New-York tribune., 1914-11-19
Strong Liquor Put Under
Ban in Empire Through
NJ. TcheliSheff.
PROHIBITION IN
IT'S FULL SENSE
Chance Description OF Vodka
as Poison Started Crusade
That Ended Alcohol.

900 people and covering one-slNth oil
the hsbitable globe.
The word prohibition" in Russia
must be taken literally. Its use does
not imply partly successful attempt
TO curtai tho consumption OF liquor,
resulting in drinking in secret places.
the abuse of medical licenses and gen
eral evasion and subterfuge. IL does
mean that q vast population who con
sumed Sl.O0O.OO0,0OO worth Of vodka
q year; whose ordinary condition has
been described by Russians themselves
as ranging from a slight degree OF
stimulation upward. has been lifted al
most in one day from drunken inertia
to sobriety. The nation has been COM
PEELED. virtually overnight, TO abandon
its enormous daily consumption OF
vodka, a liquor that is almost pure
alcohol. and become abstemious to the
extent Of letting no liquor pass it's lips.
On the day when the mobilization OF
the Russian army began special police
men visited every public place where
vodka is sold, locked up the supply of
LIQUOR and placed on the shop the i'm
perial seal. Since the manufacture and
sale Of vodka is government mo-
nopoly in Russia, it is not difficult
thing 10 enforce prohibition.
Drunkenness Nsnishes.
from the day this step was taken
drunkenness vanished in Russia. The
results are seen at once in the peas
antry. already beginning to look like
different race. The marks of suffering,
the pinched looks of illness and I'M
proper nourishment, have gone from
their faces. There has been also re
markable change in the appearance OF
their clothes. Their clothing rs clean
or. and both men and women appear
more neatly and better dressed. The
destitute character of the homes OF
the poor has been replaced with some
thing like order and thrift. in Petro-
grad and Moscow the effect of these
improved conditions is fairly startling.
Ga holidays in these two cities lnebrl-
ates always filed the police stations,
and often they were lying on sidewalks
and in the streets. Things are so dif-
ferent to-day that unattended women
may pass at night through sections OF
these cities where II was formerly
dangerous even for men. Minor crimes
and misdemeanors have almost van
ished.
This miracle has been accomplished
virtually by one man-Mlchael ID.
Tchelisheff, a peasant by birth, house
painter by profession. then Mayor OF
the city Of Samara and now million
aire. Physically he is a giant, stand
ing over s feet I inches IN his stock
ing feet and Of powerful build. He is
fifty-fve years old, but looks much
Younger. His movements display the
energy Of youth. his eyes are animated
and his black hair is not tinged by
gray.
Beginning of the Crusade.
81 was reared ir "a small Russian vii
lage." Mr.. Tchelishef said. There
were no schools or hospitals or any OF
the improvements we are accustomed
to in civilized communities. picked up
an education from old newspapers and
stray books. One day | chanced upon
q book in the hands of q moujik which
treated Of the harmfulness Of alcohol.
Il stated. among other things, that
vodka was q poison. ! was so I'M
pressed with this. knowing that every
body drank vodka. that asked the first
physician ! met if the statement were
true. lie said yes. Men drank IL, he
explained. because momentarily it gave
them a sensation Of pleasant dizziness.
From that time / decided TO take every
opportunity TO discover more about the
use Of vodka.
AT the end of the SOS there came
famine in Russia, followed by agra
rian troubles. ! saw A crowd Of peas
ants demand from a local landlord all
the grain and foodstuffs in his granary.
This puzzled me; | could not under
stand how honest men were indulglng
in what seemed to be highway robbery.
But noted at the time that every man
who was taking part in this incident
was q drinking man, while their tel-
low villagers who were abstemious had
sufficient provisions in their own
homes. Thus it was that observed
the industrial effects Of vodka drink
ing.
wAt Samara | decided TO do more
than passively disapprove OF vodka. Al
this time / was al alderman, and many
of the tenants living in my houses were
working men. One night a drunken
father in one of my houses killed his
wife. This incident made such ter
rible impression on me that | decided
10 fight vodka with all my strength.
Rejected by the Government.
con the supposition that the govern
ment was selling vodka for the rev.
enue. ! calculated the revenue received
from its consumption in Samara.
then introduced a bill in the city cOun-
eli nrovjding that the city give this
sum of money 20 the Imperial Treas
urv. requesting at the same time that
the sale of vodka be prohibited. This
hin passed. and the money was appro-
nriafed II was offered to the govern
ment. but the government promptly re-
"It then dawned upon me that Rus
eisn bureaucracy did not want the peo-
nle TO become sober, for the reason
that II was easier TO rule autocratcal-
lv drunken mob than sober people:
"This was seven years ago. Later l
was elected mayor of Samara, capital
Of the Volga district, district with
over a quarter of million inhabitants;
subsequently TO holding this office l
was elected to the Douma on an anti
vodka platform. In the Douma ! pro
nosed a bill permitting the inhabitants
of any town to close the local vodka
shops, and providing also that every
bottle OF vodka should bear a label
with the word poison. Al my request
the wording of this label. in which the
evils of vodka were set forth, was done
bv the late Count Leo Tolstoy. Thls
bill passed the Douma and went to the
Imperial Council. where II was