RUSSIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS IN BANISHMENT.

Western Star, Issue 430, 26 March 1881, Page 1 (Supplement)

RUSSIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS IN BANISHMENT.

The following " particulars respecting the banishment l oi political offenders in Russia under the' ‘‘ Third "Section "<> irito the ArkaUgel:district 1 is given ;by>the. correspondent 6£ theSiandard&t Moscow “ In. the 1 cheeriess region oi Arkangel, of which the aborigines say; ‘ Grod made Russia, jbnt the devil ' made .Arkangel; there are more than two hundred of those banished ones men and women, all young, all pooti toost of' them sent without "trial, few amongst them 'knowing even of what they are accused. '’Victor Ivanovitch dines' with his friend B;; for instance, arid after a stroll| boulevard they separate. B. is arrested that very'evening,'and When Victor; Astounded Arid' horrolr-stribkeh;; hastens to inquire the cause; he finds; even B.’s own fatheri as’uihch in the dark as he is himSeif.’ All questions and petition's on the subject receive Tagtie ' admirii’stra,tive answers; ! all friends • And * relatifeS are systematicaily ditodhraged' 'And silenced. Eagerly they wait: arid watch for the numerous political trials that come on without iritethiisriqh, lipping .to, seethe missing one’s name oh the list 1 of criminals, or see his facp ' once more', let it be even in the bhV. i SAS.’*‘hpy,; wait and watch, the .‘.prisoner is, without any trial, en route for Arkangel. ; , . ; * * Arrive'd’'il^e^jA». Whatever, ,tjie crime!.. alleged, ; the age or sex, the prisoner., is' taken,Ap;the u .pplice; ward —a dreary! log building,, eohtainiugi two sections, men!.; the' other ;for ] women. . The solitary table,, apd . chair, ; the four walls, and ejeni.the ceiling are; covered with the names of j youthful p.re-: decessors,;whose pencilled jests:and ; clever ; caricatures hear witness to and confidence in 'themselves with; which they began „their,-li£e. in.,.exile. In thisj dreary abode a week or ten days is spent,! While the;gqyernor;pff!Arkangel; after due' reflection! marks 'oht'for this 'dangerous' personage some final" place of exile, some, miserable little 1 district 1 towri;'! , kueh ! ' as; Holihogpr, ? ; 1 S henkohrsk I ,’ " Pinega;' 1 oh Mezen ;. he is' then"’ told, ihents ” are ready, arid A gehdahme enters; "sAying it 'is time to start. The prisoner jumps into! the gendarmes jump in after bim, . the. troikabell above, the hprse’s neck .begins to ripg i-r-and rings ! Pn for days and weeks—through j.wood, and swamp; land'plain; along Arctic: roads inconceivably dread arid Ipnely, until ; the Weary convoy" at length arrives- at its 1 destiriatipri;j ! . The little tpwh is small and black; consists of log huts, two 1 uhpayed streets; A wooden 'paihted’, green; ■ Jive ; «tgck;;;Tisiple, > ten, l qr torses, a herd of sickly cows, ah,d thirty or fprty reindeer, v,The pppulatipn, rarely exceeds one thousand, and consists:of the , JsprAvhikj 1 .'tea > Aubalterni: officers^,ithe •Arbiter of theTeaee, the Crown Forester,; • a’-;priest; A' few 3 Bhopkeepeds;'thirty" Pd 'fPkty 'exiles; A'' cham-gafig‘of’f God-fort ! gotten-’.■Russian' felons, ahd _ ! a crowd ,pf J EihmSh beggars.; 1 . Oh his'arrival/the’ 'sprier straight to the prilice ward j Wpere \ h?-'■ W 3 P® 1 ?. a police officer, who Is, absolute, lordjhnd j jmwtWiof>;ittie,.dißtriot. •••.•XJiis representa-- v tive of ' the Goviernment requires of him to pns’Wer the following "questions :-r-His name ? How old ? 1 Married-or single ? Where’ ‘from ? : 1 Address'iof parents; or Telatidnk; or friends;:" Answers' tp all of #hich ! Afe entered in the hooks. ‘ A solemn promise iri then 5 exacted of hiiri’ phat he will npt give lessons of any kind, or try to !t,eaeh Any one;, .'that eyefy lettey he writes will go through the Ispravnik’s k a ris s » and that he will follow up. occupation except;shoemaking, .carpentering, -or, field labor/ u; He ■is then told he is Tree ht but at the same time is solemnly warned that ' should he ! attempt to pass the limits of the' town he shall be shot down like a dog rather than be allowed to escape, and should he be'taken alive , shall be sent off tp Eastern' Siberia without further fprr mality than that of the Ispraynik’s personal order., q;-.,. ;, The poor .fellow takes up his little bundle, and, fully realising that he has now bidden farewell to the culture and material comfort of his past life, he walks out irito the cheerless street. A group of exiles, all pale arid emaciated, are there to greet him, take him to some of their miserable lodgings, and feverishly demand news from home. The new-comer gazes on them, as, one in a dream. Some are melancholy mad, others nervously irritable, and the remainder have evidently tried to find solace in drink. They live in communities of twos and threes, have food, a scanty provision of clothes, money, and books, in common, and consider it their sacred duty to help each other in every emergency without distinction of sex, rank, or. Age! The noble by birth get sixteen shillings a month from Government for their maintenance, and commoners only ten, although many of them are married, and sent into' exile with young families. Daily a gendarme visits their lodgings, inspects the premises when and how he pleases, and now and then makes some mysterious entry in his note, hook. Should any of their number carry a warm dinner, a pair of newly-mended boots, of a change of linen to some passing exile lodged for the moment in the police ward, it is just as likely as not marked against him as a crime. It is a crime to come and see a friend off? or ac-

company. him a little on the way.. In fact, .should the Ispravnik feel, out of sprts--rthe effect of cards and drink—-he vents, his bad temper on. the exiles; and as .cards t and., drink are the favourite amusements ■in these dreary regions; crimes are marked down against the exiles in astonishing numbers, and a report of ofthem sent to the governor of the province. Winter lasts eight months, a period during which, the 'surrounding country presents, the , appearance of, a noiseless,. Tifeiess,.- frozen .marah?!, roads, no cbimhumcatioh,,with, the outer world, no; xnpanA, of eseape, s In? riojirse of .time almost every individual) exile is attacked' by, nervous: convulsions,, followed by>iprolonged"Apathy 'and prostration. They '• begin* to J quarrel; and even to hate each 'other;'"'Some 1 of them riohtrive to false ’ 'passports;; and by a miracle, as it /were, make’ their escape, but’ the *greaf - majority ,of these victims of the Third Section, either go mad, commit sniride, or die ot.delifiurn, '. i t ,1