELESS of expense.
Special housing accommodation has
been secured for it, and two chauffeurs.
skilled mechanics as well as expert
speed negotiators, have been engaged
to run it. They come from New York.
Mrs. Mackey's two chauffeurs are
Frenchmen. Mrs. Mackay will not only
score over her younger rival by ap-
pearing in a finer car, but also, where
Americans are concerned, in the ma
tionality of her chauffeurs.
But Mrs. Mackey may have some
cards to play in the interesting contest
that nobody knows anything about.
| She has rented Mrs Adair's house In
Curzon street. 1t makes a first class
headquarters for an aggressive social
campaign.
| She has any amount OF nerve and
pluck. A severe accident that befeH
her in the hunting field early in the
season has not lessened her devotion
for the sport She has obtained a long
lease of Beauchamp Hall, near Melton
Mowbray, in Leicestershire, and will
hunt with the Pytchley hounds next
season.
The followers of that pack belong to
the most exclusive set in the midland
counties Pedigrees are supposed to
count with them far more than long
purses. But where Americans are con-
| cerned, of course, they do not insist on
| the former. Mrs. Mackey has bought
several Irish hunters, which she pre-
| fers to English stock, and is fncreas-
ing the stabling accommodation OF
Beauchamp Hall. She expects to pro-
vide mounts for several American
friends, who will be her guests there
when the hunting season opens.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-15

with a home-such as it is-to which
he may always return in slack times,
in sickness and in old age.
This is the inhabitant of Great Rus
STA, and this is the life he leads. 1t
would not be an unhappy one for be-
ing of his slow intellectual unfolding
if he were left unmolested to enjoy it
Those who rule him have not had the
wisdom to keep him good natured. A
little light has filtered into his fatalis-
tic denseness, and taxation and the con-
scription have forced him to think. He
is almost ready to believe that a crisis
is at hand, and his communal expert
ence with the principle of election has
taught him that in representation lies
a remedy for at least some of his ills.
The true Russian has from the first
refused to accept the war with Japan
as his own quarrel. Dense as he I'M
doubtedly is and made cumbrous and
inapt by superstition, he has never
been cajoled into the belief that the
war was for the glory of the father
land. Burdensome as it has all been to
him, he finds it less interesting than
many another matter-the decline of
industrial activity, the failure of the
representatives of the zemstvos to in
terest the car in their appeal for re-
form in governmental administration
and more recently the outbreaks in
various parts of the empire are vastly
more engrossing. He is not yet wide
awake, but he is waking. The blood
shed of LODI did not sting him to re-
sentiment; neither did the conduct OF
the Kniaz Potemkine bring him to the
defense of the fatherland.
CLAIMING A. BARLOW.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-15

the Neva, but it's inharmoniousness and
lack of spontaneity have shown that It
was not imperative The car and the
grand dukes have taken that view of
it and have turned scornfully away.
To comprehend neasurably the
causes which have made for the CO.
hesion of the empire one must begin
by obtaining some intelligent idea of
the form of government. That is by
no means an easy thing to do. There
is nothing like it under the sun. It is
defined as ian absolute hereditary mon
archy." 1t is all of that and much be-
sides. An absolutism pure and simple
presents no difficulties. A one man
power is simplicity itself. Were Nicho-
las IL the actual "autocrat of all the
Russias," as he is reputed to be, and
nothing more or less, the matter would
be uncomplicated. Practically he is
nothing of the sort. Theoretically the
whole legislative, executive and Judi
cial power is vested in the car alone.
1t is true there is neither a written
constitution nor a representative legis-
lative body, but the car is by no means
their equivalent. He is rather the vic
p tim of a tangle of hereditary rules
which are none the less restrictive be-
cause they are unwritten. Practically
he is as powerless to act absolutely as
Is HIS l0llOW ruler ana klnS00An. El0.
ward Of England.
The Russian sovereign exercises the
legislative and administrative power
through the aid of certain great coun-
ellis of state. These councils are com
posed of functionaries appointed by
himself and nominally responsible only
to himself. In point of fact, these
councils are the real government. First
of all is the so called Council of the
empire" This is purely consultative
body, established in 1901 and consists
of a president and about eighty mem
bers. exclusive of the ministers who
are members ex officio. and four princes
of the reigning family This coun-
Gil is divided into four departments.
each vested with the control respec-
lively of legislation. civil and ecclesias-
teal administration, finance and COM
merce and industry and science. This
council actually does the major part of
the business of ruling. 1t originates all
legislative measures, interprets the
laws as best suits it's convenience, pre-
pares the budget, devises financial
measures and takes charge of all DO
litical questions. This is the potent in
strument controlled by the Romanoff
grand dukes.
There is another great body of state
through which the car is supposed to
govern. This is the senate, which was
founded by Peter the Great in 1711 and
recognized in 1902. It is divided into
six departments. Two of these act as
courts of appeal, but their authority i:
greatly overshadowed by the superio,
dignity of the council of the empire
Their members. like the other senators
are supposed to be appointed by tbs
emperor, but their tenure of office de.
ponds largely on their ability to salts.
~ the grand ducal demands. The 9th.
er departments OF the senate divide
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-15
SURELY AN ENeLrsHMAN.

The visitor had an infection and
pronunciation that suggested the Aus
tralian colonies, and it was about a
one to three shot after the clerk at the
San Francisco hotel discovered that the
Mr. Ine1y for whom he was inquirins
was in reality Mr.. Hanley, who arrived
in Frisco on the last Australian steam
er. Mr.. Hanley sent down word, in re-
Spouse to the inquiry, that he would
be pleased to have the visitor go up
to his room in five minutes. So the
visitor sat down in a red plush arm
chair in the hotel Office and fastened
his gaze on the brass numerals of =
dial that stared at him from between
two immense marble pillars. The one
brass hand of the dial pointed to I.
For forty minutes the visitor kept his
gaze fixed on the brass pointer of the
dial. Then he rose excitedly and hur-
ried to the counter.
"Oi say" he demanded of the clerk
Don't you suppose that i've minutes
is up? Your clock over there has
bloomin' well stopped"
The clerk heroically suppressed a
giggle and explained that the dial in
question was an indicator on the eIe-
vator, and that the only reason the
pointer had not moved was because
that particular elevator was not run
ming.
"TIaw, haw!" came from the visitor.
"I shall have to write 'ome that in
Hamerica they put clocks on the bloom
/ in lifts. Haw, haw!"
THAT fellow played in great luck, "
commented the clerk two minutes later.
Imagine what his sensations would
have been if the elevator had been run
| nffleI'
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-15

ulation of the cities, lives in wooden
buildings, and the carpenterinE trade is
of great Importance. The carpenters
from the same locality form themselves
into associations, each numbering from
six to twenty persons. The best and
most experienced of the workmen is
elected manager and finds work, enters
into contracts. receives deposits from
the employer and during the work
supervises matters generally. He is
even expected to look after the domes-
tic affairs of the artel, the food, lodg
ing and washing.
Sometimes it happens that a member
of the artel has his wife with him at
the work. Then the household is hand
ed over to her, and the members of the
artel call her "matka'' (mother). The
matka prepares the food and does the
washing and rnending for the entire as
ISOLATION. When the job is finished
and the earnings are being divided the
matka and the young half time workers
get each half the share of an able
bodied workman. In some artels the
manager gets a share and a half, and
in others he is allowed a double share.
In these associations the members not
only live together, but eat from one
common bowl. Usually the dinner con-
sists of sour. cabbage soup, meat Cor
fish and porridge. The meat or fish
is cut up into small pieces and thrown
into the soup. Every member of the
artel waits for his turn and is very
careful not to dip in his spoon before
his neighbor on the right. No one
takes a bit of meat or fish until the
Oldest person present has done so and
has tapped on the bowl with his spoon.
All cases of sickness are treated at
the exDenSe of the artel and the cost
is deducted from the common fund
When the job is completed each MEM
Der of the arteI is free to do as he
pleases. AS a general thing the entire
artel goes back in a body to it's own
commune, where, in the absence of the
breadwinners, the old men, the lads
and particularly the women have beer
| carrying on the home affairs and per-
forming the public duties of the alb
sent. The communal land tenure pro-
! vides each member of a trade arte
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-15

internal economic and administrative
life Of the peasantry.
Among no other people in the world
is the spirit of association, solidarity
and common responsibility SO well de-
-veloped. If a man hires himself out as
a mower all of the arrangements are
made by his association or artel in
the commune. Every species of labor
in the empire recognizes the principle
of association, and no species of handi-
work is too elementary to be banded
into its distinctive artel. Always and
everywhere the Great Russians, when
left to their own initiative, arrange
their life on a social and cooperative
basis. The colonies along the Volga.
in the Ural, the provinces of Pechusk
and Siberia, on the Don and on the
shores of the Caspian consist entirely
of Great Russians, and everywhere in
these provinces economic conditions
are founded on association and on COM
munal self government.
Members of the same artel in the
commune live, board and even go to
the bath together. All arrangements
by the elected elder of the artel, and
as soon as the work is finished the
money earned is divided by him ac-
cording to established custom. The
form taken by the artel varies accord
ing to the character of the work. From
the artels of the Stock Exchange to
those of boatmen, water carriers and
kindred poor folk all live and work on
this same principle of association.
Even in prison life this habit of social
organization prevails. Incredible as it
seems, Siberian convicts manage in
some inscrutable way to maintain some
kind of an organization among them
| selves. This is so well understood IN
| Siberia that the authorities have been
obliged to yield an unwilling consent.
| An excellent example Of the working
of the artel system is furnished by the
carpenters trade. Almost the whole OF
Great Russia, including even the pop