The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-07-15

Continued from page 81


the kindness and integrity OF the Gar
land absolutely nothing can shake them
in their devotion to the Little Faith
err All their ignorant beliefs and ar
guments are invariably used in his IA
vor. Once when a peasant was COM
planning about his taxes an official
said to him: why, how would the
Gar have money if you did not pay
taxes TO support him?" The peasant
answered that the Little Father
could make all the money he needed :;
that the taxes which were collected
from the people never reached the
| Gar any way, because the officers
kept it. Such reply as this, even
from an ignoramus. was somewhat dis
Iconcerting because OF the truth in it.
While some soldiers were returning
from Manchuria they rebelled against
their officers on account of the hard
ships they had suffered. When the
attempt was made to demonstrate with
the recalcitrants by telling them they
were not obeying the will Of the Gar,
the invariable reply was made that
the Car would not want them to suf-
fer: that all their hardships were the
fault of the officers.
The predominating ambition of every
peasant is to own land, and every
humble subject of the Car firmly be-
lieves that some day the Little
Father will meet the wishes of his
people in this respect. The faith of
the masses in the good intentions of
their ruler is so strong that impostors
frequently take advantage of it to in
cite them against the landlords. The
usual way is to issue a counterfeit
proclamation stating that on certain
date the people will assemble and pos
sess themselves of the real estate and
belongings of the land holders. OF
course. the owners of property refuse
to give away their possessions, and |
the troops are sent for In hot haste. |
But in most cases all available chat !
tells are removed by force and the
buildings burned to the ground before |
assistance can be rendered. Inasmuch i
as the officials constantly deceive the j
people by tampering with imperial or
ders, this is one way in which they |!
are paid back in their own coin.
BLIND LEADS THE BLIND.
The traveller in Russia encounters |
many little things that strike him as |
being peculiar. The officials of the !,
censor department in searching the |
baggage of incoming travellers look |
through all magazines or periodicals |
in the possession of the tourists, and |
in case they find any articles derog-
atory to the Russian cause they smear |
the offending pages with a solution of !
lamp black. A person unacquainted |
with a Russian city is likely to have a |
sorry experience with the hack drivers, |
who are generally country men with |
I-t,a LODI %I0
fares or the location of public buildings
than those whom they attempt to serve.
The driver expects you to direct him
to the right or left and stop him when
you get to your destination The Eng
lfsh have a fad of carrying their
watches on their wrists in order to be
able to easily observe the time, but the
Russian fastens little clock on the |
back of his coachman so he can time |
him on his drives.
The manner in which the Cossacks
Formerly established land boundaries
vas a most extraordinary instance of i
official procedure. When a division line
vas once determined the method of Il
it was to collect on the spot
| company of small boys from the COM
nunity and soundly fog them. This
vas done so that the victims would re-
member the spot where they had re-
,eived their punishment and be able to
settle any disputes which might arise
n after years.
WHEN KNIGHTS WE'RE BOLD.
According to the old code of Russian
able manners zone must spit without
loise, taking care to turn away from
he company. and put his foot over the
,lace." In olden times courtiers who
desired to get drunk had to retire to a
pecial suburb so as not to annoy other
'eople. Another ancient custom was
'ranting the liberty of fighting to dis
'utants who reported that they could
ind no other way of settling their diff
erences. On such occasions either of
he parties could hire professional
ugilists to champion his cause, but
the hired slugger did more damage
han was contracted for, or in any way
the law. the employer was
ent to prison for whatever misdemean-l
n his proxy had committed. Such a
uling is similar to the old Spanish Gus
ON of arresting the occupant of a cab !
4 case the driver ran over any one.
FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
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