The Spanish Fork press. [volume] (Spanish Fork, Utah) 1902-current, 1906-03-08
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nation. and TO understand the sig
nlficance of that fact. In Russia the
large cities are few and far between,
and. with the exception of Moscow,
are almost all upon the extreme west
ern or southern border of the Empire.
Eight-tenths of the population is still
to be found In detached ;illages of
from 1000 to 1900 inhabitants. scat
tered over an area much larger than
that of the United States. Any spec
ulaton upon the political future of
Russia will be futile If does not
take into proper recount the nature
of these village organizations Tor
Mrs" AS they are called, and the
racial characteristics of the indlyid-
uals who constitute them.
The Slavic population of Russia is
divided into three branches, the Great
Russian, The Little Russian, and the
White Russian. OF these the Great
Russian is by far predominant, num-
bering more taan 40000,000, and &C.
cupying the whole valley of the Volga,
large part of the basil of the Don,
and extending westward to the Dnie-
per and Dvina Rivers. Tolstoy. with
whose picture in peasant costume
every one is familiar, is both phys
ically ana temperamentally the typi-
cal Great Russian. With his stalwart
frame, lis light brown hair and beard,
his mild blue or gray eye, broad face
and gentle expression, end his belted
blouse overhanging his trousers, the
Great Russian meets YOU everywhere
in the kingdom. Not only in his
original nome, hut in Vladiyostok,
throughout Siberia ard Central Asia,
on the shores of the Back Sea and
the Sea of Azov, he is sure to greet
you with the offer of broad shoulders
or of his swift droshky for the trans
portation of your luggage and your
person.
The Little Russian, next in impor-
lance of the Slavic population, often
has dark hair and dark eyes, sup
posed by some to have come through
slight intermixture of Il; rtar BLOOD
but in general his characteristics are
similar to those CT his brothers in
Great Russia. He is, however,
cleaner in ar pearance and manner or
living, and his villages show sigrs of
greater prosperity. The Cossacks of
the Don and the Ural are simply the
frontiersmen Of Russia, with such
| notifications as border life produces
in all classes of people. They possess
a military organization, which is ex-
tremely democratic, except in the APP
pointment of its higher officers. Nat
urally they have come to be the chief
dependence of the Government in pre-
serving order throughout the Empire,
their relation to the ordinary army of
conscripts being something like that
of our regular army 70 the State
| militia. We have much the same diff
| ficulty in the United States in sup
pressing disorders through the militia
that Russia has through the regular
army. In repeated instances our mil
| tia have refused to respond for the
forcible suppression of disorders TO-
mented by their fellow citizens. The
! refusal of Russian troops to fire upon
a mob, and the resort to the Cossacks
as we resort to the regular army. are
no new things in Russia.
THE GENTLE RUSSIAN.
Nothing can be more erroneous than
the impre sion which is conveyed by
picturinS the Russian as bear" for,
really, he is a gentle creature, over
flowing with sympathy, and this is
| the basis of his most characteristic
| faults. Beggars are everywhere toll
Grated. They line the approaches to
every church, and stretch out their APP
pealing hands from every corner. Nor
are they rudely thrust aside by any.
Their very numbers indicate the con-
sideration with which they are treat
ed. The exile, as he starts for Siberia,
is universally looked upon as the more
! unfortunate rather than criminal, and
| is the recipient of many parting gifts.
In Siberia itself the free settler ever
| leaves some bread and water outside
! his door thai the fugitive from justice
may find refreshment in his lonely
night marches. 1t was in obedience
to this sentimentality of the Peep c
at large that capital punishment was
abolished in Russia $50 years ago
The whole penal system of Siberia
has really sprung ont of the same ma
tional sentimentalism. Exile to ST.
IBERIA, will. a speedy release from
close confinement and a chance to re-
trieve ones fortune in new country
has seemed to the nation more humane
than summary execution or prolonged
close confinement. However mistaken
the policy may have been, the i'm
pulse leading to IL has been generous
rather than severe, while no one could
well beforehand the incidental
evils which have been connected with
it. Now that the policy is to be re
versed, the first requisite is the cree
ton of large number of new loca
prisons, whore II is doubtful If the
unfortunate class will DE any better
off than they have been. 1t is inter
esting 10 noe that Prince kropOtkin
upon being confined In an up-to-datC
French prison, emphatlcally declared
that the general effect of the Siberiar
prison was better than that of IN,