The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-25
PETERSBURG, PLEASURE CITY.
AMERICAN DOUBTS IF REVOLU-
TON is IMMINENT.
Finds the Russian PeaSantry Unequal to 1t
Opinion General in China That That
Country Il Drifting Toward War
Boycott on America . Real. Thing.

BOYCOTT on America . Real. Thing.
Richard Barry, an American newspaper
correspondent who was o. "a siege OF
Port Arthur for an American weekly
returned to New York yesterday from a
tour round the world on a rowing commits
sion. AS soon as the Peace Of Portsmouth
put an end to the war in the Orient be
started from Manchuria and travelled over
land to Pekin. From that point he went
aown the new Hankow-Pekin Railroad,
then not fully opened, on construction
trains. travelled to Canton by boat, took a
trip into the interior and proceeded to the
southern Philippines. There he camped
with Major Scott, the officer who led the
Jolo fight which has been credited to Gen.
Wood, and he came home by way of India
and st. Petersburg. In Russia he stayed
several weeks. studying the situation with
a pair of young American eyes. His views
on the Russian revolution form an antidote
FOR the information which has been coming
to New York through the revolutionary
eSiles.
Il was thinking to-day that / have seen
all the worlds great capitals in this trip
he said. "Oft them all st. Petersburg is the
4lNhN fAlAih SAAAE NHS wv
There 1t is, the centre Of an empire COM
rrising one-tfth of the civilized world.
ard its attitude toward the world outside
its walls in that of Rome 1000 years ago.
1t is. indeed. the modern counterpart of
Rome in the height of her period of luxury.
only that they have added to the luxury
" the Romans every modern device. That
luxury ia ovcrpowering. You 60 into
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w to the ankles in velvet carpets. You
are surrounded by the appearances Of n
palace New York has been called a night
town, yet it is in bed at 4 o'clock in the
morning At 4 o'clock the crowds of st.
Petersburg are still out and the streets
are "a bright and lively as in the early
evening. You become infected with the
spirit. I couldn't keep my sense of time.
What is the Use of getting mp in the morn
ing You can't see any one. because every
one who is any one is still abed. You can't
see the life of the place.
The whole attitude is that Of oblivio,ls-
ness. You would think that they would
be humbled by the lesson of the war. They
might az well not have had any war. All
they care about is their life of luxury. dis
sipation and display. The country pays
for it, of course. The ambition Of every
little count in the interior is to get to st.
Petersburg as soon as he can, There the
size Of his house. the dash he cuts, the at
tention that he attracts in society depend
directly on how much he gets out Of his
little landholders. So the country pays
for it. st. Petersburg goes on, %splendidly
indifferent to wars and talks Of revolu-
tons. And they are made for the part
those people. There is a temperamental
magnihcence in them. A Russian woman,
II she is beautiful, is the most imperial
figure In the world except a Russian man.
To sec o group of their splendid young
officers staggering down the streets Of
st. Petersburg one would think that they
could walk over the whole world. In looks
at least, they are such men! You can't
see how they manage to keep their appear
snce Of splendid robustness after the excess
of a st. Petersburg season.
Nothing is vital to them but pleasure
Nothing exists for them, they tell me,
outside of St. Petersburg. Under them is
the people. had heard, of course, of the
ignorance of the lower class Russians. but
! had never imagined the truth. Beside
them the Chinese are an intelligent, en-
lishtened and highly civilized people. The
officials of the post Office service can hardly
read. and the telegraph operators cannot
spell. yet they are the best they can get.
There is in the peasant the same indiffer-
orCa that there is in the mobiles. One comes
away with a simple sense of hopelessness.
They tell me in fact, that the immediate
rnance of a revolution has been greatly
exaggerated. Those who should know and
who have no bias say that it is out of the
question Just now. 1t il only natural that
the other impression should have got abroad
in the United States. If a person in Rome
reads the account in his morning news
paper of three murder and two robberies
in Now York. he is likely to arrive at the
oonc,u sion ina New York is a lawless city
whereas it is orderly and peaceable. SO,
Gathering up the sporadic disturbances that
hayo broken out in this year of ferment,
wathink here that there is a revolution. The
list observers seem to think that there will
he d gradual uplift, extending over a great
many years or a great many generations.
The Duina is only a sopthrown to the people,
that they may he quiet and cease to disturb
s.. Petersburg in its pleasures. The people
will get together, the mobiles think, will
have a good time playing at governing;
NV! may themselves viii HOJ lOSt dllylulliR
for there is no real intention Of granting
any degree of constitutional liberty,
i talked this matter over with Tolstoi-
not Lyof. the philosopher, but his son.
The younger Tolstoi is one Of the moderate
conservatives. He has the ear Of the Gar,
8Dd is one of the few men of the upper class
who have any real sympathy with the Rus
sian masses. He said:
Those who look on Russia with indul-
gent eyes realize that she is going through
her period Of intellectual development,
There is little Use now of trying to organize
her industries or to reform her politics.
Both industrial and political development
must come after the intellectual awaken
ing. Our energies should be devoted to
that 81
On that point Of industrial organization:
1t seems TO me that there is no better field
in the world for American energy than
Russia, even in the present unjust and
unstable state OF the government. II Is
not so much that she has great and I'M
developed natural resouroes-although that
counts too-as that the people lack talent
for organization; the very thing in which
the Americans are supreme. Take the
meat industry in st. Petersburg for ex-
ample. There is not one general slaughter
hnp,aa E,,on, hnfnhnr g1npnhtar. 49,