The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-05-28

to pay back the money with a heavy
per cent. he naturally dislikes to do
SO. his mind always troubles him
why he should do all the hard work.
while the Jew takes it easy and gets
all the money; and the only way he
can change places with the Jew, is
to rob him, or murder him, The
government thinks the only way the
Jews can be driven to of their king
dom, is to drive them from one place
to another, giving them twenty-four
hours to make their exit, or else
send them to prison.
But Russia will never be able to
drive the Jew out from that country,
for as the old saying goes. you can
not keep a good man down.
This ends the story of the Russian
Jew. Now l will endeavor to say a
few words about the Russian people
and their laws.
First, let us consider what oppor-
tnnities the Russian government
offers to their subjects, in regard to
education.
Few Schools There
In a small city of fifteen thousand
population the name school is a
strange word to them, when per-
sons can sign their own name they
are considered well educated. Cities
toyer one hundred thousand pupula-
ton have high schools and public
schools; colleges are only in six
cities in the Kingdom of Russia.
In fact the Russian government be-
lieves in keeping their citizens in
ignorance.
There is not one Y. M. G. A. in
the kingdom of Russia. There is
one Y. w. G. A. in the City of st.
Petersburg where few members of
the Protestant church are trying to
enlarge the membership, but the
Russian government does not ap-
prove of such institutions. There
are some people in Russia who do
not know, that such countries as the
United States or England exists.
They believe that Russia is the only
leivilized nation in the world. If a
foreigner should happen to ask Rus
sian peasant what he knows of for.
eign countries his answer would be
that all foreigners are Indians only
half civilized. Their dress consists
of large shirt worn over the pants
reaching to the knees, and a heavy
rope around their waists in place of
belt. The poor farmer sits on the
floor to eat his meals instead of using
chairs, and uses large wooden
spoon in place of knife. can
assure you that to some people In
Russia knives and forks would be a
luxury. I do not mean silver. but
iron or steel.
In large cities they have beautiful
parks and fine residences and also
very good hotels. but only the rich
enjoy these. The poor man of Rus
sia has no chance whatever to bet
ter his condition. In Russia when
three or four men are out walking
in the evening and happen to stop
on some corner to have a short talk
they are liable to be arrested and
put in prison for six months or one
year without preliminary hearing,
on suspicion of being Nihilist; and
the prisons of Russia are not like
those of a civilized country. Pris-
oners have to sleep on cement
floor without a mattress or pillow
and the food is of the very poorest.
The Russian Prison
If there is such a thing as hell,
then it is in Russian prison, / know
of one man that was sent to Siberia
for life. for a crime which civilized
country would consider an out
rage not only to send him to prison,
but to even arrest him on such
charge.
The labor in Russia is very cheap.
You can hire a servant for thirty
rubles per year, in American money
it would amount to fifteen dollars.
A clerk gets two hundred rubles per
year. in our money about one hum
dred dollars; private soldier gets
three copecks month, which is one
cent and a half in our money. and if
his conduct should not be good he is
liable to lose that. Food is very
cheap you can buy fair meal for
five cents. You can buy eggs at
seven cents a dozen. House rent is
very low. A poor man in Russia
knows nothing about amusement,
the only thing he knows is to wor-
ship the Czar. and if man should
say one word against the Gar it is
good bye for him. No stranger can
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