Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1910-01-20
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His ministers are taking no risks
though, aud his steps are followed and guard.
ed by the secret police who on the slightest
indication of an accident, would appear in the
guise of begears street merchants, passersby
1t Is when he goes the railroad that the
risks are greater. There is no simple sending
his secretary to get a ticket and book seats.
No! The Whole railroad system over which he
Is to travel has to be mentally reviewed. The
officials have to be called to a conference with
the minister in charge, when the route is ar
ranged, the time table fixed and then the tele
graph gets busy. The special train is prepared
and steam is kept up ready to start at any
minute. Word IS sent ahead to the garrsons
along thc line, and the soldiery have 10 be pre-
pared to take positions along each side of the
line Mt distance of a very few yards. Station
masters are warned and the whole plan is alb
soutey perfect. But one thing is wanting, the
exact day and hour of the journey. That Is
known only to the czar and one or two in his
complete confidence. Once his mind is made
up his train leaves, and word is passed on
just anead Of 1t. pilot engine with carriages
is run short time in front, and no one knows
whether the is on the pilot train or the
train behind; but both trains impartially
saluted. Any person found lurking in the vi.
cinity of the railroad Is liable to be shot for
it is not once but many times that the secret
kept closely has leaked out by some un-
known channel, and the rails have been under
mined bridges have been partially destroyed,
and all kinds of Internal machines deposited
on the track, timed to explode at the exact mo-
ment Of the passage of the train.
1t IS the same whenever the ear travels,
his presence in foreign town is always de-
noted by the number of apparently casual Wis
itors of Russian appearance.
Whatever his feelings may be- the cZarna
makes no secret of her fear for herself, her
little girls and the little Czarevitch Alexis,
whose kidnapping may take place at any mo-
ment.
Meanwhile the czar himself safely met his
royal most. Nothing ostensibly occurred to dis
turb his enjoyment. The numerous functions
passed off safely and now that he has returned
by a circuitous route to St Petersburg, the
czarina can breathe freely-until the next time
ne goes a-traveling.
Government pawnshops are the latest move
on the part OF Russia to raise money for her
revenue and ostensibly to help the people Ot
course, behind every scheme of this kind there
must he a popular" motive; and to supply this
the Russian government attacks the terrible
Jew money lenders" who have so long preyed
upon the poor. The people themselves are be-
tween the devil and the briny deep; but per
hans of the two evils the government Is the
lesser After ALL it comes down to a question
of per cent The Jews charge "a per cent on
loans and as much more as they can reason
ably squeeze. On the contrary the government
proposes to charge only per cent.
Having taken the monopoly of vodka-the
popular Russian intoxicant-thereby increasing
the revenue by some $10,0OO,OO0 yearly the
ministry of finance in Russia is about TO start
imperial pawnshops. The author of the project,
NJ Kokovceff, says that it will, In the course
of few years, prove a source of about S5O,OOO,-
600 yearly Not only this, but it will enable
the poor to obtain credit at a hitherto un-
known rate that of per cent per annum.
The lowest loan will be 2 rubes--not quite 81
and money will be advanced on every con
ceivable thing. The imperial bank will>supply
the capital needed to start the pawnshops at
the rate of per cent interest.
The central pawnshop will be at St Peters
burg: at first branches are to be opened in the
larger cities, including Kiev, Odessa, Riga, Tif-
lis Kbarkov and Warsaw When these are
fairly started others will be opened IN smaller
towns till the whole empire is studded with
fr7oeriaI nawnshops, lust as it is with vodka