The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1911-09-08
Letter from Hon. A. J. Tuttie.
(Continued.)
LUXURIEs AND COMFORTS.


LUXURIES AND COMFORTS.
II have spent my time largely in the
big cities. yet from the reports l have
read, even here / would not have ex-
pected to find the comforts and luxur-
les have seen. Of course the chances
for the poor to be educated are not good
the lower classes as whole are slow to
understand; they work more as a ma
chine than as human beings; they are
poorly paid, and yet in some ways the
laws of their country are unusually fav-
orable to the working classes. They
can quit any time they like and the
master must pay them while he must
give them something like two weeks
notice if he wishes to discharge them.
They have numerous holidays, for ex.
ample, person working in a factory is
given a weeks holiday at Christmas
time and strange to say, he is not only
paid for the week, but he is paid double
wages for that week. There are 80 hol-
idays in Poland each year, however,
there are more here than in Russia be-
cause all Russian holidays as we'll as all
the old Polish holidays are observed
here. This rule with reference to lab.
or and double pay does not apply to all
of the holidays. Today is holiday
here; it is the anniversary of the christ
ening of the czar. All such little and
unimportant events are made public
holidays. Another thing which I had
been in error about, and the truth sur
prises me, is that these people are full
of reverence. For example, today there
are more flags displayed on this holiday
than there would be in America on the
Fourth of July. The same with their
religions. Men and women seem to vie
with each other in showing their rever-
ence. There are certain churches and
shrines which almost every person will
salute with the sign of the cross in pass.
ing This is true of both the high and
the low, army officers, cab drivers, mer-
chants and peasants. They are bur-
dened with churches and soldiers.
What is spent for the maintenance of
these is heavy burden. This country,
and particularly st. Petersburg, is
good example of strong central mon
archial government. Everything seems
forced. This great city is in defiance
of nature.
RUSSIA is DIFFERENT.
II saw in Norway, people who live,
build and act as nature intended should
be done in that country, simple life,
fitting their manners and conduct into
the natural arrangement of their nat
ural resources. Russia seems to have
defied the intended limitations of ma.
ture. For example, Peter the Great
wanted a window looking out to the
west into the seas of Europe, and he
decreed that a new capitol, great city,
(St. Petersburg) should be built there
on the low, marshy ground where the
Neva river flows into the Gulf of Fin
land. A more difficult or unnatural place
could not have been selected. Peter
himself moved there and had built for
himself a log cabin which still stands
there. Then he had draft levied and
each year for many years, 10000 men
were compelled to move there from
distant parts of the empire. The gov
ernment began the erection of mon
strous and numerous buildings. En-
tire forests were used in building foun-
dations. Practically the whole city is
built upon foundation, of timber 90
feet long standing on end in the soft,
marshy ground. Untold and fabulous
sums Of money have been spent to make
tEis great city, with broad streets,
public squares, parks, gardens and mon
uments, excelled only by those of an
cient Egypt Time and expense seem
to have been entirely ignored. In the
building of one cathedral thousands of
men worked for many generations,
Babes born after the foundation was
laid grew to be old and grandparents
and yet the work was not completed.
This doing of the difficult and unnat-
ural is still going on. 1t is as il the
order of Peter the Great were still
being executed. 1t almost seems to me
as 1 look at these great evidences of
power on the part Of the empire, that
their real purpose must be to inspire a
sort of fear or reverence on the part Of
the Russian for the strong hand of the
czar. Here the church and state are