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part05+-第9部分

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against the Jews at Kishineff; which he might easily have



prevented; and nothing more cruel or short…sighted than his



dealings with Finland has been known since Louis XIV revoked the



Edict of Nantes。 I can only explain his course by supposing that



he sought to win the favor of the reactionary faction which; up



to the present time; has controlled the Czar; and thus to fight



his way toward the highest power。 He made of the most loyal and



happy part of the empire the most disloyal and wretched; he



pitted himself against the patriotism; the sense of justice; and



all the highest interests and sentiments of the Finnish people;



and he met his death at the hands of an avenger; who; in



destroying the enemy of his country; has struck a fearful blow at



his country's happiness。







While a thoughtful American must condemn much which he sees in



Russia; there is one thing which he cannot but admire and



contrast to the disadvantage of his own country; and this is the



fact that Russia sets a high value upon its citizenship。 Its



value; whatever it may be; is the result of centuries of



struggles; of long outpourings of blood and treasure; and



Russians believe that it has been bought at too great a price and



is in every way too precious to be lavished and hawked about as a



thing of no value。 On the other hand; when one sees how the



citizenship of the United States; which ought to be a millionfold



more precious than that of Russia; is conferred loosely upon tens



of thousands of men absolutely unfit to exercise it;whose



exercise of it seems; at times; likely to destroy republican



government; when one sees the power of conferring it granted to



the least respectable class of officials at the behest of ward



politicians; without proper safeguards and at times without any



regard to the laws; when one sees it prostituted by men of the



most unfit class;and; indeed; of the predatory class;who have



left Europe just long enough to obtain it; and then left America



in order to escape the duties both of their native and their



adopted country; and to avail themselves of the privileges of



both citizenships without one thought of the duties of either;



using them often in careers of scoundrelism;one feels that



Russia is nearer the true ideal in this respect than we are。







As a matter of fact; there is with us no petty joint…stock



company in which an interest is not virtually held to be superior



to this citizenship of ours for which such sacrifices have been



made; and for which so many of our best men have laid down their



lives。 No stockholder in the pettiest manufacturing company



dreams of admitting men to share in it unless they show their



real fitness to be thus admitted; but admission to American



citizenship is surrounded by no such safeguards: it has been



cheapened and prostituted until many who formerly revered it have



come to scoff at it。 From this evil; at least; Russia is free。















CHAPTER XXXV







〃ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN〃 IN RUSSIA1892…1894







Still another department which interested me was that known as



the 〃Ministry of Public Enlightenment;〃 its head being Count



Delyanoff。 He was certainly a man of culture; but the title of



his department was a misnomer; for its duty was clearly to



prevent enlightenment in the public at large。 The Russian theory



is; evidently; that a certain small number should be educated up



to a certain point for the discharge of their special duties; but



that; beyond this; anything like the general education of the



people is to be discouraged; hence the Russian peasant is the



most ignorant and helpless in Christendom。







There was evidently a disposition among very many of the most



ardent Russians to make a merit of this imperfect civilization;



and to cultivate hatred for any people whom they clearly saw



possessing anything better: hence it came that; just as so many



Frenchmen hate Great Britain; and so many in the backward;



slipshod regions of our country hate New England; it was quite



the fashion among large classes of Russians to hate everything



German; and especially to detest the Baltic provinces。







One evening during my stay a young Russian at a social gathering



of military and other officials voiced this feeling by saying; 〃I



hope the time will soon come when we shall have cleared out all



these Germans from the Russian service; they are the curse of the



country。〃 Thereupon a young American present; who was especially



noted for his plain speaking; immediately answered; 〃How are you



going to do it? I notice that; as a rule; you rarely give a



position which really involves high responsibility to a Russian;



you generally give it to a German。 When the Emperor goes to the



manoeuvers; does he dare trust his immediate surroundings to a



Russian? Never; he intrusts them to General Richter; who is a



Baltic…Province German。 And when his Majesty is here in town does



he dare trust his personal safety to a Russian? Not at all; he



relies on Von Wahl; prefect of St。 Petersburg; another German。〃



And so this plain…spoken American youth went on with a full



catalogue of leading Baltic…Province Germans in positions of the



highest responsibility; finally saying; 〃You know as well as I



that if the salvation of the Emperor depended on any one of you;



and you should catch sight of a pretty woman; you would instantly



forget your sovereign and run after her。〃







Richter and Von Wahl I knew; and they were certainly men whom one



could respect;thoughtful; earnest; devoted to duty。 Whenever



one saw the Emperor at a review; Richter was close at hand;



whenever their Majesties were at the opera; or in any public



place; there was Von Wahl with his eyes fastened upon them。







The young American might now add that when a man was needed to



defend Port Arthur another German was chosenStoessel; whose



heroism the whole world is now applauding; as it once applauded



Todleben; the general of German birth who carried off the Russian



laurels of the Crimean War。







One Russian official for whom there seemed to be deep and wide



respect was Count Woronzoff…Daschkoff; and I think that our



irrepressible American would have made an exception in his favor。



Calling upon him one day regarding the distribution of American



relief to famine…stricken peasants; I was much impressed by his



straightforward honesty: he was generally credited with stopping



the time…honored pilfering and plundering at the Winter Palace。







One of the most interesting of all the Russians I met was General



Annenkoff。 His brother…in…law; Struve; Russian minister at



Washington; having given me a letter to him; our relations became



somewhat close。 He had greatly distinguished himself by building



the trans…Caucasian railway; but his main feat had been the



annexation of Bokhara。 The story; as told me by a member of his



family; is curious。 While superintending his great force of men



and pushing on the laying of the rails through the desert; his



attention was suddenly called to some horsemen in the distance;



riding toward him with all their might。 On their arrival their



leader was discovered to be a son of the Ameer of Bokhara。 That



potentate having just died; the other sons were trying to make



their way to the throne by cutting each other's throats; but this



one had thought it wise to flee to the Russians for safety。



Annenkoff saw the point at once: with a large body of his cavalry



he started immediately for Bokhara; his guest by his side; pushed



his way through all obstacles; seated the young prince on the



throne; and so made him a Russian satrap。 I shall speak later of



the visit of this prince to St。 Petersburg。 It was evident that



Annenkoff; during my stay; was not in favor。 It was said that he



had been intrusted with large irrigation…works in order to give



employment to peasants during the famine; and that he had not



managed them well; but it was clear that this was not the main



difficulty: he was evidently thought too progressive and liberal;



and in that seething caldron of intrigue which centers at the



Winter Palace his ambitions had come to grief。







Another Russian who interested me was Glalkin Wraskoy。 He was



devoted; night and day; to improving the Russian prison system。



That there was much need of such work was certain; but the fact



that this personage in government employ was so devoted to



improvements; and had called together in Russia a convention of



men interested in the amelioration of prison systems; led me to



think that the Russian Government is not so utterly and wilfully



cruel in its prison arrangements as the Western world has been



led to think。







Another interesting Russian was Count Orloff Davidoff; and on my



meeting him; just after his return from the Chicago Exposition;



at General Annenkoff's table; he entertained me with his



experiences。 On my asking him what was the most amusing thing he



had seen in America; he answered that it was a 〃sacred concert;〃



on Sunday; at a church in Colorado Springs; in which the music of



Strauss's waltzes and Offenbach's comic songs were leading



features; the audience taking them all very solemnly。







In the literary direction I found Prince John Galitzin's readings



from French dramas delightful。 As to historical studies; the most



interesting man I found
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