THE ICE IS BREAKING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2571, 24 June 1903, Page 65

THE ICE IS BREAKING.

I have just been reading two books about Russia — I read everything 1 can find about Russia — and the two books produced on me singular contradictions of sentiment. One of the books is entitled '"(Jiexter Russia"'; it is written by Mr Wirt Gerrare, and it is issued by the same publisher as that of the other book — that on Poland, with which I am about to deal. In Mr Gerrare's book you see a Russia that is progressive, energetic, even to some extent enlightened, and a pioneer and an advance guard in .the work of conqueiing and civilising the world; and nobody can read such an account of Russia without an intense fealing of hopefulness with regard to that wondrons Empire. I hope in a few weeks to lay before niy readers an exhaustive survey of Russia, founded on ilr GJerrare's book. For the moment I have to confine myself to that other book ; and here the impression is sometimes too sombre for words. It is disheartening ; it almost makes one despair to turn from the one Russia to the other ; from Russia the liberator to Russia the oppressor ; but in my quality as impartial critic it is as much a duty for me to reveal the one as the other.

The origin of the book on Poland is a trip which Mi* George Brandes, the celebrated Danish* critic, was invited to make Warsaw to give some lectures on Polish literature. The trip was repeated four times, and the impressions received are recorded by Mr Brandes in the book that lies before me. Mr Brandes. of course, took Vienna on .his way to Warsaw, and enjoyed, as everybody does, the delights of that city of freedom — social as well as political freedom. Vienna, indeed, almost seems to be fashioned with dramatic art by destiny and by geography to point more clearly the contrast between its freedom and the slavery of Poland. The moment the traveller gets to ,the Polish frontier the contrast begins. Mr Brandes, as becomes a literary man, had brought with him a trunkful of books. One was the Nouvelle Revue of Paris. The Russian police at on:e were alarmed, and the following colloquy took place : '' ' What is this?' ' A French periodical.' ' What does it contain?' 'Do you understand French?' 'No.' 'Is there anybody here who understands French?' 'No.' 'There axe all sorts of things in it; there are two numbers, and there are ten articles in each number. It is impossible to tell in a word what they contain.' 'Then we shall take it and send it to the censor in Warsaw.' 'Is this periodical forbidden?' ' Everything is forbidden that I do not know, and I do not know this book.' "

After this the police ofiiceis began to examine the trunk in which Brandes had his books. Every book, every pamphlet was dug out and laid aside ; every newspaper, "even the newspapers in which my shoes were wiapped, were t.iken out, smoothed, and laid in a pile " Dr Brandes pleaded th.it the Danish books and newspapers m'uht be L'ft to him, since 110 haim could bo done with them in Poland, where no one understands Danish:

"'ln tlie censor' .s office they understand all languages I ,' was the answer. ' Grant ! that is true, altho i«h I have my doubts.; but the Government censor, who is a Russian, I cannot corrupt, and the other people do not understand Dani&h, do they?' 'That 1 is true from ymir point of view.' was the answer; aiu 1 acting from their point of view they kept the books." i And then came a characteristic little 1 example of thp chaotic stupidity which is ahvavs one of (he characteristics of such a Wannv as thi=, Among the books of Dr 'Rrandes was a Danish-French dictionary.

"I showd them that it wa<» a dictionary. th.it the words were ai ranged in column-*. They racked their brains over it-. At la>t. after mature reflection, they r,ave me the first part. A— L, but with very serious looks 1 pnl, iced p.irt M— Z amon,? the literatiue \»ln<h the censor was to examine."

'Thus." v. n(p«. Di Biamles. "on the vei v finnlier itself we got the feehns; that from tin* point v.v v.er? outsida the precincts of leal European civilisation." Ido not paii^f to notice tli -* many othei proofs there were of this painful chancre — I accompany Dr Brandes to Warsaw. The impression he gives of the appearance of thi>> city is veiy

paiuful : it recoils to my mind the feelmz? with which I was overwhelmed on Hie sad two days I .spent a few rears ago in Ntra.*burg, that other city where brute force has trampled on human hearts Here is the lippre^ive language in winch Dr Hiand°s

p-unts War«-uv • "The city is of great extent, but with its d"caved grandeur and the ho-rible memmies it calif up at every turn it makes- a mournful impression. Tn "the la.st century, next to Paii«. it was the most brilliant city in Europe: no'v it if .1 Russian provincial town It thon had the "haracter of pro-

dismal splendour: now it is a forlorn, neglected pla<e, which declines more and more eveiv day. not the least thing being done by

thp 'iiithoiitif ■> for its appearance and im I piuvemenL It cuts one to the heart to &cc

the wretchedly-paved streets or the terrible old sandstone figures in the Saxon garden; on coming from a luxurious city like Vienna, or one which has blossomed out with snch' rapidity as Berlin. For wheveas the capitals of other countries elsewhere are generally the object of the ruler?' care, almost of their tenderness, and cities elsewhere from mere self-love take ueed of beauty and convenience, and strive to provide as great attractions for country folks and foreigners as possible, Warsaw is the capital of a country whose existence the Government does not recognise, and is a city whose pride the Government wishes to humble in every way. We must remember th.il Warsaw has no ' Home Rule." no civic council, and nothing at all like it ... Only a. part of the taxes collected in the city is used for the city itself; the ivmamd.i goC to St. Petersburg. Ru^nn s C .]f makes all the airangenpnls, : ml Russian coveteousness carries them out.''

IV. The worst part, uei'hips, of the tyranny; of Russian Poland is the war- made upon the Polish language. The lengths to which the authoiities go on this, point are almost incredible ; and the consequences are equally, disastrous tc Russian and to Polish progress, as well as to liberty. "The Polish language i» absolutely forbidden in the University. All lectures, no matter whether they are delivered by men of Russian or Polish birth, must be in Russian. Not even the history of Polish litera* ture may be taught in the language of iiiecountry. Nay, even in the corridors of the University the students are forbidden tv; speak Polish with each other." This prohibition extends to the school as well. . Even the scanty ms-tiuction in the Polish language is given in Russian.' And now here are two almost incredible instances of the rigour with which these regulations are carried out ; if we did not know Dr Brandes to be the perfectly veracious mac he is it would be difficult to accept what he says : '"So strict is the pnihibifcioi asainsb speaking Polish in phy time, or generally in the school grounds, that a boy of 12 years old wa« recently shut up for 24 hours in the d-irk because coming out of school he said to a eomr.<d« in Polish, 'Let us go home together.' " Here is a worse instance: "In a family which I was invited to visit the following incident happened. The son of the family, a boy of 16. the only son of a widow, one evening in the theatre had thrown a wreath to Helena Modrzejewska on behalf of his comrades A few! days after, in obedience to -in order from, the Minister of Education, the principal of the school calkd him up and told him that he must not only leave the school, bnfc that future admission to any r^her school -.vhafiever was forbidden him: it wa= In? punishment for having been guilty of a Polish demonstration. The boy went home nncl put d bul'et through his held."

The v.ir upon Polish lias e>pr2ial!y disastrous effects in the case of the peasants. Instruction can only be given in Russian; but they don't understand Russian, and, therefore, they rennin in ignorance, with the appalling result in the«e days of universal teaching that only one-fifth of the population in Poland can lend and write. A remarkable nxanmile of the tenacity with which the peasantry ttick to tha'r lnngungcJ is given in this fact. Some Polish ladies and gentlemen gave wav on the language question, and opened a school themselves to teach the peasants through Russia, arguing that education through Russia was batter than no education at all. Bui no oue ."yttended: the peasants prefoired ignoiance to instruction in a foreign tongue Now and again the tyranny is drvwn too tight, and then it defeats itself._ For instance, it was deeroed that all letters should 1 be addressed in Russian characters ; the falling off in the stamp duty was so great that the deciee hud to be reversed.

V. Personal liberty, of course, under suoh a system does not exist. Everybody if at the mercy of the police. The articles in newspapers have all to be sent lo the censor before they can be inserted, and this-, one might .suppose, wo aid be a guarantee against imprisonment for a press offence; but young authors are constantly sent to serve a teirn of imprisonment in the prisons of Russia. Whether they are imprisoned for what the censor struck out or for the intentions that were supposed to lie behind their words, or simply pour encourager Iss a utres, it is impossible to decide. TJ:ft impiisonment is tue act of the police, and' not either of law or a tribunal. There is one word which "is in the air of Warsaw"— it is a sceptre "which broods over the city like a nightmare"; it is "the threat which! lurk.s about every man's door, the memory, of which is to be read in the faces of so many men and women." That word, it is

■ needless to say, is Siberia! And then " comes this ghastly array of the figures that have been made familiar with Siberia : "The first lady I took in to dinner on - the first day of my stay in Warsaw, a beautiful, elegant woman, with a Mona Lisa smile, and something proud in her bearing, ■ spent three years in the mines of Siberia. " She had carried a letter during the revolt. The next evening, in a not very large room, more than 200 years of Siberia were collected. There were not a few men who had epent from 1863 to 1883 *there, if we reckon the time it took for them to go on foot. . . . One evening, at a party, a young man asked mo to talk a little with his fatfier, who was sitting in a corner. 'He is, 1 he said, ' the old man with one leg you Bee there.' He had lost a foot in the revolt, was exiled, and had been obliged to walk the whole distance on his wooden leg : It took him two winters and one summer." This essay from which I am quoting was written in 1885. If I mistake not the prisoners to Siberia are now conveyed by steamer and train. •

VI. One result of all this tyranny is to make the enmity and opposition to it more fierce and more resolute — this, fortunately, is usually the effect of 4j' r an n y on mankind. If it had not been for this tremendous power of resistance in tht human heart, liberty .would have disappearpd in more than one ,Lmd by this time. Oi^e of the finest forms which protest in Poland takes against Russia is in the refusal of all the honours which the Russian State is ready to lavish on the Poles who are. willing to abandon the [struggle. When one thinks of now much time-serving and vanity and love of distinction, social anil otherwise, there is in human nature, this is an extraordinary jroof of heroic virtues. Here is en example of this fine spirit : "When I went to a ball in the Town Hall on my first evening in Warsaw, where a thousand people, the flower of good society 5n Warsaw. -R-ere assembled in a large saloon, the fact struck me that, with the exception of three Russian officers, there was not a jnan in the ball who wore a decoration. 'From his birth alnnst every Pole renounces decorations as* well as uniforms. There is k tale told in Warsaw of a poor school teacher who had distinguished himself and received the order of Stanislaus. H> kept it hidden, and only used it to punish his children with. When the youngest was nauehty, he said. 'If yon cry again you shall wear the order of Stanislaus about your neok at dinner.' That was enough." And here is fine summing-up of Dr ißrandes of the moral effect of all this discipline upon the Polish character : "Perhaps, after all, then* is no condition tnore elevating -for a race than one in which no distinguished man has ever nny external distinction, title, or decoration, and where tho official tinsel of honour is regarded as 'a disgrace : while, on the other hand, the infflcial garb of discraoe. the political prison is regarded as honourable."

Place aux dames. It is time to say something of the Polish woman ; for, according to all testimony, she has been the chief agency in keeping alive the fire of resistance :

" The men,'* writes Dr Branded, "in •Poland are certainly not wanting in passion, in courag and in energy, in wit, in love 'of freed'-jj, but it seems as if the women have more of these qualities. In Poland's '•great uprisings they have bocn known to lenter into conspiracies, to do military duty, and frequently enough, of their own free .•will, to accompany their loved ones to JSiberia. Celebrated above all others is ■Emilia Plater, a young lady o r one of the ■"first families of Poland, who, in 1830, induced a whole district to rise in rebellion, : &ook part in several battles, and, at last, Qjaving joined the detachments under Demibinski, which refused to take refuge on Prussian soil, attempted^ to cut her way >with her corps through the hostile army, tout, in December, 1831, died of want and over-exertion, at the age of 26, in the hut of a forester. . . . During the rebellion tof 1830-31, there was not a battalion in jwnich there were no female combatants. f After a battle or a mardT the soldiers always arranged a bivouac for the women, just as they took care that no word was spoken ;which could offend their ears." And here finally is a picture of the terrible mental depression which this allpervading tyranny has produced : "Op; "to the Polish life, impulsive, (pulsating, now weaker, now stronger, stands •the heavy Russian force system, working like a machine, the mechanism of eradication and extermination. . . . Against everything, even things the most airy and spiritual, the system has a prohibition. For the national dress it has j;iven a uniform : for songs, silence ; for lau.-;htei , silence ; for wailing, silence; for speech, alence; and

for everything which is published at home or abroad, the censor. It has built a -wall about this land, and striven to mnj,<e it so high that no bird can fly over it, and so dense that no breeze can pass through it. . Laughter is not forbidden, but it forbids itself. It is so rare that a foreigner •who late at night, in the society of his acquaintances, laughs aloud at same conceit sees the police and gendarmes assemble with signs of astonishment. I never heard any laughter in the streets of Warsaw but my own." That is a ghastly picture, and even a hopeless one; but be patient, the break-up will come as^ surely that of the ice that binds the Neva in its iron chains for nearly half a year. ' Indeed, if you ju&t listen, you will hear already the rumble and the opening roar. When I come soon to deal with the signs and portetivS in Russia herself, I think you will find that your ears have not lied. The ice is breaking—breaking—breaking.—T. P.'s Weekly.