The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1905-12-16

FREDERICKSBURG, VA, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1e, 1905
RUSSIAN PRISONERS IN JAPAN
Former Frtdsrickiburgsr Writes Interestingly
Of Them.
To The Free Lance.

I VI lutuis
To The Free Lance.
Yes they arr about To leave us--these
/ Russians. Are We glad or sorry? From
neatly every standpoint glad, oi course.
For now We have hopes Ol again getting
beef at living prlces-of having a surcease
of the futman's remnrF No apples to-
day. all sold 10 the Rus ans. We now
have bright visions ui the time when the
street gamin4 shall deSist from pointing
at u- aud saving Are wa Roshia da; are
wa horAu dn That Russian, that's
Il prisoner No more shall the police
look after us with eyes alert, seeming To
demand whence We have made our cs-
cape THAT Is mo- fancy sketch. ! assure
on. for twice in one day ! was stepped
/ by jhc police and questioned a. nn -
capped prisoner, although was going Ia
a nearby town tO prachl. THUS tier
are many REASONS. grave aud gay, why
W. should Bit them a lpyou- farewell
Vet iu very truth, there arr some
among them with whom We rrgnrt to
part-mcn who are as different from The
/ unWaShed unkempt aud grlzlled peas
ants as YOU nud AR who speak good
/ English. who show themselves perfect
genllemcn who above all sem real
/ Christians Withas lltIle use fOr "ikOns g,
and other heathrni~h things as We.
Several like this have been here in Our
city all winter. aud through their regu-
/ lar attendance upon our Sabbath after
noon services IN English, have come very
close to Us ana s,vm like real friends Oi
/ long standing They have visited in our
/ homes. eaten at our tables, played with
our children and given them candy from
/ RuSsia-and. by y-the-way, said candy was
/ lust a. much like our home candy a. they
were like our home people; IL was good.
With one of these % Was my privilege
/ 10 have a most inter sting conversation
some weeks ago. lie Is Oi such high
rank that lear To- give his name, hest II
possibly cause bim trouble. for he was
/ kind enough tO talk with me without
reserve. From the first time met him,
/ he has always spoken unreseryedly in
condemnation oi Gen. StOcss. and his
cowardly surrender oi Port Arthur.
/ Language hasn been strong enough To-
portray his anger at that But when
/ fhs horrible mas-acn, oi the people Oc-
Icurfrd in 81. Petersburg last February,
ana asked him about that. | was quite
/ disapplinted that he didn condemn II
/ m The same unmeasurcd way, and rather
/ took the side oi the government against
/ the poor downtrodden people But ~
GENTLY. feeling that this was perhaps my
! last opportunity 10 talk with him, !
/ boldly asked hlm all sorts Oi questions
/ 10 my hearts content, and he replied
/ with equal freedom. Ne talked Oi all
sorts ui questions; the character and lu-
telligencr of the Gar with whom he II
personally acquaintedl; the sort Oi folks
/ who make up his government, the com
mon people, the war and the peace, ana
/ If only the darkness had not come IN two
short hours might have really learned
something OF RuS~ia Concerning the r.
suit of the war he was startlngy frank.
/ He said. Seeing that "A righteous God
rules the nations tie could not permit
/ Russian 10 win for it would not has been
| lust. As Russian. this greyes me sadly,
/ but as a Christian. know it IL true.
Then hG went ON 10 give his reasOns-
/ that while among the 100 million there
ARE many good people, these are
not i'm the government The officials are
/ there for what they can get out oiit; land
the Gar. poor man, being Only human,
cannot know all the ins and outs OF the
bureauX, and even II be- did know, he Il
80 easily Influenced and sWayed by
stronger minds that there isno guarantee
that he would do the wise thing. But
now he tiny iriend) HOPES that the gov, m
ments failure in this warwill bIingabOut
"A chance for new order OF thlngs--a
hope which the cabegrams from Russia
seem now To straugly back up.
Not only have We from western lands
become on friendly terms with these IN
voluntary yisitOrs, but also the Japanes'
themselves have done the same. To be-
gin with, they have treated them most
! humanely as prisoners, this being OF
piece with the entire program to SO con-
duet this war as To win the appreciation
OF the world-they were playing to the
world-audience. But in tins Kindness
they so surprised the prisoners as to
elicit strongly grateful feelings. True,
| they had to use cOmpulslOn at hrst TO
! get some of these big grizzlies to bathe'
also had to imprisOn with hard labor
some obstreperOus fellows; but these
were aside from the usual smoothly
flowing stream OF goodfellowship. One
OF the really remarkable things which
happened was that at one prison place
the Japanese opened a school where they
taught the Russians how to read and
write Russianl And as the days OF peace
drew nearer, prison regulations became
so lenient that almost any man could
ret liberty to walk the streets all day
long and every day, if only he carefully
observed certain generous limits Of time
and place. As an evidence oi the won
derful impression which has been made
upon the prisoners by this kind treat
ment, the papers this week tell that oi
the great hosts now being handed over
for shipment to Russia, some 12,SOO
men have formally applied to the Jap
anse Government to be allowed To become
naturalzed citizens of this favored land.
Whether this will be granted or not, it
shows that the prolonged stay OF so
great a number of the former enemies oi
this people is snre TO strongly react III
producing a new feeling OF real friend
ship between the peoples.
Would like to add a few words oil now
the much execrated terms of peace are
likely to prove real blessings in Disguise
to both peoples, but this letter Is too
long already.
fredericksburg.
japan. Nov. 18th, 1905.