The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-07-08

A.
: o. enjoying themselves. They have
such small regard for the value o
! line, and are SO thoroughly given t
the luxury of good living. that ii is e
common saying that a wealthy Rus
sian, or more properly speaking one
[ with plenty Of ready money. is a phe.
nonenon rarely TO tie met with in rea
life.
: The one great obstacle TO the de-
velopment OF Russia has been the at
titude OF the government in treat
ing private citizens as minions with
out the capacity for compromising the
national aim. and incompetent of look
ing after Their own personal affairs
This dominating spirit has always
characterized every official action Be
ing responsible only to their superiors
in office. the representatives of the law
have naturally come to regard those
over whom they have authority as in
ferior beings. Consequently '.the state
has come TO be regarded as an abstract
entity with interests entirely different
from those of the humans composing
interests are supposed TO be involved
the rights of the individual are either
wanton1y neglected or ruthlessly sacri-
feed
SAMPLE OF RED TAPE.
All this may be a little obscure TO
the reader, but whenever the Anleri-
can business man comes in contact
with official Russia il will not take
him long to find out what it means.
a man from New York Who wished 10
open an import Office in st. Petersburg
recounted to me his experience, and
this viii suffice as an Illustration: On
the morning that he started out TO get
a license 10 open an office he put in two
hours in enc building, during which
time he was passed from one clerk to
another. No one seemed to know what
he wanted and he was passed on from
one To another in the attempt to get
rid of him. Finally he was told to
| apply to the chief of police. 1t was
then noon and he knocked off 10 get
something to eat
After his luncheon he took a fresh
start and was told at the office of the
chief Of police that he must make out
a written application stating what he
wanted TO deal in. with all particulars
a reply in a day or so. but no answer
came in a week nor in a month. Then
he began to press the matter in earnest
and was informed that his application
had not been acted upon because it did
not have as many stamps as the law
requires. In the meantime he spent
months looking after the details neces-
sary to establish the business made .
two round trips between St. Peters /
burg and New York, and il was exact !
ly eleven months before he finally got /
his official permit to engage in trade. !
Accompanying the license was a mas
siye bundle of correspondence. each
sheet Of which had been signed by two
officials occupying different positions, i
one serving as q check on the other. II
The Russians observe this form strict II
ly. even if the business relates to the Il
most trifing matter. Thus we find
some of the highest-priced officials in
the Empire wasting their time in audit
ing the warrant for the repair of
stove door. or the purchase of a new
buckle for the belt of a policeman
uniform.
BORROWED FROM THE MAIL
Another American living in st. Pc
received letter from friend
books had been forwarded by mail. In
asmuch as the parcel did not arrive
in a reasonable time, the gentleman be-
gan an inquiry in the effort to locate
his property. After six months of Of /
icial searching the books finally reach
I'd their owner. All Of them were very (
much the worse for wear and several Z
were in dilaDidated condition from
excessive handling. Some official inter
.sted in the subjects which they treat
ID had borrowed them from the mail,
and afterward passed them around TO
lis friends {
4 New Yorker IN the employ of 9
prominent banking house in that CITY
vent TO ST. Petersburg 70 confer with 9
he Russian authorities relative to
government loan. This man was not 9
amiIiar with the system Of tipping as =
: is practiced in Russia, and because
ie failed to shell out money every time
N attendant came to his room, small
t~il,e was soon inaugurated against
lirn He rang his bell for servants in
ain until he found out where the diff 4
cuIty lay and corrected il. Another c
-ankee engaged in the manufacture L
1g business in ST. Petersburg told me Il
I his troubles IN connection with the :
Of labor. He gave his help e
n exceedingly bad name. saying that o
he boys in particular were trained 10 T
1ok upon thieving as a praiseworthy 2
comp -ishr7ent. the one who could get 2
-gav with the greatest amount oil e
mall articles or material being looked z
pom with envy by his fellows. la
81 Pp-e-Sbs--r has Young Mems Ia