The Washington herald., 1914-10-11
YOUNG RUSSIANS
EAGER FOR war
Germans Called Anti -Christs
by Cars Peasants Who
Would Join Army.
WANT THEM WIPED OUT
Vodka Shops Closed. Thus Enabling
Collections from Country's
Former Drunks.
WANT THEM WIPED OUT
o m. wsshinFtou Herald.

srseiai cabls to Ths washington Herald.
Petrograd. Oct 1O-Msny typical Rus
sian traits are accentuated by the pres
ent connict Germany is the anti-Christ
to the peasants
Every where the peasants are burning
to expel anti-Christ in the shape Of nom
Russian ideas. words, and customs Rus
sia's enemies from time immemorisl have
been anti-Christs. In certain districts
ancient peasants who preached anti
Christ against England during the Cri-
mean war are now wandering from VII
lage to village repeating that this time
the real anti-Christ has come
It is an almost universal notion that
there are transcendental virtues in the
uncultivated Russian people that are lost
through contact with foreigners
would Lead Peasant Array.
In Tula has appeared a religious old
man, Feeder Emelyanoff, who calls him
self "Zhondok" and wants to lead q
peasant host against the Germans some
what in the manner Of Joan Of Arc.
He holds that artillery is unfair
and that the Germans should let the Rus
SLAMS get near instead OF shooting them
down. This naive notion appears also in
The peasants of the Black Earth re-
gion are solid for exterminating the Ger
mans, their principal grievance being
that the men from across the Vistula
charge too much for their spades and
nails
The eagnerness Of the young Russians
for the war is producing some curious In
cidents. Il must be remembered that the
war has not drained Russia of men, as
II has Germany and France. There are
many sons exempt, for instance. Many
Of these would enlist, but are not desired
at present.
The peasants are making great sacri-
fees for the war. Their kopecks given for
Red Cross and other charitable aims are
mounting up to a large sum. That was
always the Russian way; for the empire
is overburdened with charitable institu-
tons.
Reading Clubs CrItieIse War.
peasants have started reading clubs to
criticise the war; and many communes
without being asked, have set to making
good roads in order that the trasnport
Of rye to the army may be made easier.
Other peasant communities are organ
king the collection Of money saved from
vodka Against the prohibition of vodka
no peasant has raised his voice. En-
hghtened public opinion and the news
papers are unanimously against reopen
ing the vodka shops. The good behavior
Of the reservists during mobilization Is
due largely to the drastic measures
taken against the sale Of drink.
The temperance enthusiast, Tcheluis.
heff, who has been warning on the drink
traffic for many years. say with some
reason that the cost of the war will be
covered in a few years by savings due
to stoppage Of the vodka traffic; and
that all the physical and moral suffer
ing now impending will not be greater
than that caused by drink in a decade.
The traffic in vodka, wine and other
alcoholic beverages is suspended. In the
years following 1885, Count witte turned
the production and sale of vodka into a
state monopoly. The state was to sell
the vodka in sealed bottles. The result
was widespread drinking in the street.
May Never Reopen Shops.
The negative attitude Of the people to-
wards the monopoly is well illustrated
by the fact that small bottles are called
little scoundrels" (merzavtchikD. In.
cluding excise receipts, the state gains
$45o,OOOO0O from vodka. The Duma and
several anti-alcohol congresses have con-
demned the monopoly as an instrument
Of national Generalization: the Gar
himself adopted that standpoint in q
rescript issued at the time of NJ. Rokovt-
seff's fall Today the 10000 state ''lavkf'
Cretail vodka shops) are closed.
A strong agitation is going on to keep
them closed till the end of the war That
means that they would never be re.
opened. The government has not gone SC
far, but it has promised to respect reso-
lutions in favor of closing passed by
peasant communes under the existing
local option law. Hitherto these resolu-
tons have usually for fiscal reasons been
ignored.
Meantime. Petrograd has been trans
formed in a way which will be realized
only by those who knew the city before
the war. Then, on Sunday night, as many
as 1000 drunken persons were arrested
or more often. helped by policemen tC
stsgger home. Since the first mobiliza.
ton day no drunken man has been seen
The threat Of fine Of 8, 500 for the frsi
offense has kept restaurant proprietorl
and wine dealers from trying to evade
the law.
"a noa