The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-07-17
SOME CHARACTERISTICS
 OF THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE

By Charles E. Hands, St. Petersburg
 Correspondent of the London Daily
 Mall.
 If you scratch Russian you may some- times find a Tartar, but you will very
 often find a remarkably close imitation of very good sort of Englishman, the Englishman of the little quiet places where the simpler conditions of life com
 tlnue. For the Russians are villagers still, even though they live in Petersburg or Moscow. It Is certain fact that of all the nationalties represented in the
 huge foreign population of Russia, the
 English get on best with the natives. The
 Russian likes the Englishman just as the Englishman likes the Russian.
 Neither thinks much of the others poli- tics, but they have so many tastes, quail | ities and defects in common that they 1 And 1t quite easy to live with one an- | other and to understand one another, and make allowances for one another Neither
 of them Is superlatyely and delightfully."- | gifted, like the FTenchman, or contempt uously conscious of superior efficiency. l like the German, or progressively com | petitive like the American, with whom even tea table conversation is a relent- | less struggle for supremacy. Neither the l Russian nor the Englishman Is over
 weis~ted with brains, but each has the | subtle, human qualities that belong to | all well-bred, warm-blooded animals of l well-dispositioned cheerfulness and con | tent that fit them quite as effectively | perhaps as the superior intellectual en- | dowments for the conditions of life on an as yet imperfectly organized earth. | a n CT we I to come and take rapid survey of the I affairs of this, fancy he would be rather
 amused to observe that the two greatest l empires, the two bigges holdings of real estate on the earths surface, have been I acquired by the two nations worst equip l ped in regard to the higher faculties. It
 was not superiority of intellectual endow- ment which gave us the British empire | or that gave the Russians theirs. A na- | tional incapacity, plus national habit of
 getting there all the same." h. common | to both.
 l There is no country in the world where
 such hospitality can he found as the hos | pitality that meets you everywhere in | Russia. In Russia friendship means more
 than in any other country of which have
 any knowledge. In Russia the home means
 more than in other countries save one. l The Russian loves his home and his 1 wife and his friends. He loves to find
 himself surrounded by his friends in his own home, to give them of his best both I in welcome and entertainment. His hos pitality is without the slightest trace of 1 ostentation. He does not desire to i'm press you with his wealth or hls best be- cause of his well-dspositioned desire to | give you pleasure. The national samovar
 Is not primarily device for making de-
 l.eious tea; 1t Is a device for making de- 1 licious tea for a large number of guests. 1 The Russian house Is designed and arr | ranged for the accommodation of large number of guests.
 l The Russians hospitality is a national
 as we'll as an individual characteristic. l There is no part of the earth, not even l Aldgate or Park lane, where the foreigner
 has been given such opportunity and has 1 made such good use of it. English and | German and French and Belgians. but | especially. Germans, have crowded into
 Russia, and have crowded out the na-
 tives from every branch of lucrative com-
 merce. and the Russian welcomes thens l all. But he likes the English best I am | told and It Is because the English are
 lil1est to himself. A good-hearted kindly. | warm -blooded man he eats too much and 1 drink ardent spirits that are not good l for him, and Is cheerful under difficulties. | and Is conscious of his imperfections, and
 Is indolent and takes things as they come, and manages to muddle through some l bow. But I know another who Is very
 much the same, and l like him very | much
 The fault of the Russian system Is ab-
 sence of system. which Is the fault of the
 English system. too. The fault of the l Russian government is that it fails to 1 govern which is the fault of government | in England. It is an amateur perform l ance in both countries. the chief dfffer- | ence being that we do nothing with the l assistance of costly and elaborate par | lament. whereas in Russia they do just as | little without the assistance of any such | institution They have no machine, and l we have machine which does not work. The result is about the same in each case | when you come to examine the achieve 1 ments of the two war offices for example. And the qualities which in the sum go to make national nefficiency and incapacity l are the qualities which in the individual | Russian make him likable. The cheerful. | easy going. easily contented disposition | that takes things as they come and ac- | cepts things as they are is not the eouiD-
 men for a man or nation that wants to get on. but is very agreeable compan-
 lonable quality In a friend.
 1 I remember that liked Russians the | first day. year and more ago. that I made the acduaintance of the long white 1 Nevsky Prosnekt and saw the crowds of 1 people radiating heaming good humor in | a snowstorm. It was the first heavy l snowfall of that winter on the city that I arrived in Russia. and thought at first l that they were happy because the snow l and the cold had come again just as polar l bears might be. snow and cold being natural and agreeable to them l found