The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-03-09
FATHER G)PON'S MOTIVE
4 Would Have Been Impossi-
bic Ten Years Ago.
THE RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES

THE RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES
layment Of Brihes and Graft to Off.
cials Necessary Before Permit
Can Be Obtained to Start In Bus-
ness--Trade Unions UnlawfuI-
The Sale Of Liquor.
ZEN years ago even five years ago,
4 powerful movement as that
lied by Father Gopon would have
impossible in Russia" said DR..
rice Fishberg, one of the leaders
the Russian Social Democratic
.'ty in New York. which believes in
d TIceful; educational work as oppos-
90 TO the violent meaS Jres of the So
Aal Revolutionists, OF "Terrorists."
Il doubt whether in all history any
country has changed so suddenly as
Russia has done in the past few years.
The industrial progress of the nation
has led to the sudden concentration of
Nrge numbers of workmen in particu-
lar districts of a few large towns,
where they are open to trade union
and revolutionist propaganda.
I'm order to understand properly the
Fesent uprising it is necessary to have
Dme idea of the industrial system of
Russia, which is decidedly different
nom that of America and other ad-
'yanced countries. Here the govern
.Dent is neutral, or is supposed to be
neutral. in the struggle between cap
ital and labor, but in, Russia it is heart
sand soul with the employer.
In the first place, every factory
Uwner has to obtain permit from the
government before he can start in bus
hess, even if he is only going to open
small workshop with a dozen or
twenty men employed This provision
d the law excites widespread discon-
TINT throughout Russia, for it has a
powerful effect in preventing a man
6om getting on in the world.
''In order to obtain the permit the
Uayment of graft to numerous Off
~Uals is necessary. They fix their
Aribes so high in many cases that a
Workman who has saved up enough
money to start small factory of his
gwn is unable TO do so, simply because
Ne cannot satisfy these greedy Off
oals. Then, too, they may take bribes
fom factories already in operation to
xefrse him his permit. And if he hap
lens to be man who is suspected by
0e secret police of revolutionary sem
oments 1t is safe to say that he will
not be allowed to obtain permit on
my terms. The authorities know that
e factory and the workshop are the
cling beds of the movement for free
~, and they therefore do all in their
'wer to prevent them from falling
DER the control of persons who SYM
ithiZe with the cause of liberty.
TRADE unions and strikes are still
unlawful in Russia. Less than fifteen
years ago there were no labor organ
who first started them were treated
rs traitors by the government, and
we're sent to Jail or to Siberia.
"A most serious factor in the situ-
akion is the government encourage
,nent of the sale of liquor. Vodka, of
course, is one of the greatest curses
Of Russia, and has much to do with
the misery of the people. The govern
nent has a monopoly of the sale of
spirits, and it encourages their use as
widely as possible, because it wants to
make all the revenue it can. Not many
years ago the public advocacy of abb
akinence, or even temperance, was re-
Garded as treason.
THE working classes in the Russian
trwns are mostly drawn from the
sDuntry districts. They are not town
bred. The system Of employment Is
rather like the Italian 'padroni system
here. When an employer wants, say.
zoo men, he sends agents to villages
t. pick up here dozen peasants and
there a score, until the required num-
her Is made up.
During the past few years there has
been a great campaign of education
among these workmen, and also
Among the soldiers. It is impossible
to say how far the troops are disaf-
fected, but we have reason to believe
that disaffection has spread very far
Unfortunately about 95 per cent of the
soldiers cannot read. That obstacle to
our work is. however, being removed
by the government itself, which has
established schools in all the regi-
ments
-'You cannot judge of the loyalty Of
the whole army by the action of the
troops In st. Petersburg. 1t is true
that, with few exceptions, they fred
ION the mob: but they are the most
loyal of all the cars soldiers There
Is great disaffection, too among an
other large class of government en-
ployes--the railroad workers Nearly
all the railroads in Russia are govern
ment property, and the repressive
measures adopted toward the workers
have enraged them bitterly"
An Ecclesiastical Umbrella.
An umbrella big enough TO cover
dozen persons belongs to the Church