Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-12-09
DRY RUSSIA
PROSPERS AS
MEYER BEFORE
Michael D. TCheIisheff. Million
aire Peasant, Describes His
Fiqht to Prohibit Vodka
1By Latest MaM]

|
who made Russia dry" who removed
the vodka curse" from a country OF
10000, 900 population, at cost to the
government CT that country OF $500
900, 900 annually in revenue. told to-
day, in a modest way. how he had
accomplished his vast undertaking.
how, through his efforts, a nation too
much addicted to drink. had become
, sober, Industrious kindly, thrifty.
prosperous; and all within a period Of
two months.
The man is Michael Demitrovitch
I Tchelisheff, a peasant by birth, a
house painter by trade, then Mayor of
Samara, member Of the Duma and
now millionaire humanitarian.
How Russia Went DRY"
Speaking OF what he had accom-
plished for the cause Of sObriety in
Russia, Mr. Tchelisheff said:
Il was reared In a small Russian
! village. There were no schools or
hospitals or any Of the improvements
we are accustomed TO in civilized
communities. picked up an educa-
ton from old newspapers and stray
books One day CHANGED upon
book in the hands of moujik, which
treated of the harmfulness Of alcohol.
1t stated among other things that
vodka was poison.
AT Samara | decided to do more
than passively disapprove Of vO,lkl.
At this time | was an Alderman, and
many of the tenants living in my
houses were workingmen. One night
a drunken father in one of my houses
killed his wife. This incident made
such terrible impression on ME that
decided to fight vodka with all my
strength.
"On the supposition that the Gov
eminent was selling vodka, On which
it had a monopoly, for the revenue,
calculated the revenue received from
its consumption in Samara. then
introduced a bill in the city council,
providing that the city give this sum
Of money to the imperial treasury. re-
questing ct the same time that the
sale of vodka be Erohibited This bill
passed and the money was apprOprl-
ated 1t was offered to the govern
ment, but the government promptly
refused it.
1T then dawned upon me that Rus
sion bureaucracy did not want the
people to become sober, for the rea-
sen that it was easier to- rule auto
cratically drunken mob than a sober
people
This was seven years ago. Later |
was elected mayor of Samara, capital
OF the Volga district, district with
over a quarter of a million inhabi.
tants. Subsequent to holding this Of
fee l was elected to the Duma on an
anti-vodka platform. In the Duma I
proposed a bill permitting the inhab+
itants of any town to close the local
vodka shops, and providing also that
every bottle of vodka should bear Z
label with the word poison At my
request the wording of this label, in
which the evils of vodka were set
forth, was done by the late Count Leo
Tolstoy. This bill passed the Duma
and went to the imperial council,
where it was amended and finally ia
bied.$
Showed Evils to Gar.
II then begged an audience of Elm
peror Nicholas. He received me with |
great kindness in his castle in the
Crimea, not far from the scene of the
recent Turkish bombardment. lie
listened to me patiently. He was i'm '
pressed with my recital that most OF
the revolutionary and Socialist ex-
cesses were committed by drunkards, |
and that the Sveaborg, Kronstadt and |
Sebastopol navy reVolts and the Pc
trograd and other mutinous military
movements were all caused by inebri- |
ates. Having heard me out, his males
ty promised at once to speak to his ,
of finance concerning the |
prohibition of vodka.
disappointed at not having been
able to get through a government bill
regulating this evil, | had abandoned
my seat in the Duma. 1t was evident
That the bureaucracy had been able to
the measure. Minister of