The sun., 1905-09-03

to discard clothing About eighty con-
yicts arc confined In each cage. They are
30 crowded that In sleeping tho head OF
ono rests on tho body Of his neighbor. Pun
ishments administered while on the ship
are very severe--the whip irons and con-
flheuient In dark cell where the prisoner
can barely breathe. In 1901 In midsum-
mer, one Of these convict ships was obliged
TO remain at Saigon for several weeks to
make repairs. Eight hundred convicts, In
the terrible heat and their disgusting pro-
miscuity, suffered indescribable agonies.
When the convicts arrive at Sakhalin
they are distributed among the six prisons
on the island, two on the west coast, three
In the interior and one in the southern por-
ton M. Liable visited all Of them, and
underwent temporary confinement In one
In order to get local COLOR One prison
resembles the other great wooden bar
racks, with an interior court Into which
the cells open. Sometimes a. many AZ
| fifty convicts are crowded into a single
cell. Each prison consists Of two divisions,
one OF correction-the other Of ameliora-
tion.
Convicts condemned to life imprlson-
ment remain eight years in the first and
two In the second. Those sentenced to more
than twenty years at hard labor have the
period Of confinement gradually reduced
until those deported for minor ohenses
suffer only nominal sequestration. When
convicts have completed their term in
prison they are supplied with an az, saw
and ropes and sent into the interior as
colonists. For two years. while they are
building hut and clearing the ground for
cultivation. they are supplied with pro-
| visions; after that they are obliged to sup
port themselves upon what they can get
from the soil Their condition is 80 wretched
and they are so near starving that many
commit crime in order to be returned to
prison. After fourteen years OF service as
convict colonists they are called peasants.
They have then the privilege Of living OF
the mainland or even OF returning to Euro
pean Russia.
A good many convicts succeed in max
| ing their escape. In summer they hide in
the holds OF boats sailing across the narrow
strait which separates Sakhalin from the
mainland. In the winter they are able to
cross on the ice. II they succeed in evad-
ing the vigilance Of the coast guards they
have q long perilous journey on foot across
Asatio Russia before them. One female
convict and her three children--shoeless
succeeded in accomplishing it. When
she reached her native village in Russia
she was recognized, arrested and returned
to Sakhalin.
M. Liable calls the directors OF the pris-
ons sinister personages." They are the
real masters OF the island The other
functionaries are mere tools in their hands;
spied upon by convicts set to watch them
in the hope that they may be detected in
some deviation from which the directors
may profit. These sell on the sly to mer-
chants on the island goods made in the
! prisons. In this way they would gain
| enough to make themselves independ-
emily rich. were i. not for their passion
for gambling, which puts in circulation
the money Of which they are defrauding
the Government. Moreover these di-
reotors are mercilessly cruel to the poor
creatures over whom they rule. For amuse-
ment they will enclose a convict in a barrel
and roll him down a hill. The whistle of
the lash OF the whip ia music to them. Yet
NJ. Liable says there is no instance Of a
convict attempting the life OF a director
of prisons. They arc so terrorized and
oowed that all spirit Of resistance or re-
venge is crushed out Of them.
There is great inequality and injustice
in the treatment Of the convicts. To
good looking woman prisoner life is made
very easy and agreeable. 1t is the same
with . man who has money to bribe Off
cials. young criminal Of family Of
influence committed for murder has 1t
changed into a political ohense and en-
joys the privileges granted this class OF
offenders. Russian officer OF rank was
sent to Sakhalin for selling military secrets
to q foreign Power. He was put in charge
Of confidential papers relating to the ad-
ministration OF the island. M. Liable
had barely arrived at SakhaIn when this
officer came and offered to sell him copies
Of these documents.
1t may be asked why are all these things;
these injustioes and cruelties, possible?
There are supposed to be inspectors sent
from St. Petersburg TO remedy these evils.
They are sent, but no sooner do they ar
rive than they disappear with mysterious
promptness. There is q Governor OF the
island. He Is full Of good intentions but
his term OF Office is 30 brief that he is little
better than a visiting stranger. He sees
only what he is permitted to see. In fact.
he learns less than q visitor. Officials
avoid meeting him. everything is hidden
that can be concealed An honest Official
does not dare speak One who instituted
inquiries in regard to the great sums OF
money that his subordinates with modest
salaries were wagering at cards was i'm
mediately dismissed from Office. A CON-
vict said to NJ. Liable that what he was
relating seemed to frighten him. What
would be the effect upon his auditor II he
told the full truth? Yet notwithstanding
the frishtful punishments dealt out to the
conviots the colonist prisoners consider
their life so much harder that. to escape II.
they would willingly return to prison.
| Whom tho Devil IL LOOae in Mexico.