OUR RUSSIAN LETTER

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13739, 21 May 1910, Page 6

OUR RUSSIAN LETTER

(FROM OUR OWN* CORRESPONDENT.) ST. PETERSBURG, April 2. The Emperor is now to be seen driving about the streets of his capital several days a week, and any precau-. tions that may be, and of course are, taken, remain as invisible to the ordinary public as in the case of any other civilised capital. His Majesty usually occupies an open carriage, sitting entirely alone, and sometimes without even a lackey on tho box. There is nothing whatever distinctive about the carriage to attract attention, but a high police official generally drives quietly some twenty or thirty yards ahead of the private carriage of the Emperor.

There Ls much surprise, and perhaps also a little contcmf.i., in. Russia f-or the action of certain eminent British and other jurists in venturing to express an ex cathedra opinion on thei vexed question of I.usso-Finnish relations on an examination of only such documents as the Finnish agitators at work in Europe liave thought fit to bring to their notice. Xo person, however eminent in the law or any other science, is justified in publishing quasiauthoritative opinions on such a matter without reference to authentic documents. These are for the most part in the Russian language, any other versions being translations of the official Russian text; therefore, a knowledge of the Russian language is a .preliminary essential to the forming of an opinion. The insertion of a word or two here, the omission of a word or two there, are sufficient to vitiate any act of importance. Now, it is an undeniable fact that the translations of Russian laws affecting Finland into German or French, still more into Swedish and Finnish, have been made in this way, and any judgments based upon them are valueless. There are in Europe and in England not a few eminent jurists, and it is within tho knowledge of the writer that some, whose fame is as high as any, expressly refused to have anything to do with this matter, for the very reason given above, that only the Finnish side of the question had so far been heard. The Agrarian Settlement Bill, commenly known as tho 9th November Bill, passed the Upper House second reading yesterday, and is now assured of becoming the law of the land iri regular form, with the support of both legislative chambers after exhaustive discussion. This measure is one of the greatest Acts of Russian history. Tiie Russian muzhik working as a member of a "comunal" village proprietorship of land, has made his industry felt in the world's markets. How much more will this be the case when the great grain-growing resources of Russia are worked by freeholders inspired with the ambitions of the free man! It is said that tho texile industries of Russia depend for success at bottom on whether the muzhik of the fields can affard to buy one new red shirt per season or two. The criterion works out roughly pretty well, and if the textile industry is prosperous the buying power of Russia for foreign goods of many kinds is enormously increased, thus giving a stimulus to trade all round. When, the muzhik becomes a freeholder" his wants will extend, indeed are already found to be extending, considerably beyond the possession of a new Sundayred shirt, and perhaps a head-kerchief for his "baba." What this Bill promises to effect in the course of the next generation is a considerable shifting of the centre of gravity of at least the trade of Europe, while the stupendous "emigration" movement to Siberia suggests , far-reachinc changes * elsewhere also. Russia has not yet come to her strength, and her people are becoming more and more alive to the wider vistas opening before them in the future history of their country and the world at large. It would be well for the nonRussian nations to watch Russian development closely ; at present but little interest is taken in matters of historical and w r orld-wide consequence.

An interesting report to the Archaeological Society here dealt with the activity of Japan in the Far East. The lecturer showed that Japan was organising her forces to assume the role of ccnsolidator of the Far East, where she was acting as the means of uniting the culture of the "West to the immemorial traditions of the East. Emphasis was laid upon the fact that while Germany was particularly active in the Far East, other nations, and Russia; especially, appeared to be asleep. Japan, when she wanted information in 1908,' was abk- to appoint from one of her institutions, no fewer than 272 fully qualified agents all over China, and obtained from them in a year some 20,000 pages of reports. A new dictionary under Japanese auspices, which set before itself the task of discovering the smallest number of hieroglyphs which could be used in common by the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean languages, was strongly symptomatic of Japanese energy in the mission she had set Before herself.

Tho- "epidemic of suicide,'' which it was hoped had subsided, appears to have broken out again: yesterday there were in St. Petersburg thirtythree attempts at suicide, by persons of both sexes, and all ages from fifteen to forty. Fifteen .attempts have already ended in death. The most* striking is that of three young girls, two sisters agod eighteen and nineteen, and a friend aged sixteen. All three bore alien names, apparently Jewish, and the youngest gin, the friend of the two bisttrs, had recently come into an enormous fortune. Alter writing a number of letters, practically in identical terms, to relatives, the three girls knelt and prayed, one of them performed Chopin's "Dead March", on the piano, some poetry was declaimed, and then each girl swallowed enough prussic acid to kill a dozen people. The reason for the deed given in the letters left behind was that, none of the girls, who were still engaged in school-studies, bad been able to ''see any meaning in

A characteristic incident took, place recently in the Duma, wlien a peasant deputy was suspended for five sittings lor a remark from the tribune considered derogatory to the dignity of the Orthodox Church. Speaking of the role played by the Russian priests in politics, both inside and outside the Duma, the peasant member reminded them of their higher calling, and concluded, "but it would take too much water to 'christen up' all these priests." The popular expression translated in these words signifies to "convert to Christianity," and the speaker's plain meaning was that many Orthodox priests mixing in politics "fail to practise some of the highest principles of Christianity. It gives the non-Rus-sian a painful shock with even' visit to the riuina to descry among tho hurlvburly of Russian politics a large number of Orthodox priests in their conspicuous long robes, with long curled hair, nnd wearing the symbol ot Christianity conspicuously on their breasts, a cross hanging from a gold or silver chain.'

The Russian Duma is descending rapidh the steep path that leads to destruction. Since the formation of coterie*, inclining more to the Right than the Octobriste, the recurring scenes of rou'dyism have increased in intensity and frequency. Other symptomatic signs arc the fact that tho Premier Minister now never appears in the. Duma, and other -Ministers fail to give much satisfaction when they do appear, and several this week have been grossly insulted by the general bearing towards them of the Duma on occasions: when they, almost perforce, attend to deal with the votes for their several Departments! The treatment

of the Minister of Justice, and esjjeciully of the Minister of "Popular Enlightenment" (Education), oven allowing for the patent fact that both these Ministers run their Departments on the old lines of the obsolete autocracy, and are more than suspected of strenuously supporting the Black Gung, have this'week and last been treated by the Duma generally with obvious marks of contempt. M. Kokovtsev alone of Ministers seems to have succeeded in hitting the happy mean necessary in dealing -with a public assembly of tho nature of the Duma, and his speeches,' which are never brief ones, obtain a hearing, whereas other Ministers are invaxiaoly interrupted with outcries from individual members of parties opposed to this or that view that the Minister may find occasion to express. The rowdyism of tha Duma, almost invariaJbly arises from some use of words that are taboo in polite society in any country, Russia included. There,.is no general sense of propriety accepted as a standard for the Duma, eacli party backing up its members in Yth-3 use of expressions and sentiments that probably not an individual of any party would use in a drawing-room Then all parties in. turn take.occasijn to protest in language carefully, weighed, written down and signed by members, hut conveying really awful charges, against the action of tho President of the Duiiia, M. Kliomiakov In short, the Duma has no respect far itself, continually shows openly it* want of respect for its President: "is various parties have no respect for mc another as members of a common public body. Its time is wasted in petty squabbles on minor party difference's : the serious careful work done I y committees, especially on the Budget, is turned into ridicule by butrageo.is speeches in the House where Minister"? are flouted and members lose all senp of dignity. The llnssian Ministers, of course, are not responsible to the Duma, hut they have hitherto attended whenever their presence could he useful. The last session, during which the "Immoderate Rights." as thery have been christened, hayo set the tone, assisted by the extremists of the I/eft, 's showing all" the-"vices of a public Kodv on the eve of dissolution, riot from any nressurc exercised from without, but by reason of its .own poverty in the power of dohesion. ' "-"fl.'ere", arc. more warring partirs in the Duma today than there were three years a""*, and the tendene'y is +o advance with increasing rapidity &long the same downhill path, until the time will. ,-.s it sppms now, not lie far distant when the Duma becomes a fortuitous *•'«"- ---f-omblpiro of a torn». each warring wit"-. its neighbour. A strong man might save the situation, but a strong man in the Duma would nrnhnbly prov- - . distasteful t~ ot?i«*r cstahlishod nrenns of the complicated system "bf^ Russian government. *