Norwich bulletin., 1910-04-23
HORRORS OF RUSSIAN PRISONS. What the "PoIitieaIs" as We'll as the
 Criminals Have to Endure.

think that perhaps some of your readers may fe interested to hear of a
 committee have recently established
 in Paris, in the hope Of being able to
 alleviate if onlv in some slight degree
 the terrible. sufferingE of the Russian
 political prisoners in the prisons of
 Russia and Siberia, Since leaving Eng
 land I have been greatly distressed by the reception of letters describing the heamrendiqg conditions Of the prison CTS in those prisons. The committee
 has issued an appeal in. the French
 language, which contains extracts from letters received from political prison
 ers-s The following is one from the prison of Algatchi:
 There are nearly 500 prisoners in Algatchi. of whom 200 are '.politicals."
 The prison was only built for 2s7 per
 sOns,s so that the overcrowding Is ter rib1e; 40. 50 and 60 prisoners are coop ed up in cells which can only hold II persons. We have scarcely any clothes. no bedding. and no place to sleep. At night the benches, the space beneath the benches and every inch of the floor is occupied. The air ts frightful. Our linen is filthy, and we have no change. We are allowed to wash our linen once a week. but without soap- They take us to the bath once month, but there are 50 and 70 in place which can only accommodate 12. It is difficult in the day time to find a place to sit down in the cells. Even for eating only few can sit down, while the rest are crowded together on foot.
 But the most awful thing is the scarcity of food Those who a1ave no money to buy food are constantly starving: The prisoners are treated with the greatest brutality. For the slightest protest there is the Black Hole;" for the slightest resistance they are cruelty beaten with fists or the butt ends of rines. Many are still chained who. according to Their sentences, should have been set free from chains bong ago. It is absolutely useless to complain to the administration. l
 Here is an extract from another let ter, also from Aigatciai, dated Sept 2T. 1909: Our situation is nriFhtfui. For 8 month I have been trying to borrow a copeck (l-4 d9 to buy an envelope. Send me q little money. I am half dead with hunger. can't write any more. II am shaking from head to foot" At the end of August a letter was received from 9 prisoner in Riga stating that in the prison there they were literally dying of hunger Those brought from the prison to be des- patched to Moscow declared that they were scarcely able to send from weak ness and exhaustion.
 At Gorny Zaronty the overcrowdinx is as bad as at Algatchi. There the political prisoners are forced to divide themselves Into patches for sleeping, one batch sleeping from in the oven ing till in the morning, the other sleeping from in the morning till '.
 The secretary of the committee, who would receive contributions for the re- lief of the prisoners, is D. Aitoff. 1s Rue Mfcheldk Paris. Mr. Aiton. is an old friend and political comrade of Nicholas Tohayirovss<y. and has lived for twenty years in Paris. A commit 1 tee of the same kind was formed in St. 1 Petersburg and existed from 1906-1907. l But at the end of 1907 1t was closed by I the Russian government, and it's orig inators were arrested and exfled. l
 If, sir, you can find space in your paper for fhe insertion of this letter, | think that you will be aiding the cause | of humanity by enabling your readers | to learn Of the suneriugs to which I thousands of OUT fellow creatures are I exposed, who are not criminals, but for | tue most part highly educated, gentle | and cultivated men and women.-Vera Figners Appeal in the London Daily | News.