The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-27

England respectively viii prove that IN
f~SFnlnR hla conclusions he hea not been
eaidei ny prssoual motives. hat that
they are the outcome u q Gloss. fret hand
Information 81 what has actually been
done by the two culture bearers. AZ his
observations and studies fave been ron
Aned almost entirely 60 Moslen Asia, he
Cpuld not help referring alec 10 the futufe
q islam. and IL IL 10 this theme. that he
tteyotes the last Of the three parts into
which his hook N divided. II would he
DIM cult to overrats the timeliness OF the
value Of this contribution TO exact knowl-
edep ~ the state Of things In the Central
East In view Of the present more friendly
relations ~ Great Britain and Russia.
How many Mohammedans are contained
IN the Russian Empire and what likelihood
istthere Of their early absorption by the
Shyonic and Christian population Ac-
cafting TO the census OF 1907 there were,
out Of a total Of nearly 40 900 900 inhabi-
tants. q little leea than 1900 ,O00 belonging
% the Mohammedan faith. In the six
provinces Of Kars. Erivan, Tersk, Dagew-
tan, 'Elsabetpol and .Uralsk. stretching
along the southeastern frontier OF European
RUSSIA, there were. in. round numbers, g.
So, OO Mohammedans, "a against 423 moo
Christians. In central Asia proper. in the
districts OF FeFgana, Syr-Darya, Semi
rysche, Samarkand and transcripts, 1875 200
CHRISTIANS live among 1882 900 MohaIn-
medans-that is, the ruling Christian class
constitutes only 3.72 per cent. Of the whole
population. The Christians hero enumer-
sted comprise not only Slavs, but Arme-
nisns and members OF other Christian
scots, 80 that the paucity Of the orthodox
Slavs, as against the preponderance OF the
professors Of Islam, becomes all the more
striking. Under the circumstances, Prof.
Vampery is convinced that the Christian
element In the Russian part OF central
Asia scarcely forms a factor strong enough
10 decompose or transform the original
population of the conquered countries.
Admitting that the emigration OF ~Russians
has assumed far larger proportions In
Turkestan than in other distrcts-for
example, in the C~auoasus-and that this
emigration is likely to increase. he still
adheres to the belief that the present status
win long continue, or, in other words, that
Turkestan and it's Moslem inhabitants will
for many, many years to come be looked
upon as unassimilated dependencies Of ths
Cars dominions, and that the time is very
fatof when they will be swallowed up in the
OCEAN Of clinical Slavism. Inhis judgment,
the absorption into the Russian element
will not be so effective here as in Siberia,
whefS sx-sevenths Of the total population
has been amalgatnated with the prepon-
derant Slavic factor. Neither, in his opin-
ion, can the Russians expect in central Asia
the same success as they had when dealing
wibh the Turoo-Tatars In the south Of Bu-
ropean Russia-namely, in Kazan, Astra-
khan and the Crimea-for in the first place
the Turkish element is far too numerous
and compact 10 Turkestan to be absorbed
intp the small minority represented by the
ruling class. In the second place, Russia
is there confronted by a solid mass of ia
natioaf Moslems, who, surrounded on all
sides by fellow believers. will resist all at
teppts of the Orthodox Church far more
tenaciousiy than ever was the case with the
M6hamnedans in the Crimea, Kazan and
Astrakhan. In the third place, Turkestan
is separated from the ruling country by a.
girdle- Of steppes, and Russian colonization.
cahhot be so easily carried on there as on
the lower Volga, where the territorial and
climatic conditions are much more favor
able It Is, in fine. Prof. vambery Is forecast
that the Russian possessions in Turkestan
can only form an advanced southerh boun-
daty line of the Gzar's dominione Ian aoqui-
sition which will round of geographically
the region Of the Ural-Altaio tribes, that
have come under Slav rule, ~. D. b.
Not for a moment does Prof. Van,bery
deny that Russian culture is always and in
every respect to be preferred to the primi-
tive culture of the Asiatics; or that the Rus
SLAMS have done much good work in Asia;
that with their advent order, peace and
security have taken the place Of anarchy
ard lawlessness. and that, notwithstanding
the strongly Oriental ,coloring Of their own
political, social and ecclesiastical institu-
tions, they have everywhere made a change
for the better, and inaugurated an era moro
worthy Of mankind. Our author denies,
however, that there Is any foundation for
the long prevailing idea that the very in
completeness Of Russian culture constitutes
the best qualification for successful opera
tion in the East, and that, not being them
selves dramatically opposed oulturally to
the Asiatics. they are the better able to act
as their teachers. He submits that the
ClloI III tDlt NNOW n DOCh PioNCu
by the history Of the last three hundred
years. for when we look into the condition
Of thoe, Asiatic nations which, since the
first victory Of Ivan the Terrible, have been
under Russian tutelaRe, We sac that the
Russian, protection, instead Of bensfitng
them culturally-peaoe and order, no doubt,
1t has given them-has rather done them
harm, because 1t has deprived them Of the
hope and the possibility OF making prog
ress in the field Of their own national de-
velopment, and has not helped them ma
teTially in acquiring new foreign accom-
pishments. In other words. Prof. YAM
bery maintains that under Russian sway
a cultural transformation, a sociological
change for the better. @could at best only
be;possible by forcing the Asiatics entirely
to give up their national individuality, by
their being swallowed up in the mass Of the
ruling element-in short, by classification;
andasthe Russian State and Russian society
always and everywhere have contemplated
this Kind Of soyereigpty and absorption,
llb sye.i