'mWii if M'f!Kf\ M^Mmmm0MWi (H^atmll Hmoetattg Hihcara Htljara, Kem IJorh FROM THE BENNO LOEWY LIBRARY COLLECTED BY BENNO LOEWY 1854-1919 BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY i ne date shows when this volume was taken. HOME USE RULES AH books subject to recall All borrowers must regis- ter in the library to borrow books for home use. AU books must be re- turned at end of college year for inspection and repairs. Limited books must be returned within the four week limit and not renewed. Students must return all books before leaving town. Officers should arrange for the return of books wanted during their absence from town. Volumes of periodicals and of pamphlets are held in the library as much as possible. For special pur- poses they are given out for a limited time. Borrowers should not use their library privilege^ for the benefit of other persons. Books of special value and gift, books, when the giver wishes it, are not allowed to circulate. Readers are asked to re- port all cases of books marked or mutilated. Do not deface books by marks and writing. Cornell University Library DK 262. Y69 Abused Russia. 3 1924 028 379 414 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028379414 ABUSED RUSSIA His Excellency A. S. Yekmeloff To whom the book is dedicated ABUSED RUSSIA BY DR. C. C. YOUNG NEW YORK THE DEVIN^ADAIR COMPANY 437 FIFTH AVENUE IJKMVr-ur^fTY l-H^hAKY Copyright, 1915, by THE DEVIN-ADAIR COMPANY .1 .^.\'M'\\\v\> Y'l H'\ i;- jiHviiiP Bebtcateb TO ONE OF RUSSIA'S GREAT MEN, HIS EXCELLENCY A. S. YERMOLOFF, LIFE MEMBER OF HIS MAJESTY'S COUN- CIL, TO WHOM I AM DEEPLY GRATEFUL FOR THE NUMEROUS COURTESIES SHOWN ME WHILE TRAVELING IN RUSSIA, AND FOR HIS IN- TEREST IN SUBMITTING MY ARTICLES TO HIS GRACIOUS EMPEROR, NICHOLAS 11 CONTENTS PAOB Peeface .11 Chapteb I Some False Impeessions ....... 17 Chapter II A Bit of Eaelt Russian History 31 Chapter III The Russian Temperament 41 Chapter IV The Religious View of the Russian .... 47 Chapter V The Cossack 63 Chapter VI The Passport System » . . 57 Chapter VII Regarding a New Treaty with Russia ... 66 Chapter VIII The Russian Jews , ... 70 Chapter IX Asiatic Possessions ......... 83 Note 101 ^ [7] LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS rACINO PAGE His Exceli,ency A. S. Yekmelobt Frontispiece A Russian Danceuse in the National Costume OP A Tadjick Woman oe Bokhara ... 17 The Church of Resurrection op Petrograd . 18 His Excellency, Acting Governor-General Galkin op West Turkestan 20 Cathedral op St. Basil 22 The "Tzar Kolokol" or Monarch of Bells, Moscow , 24< Village Authorities in South Russia ... 28 Tadjick Justice of Peace of Bokhara ... 30 Afghan "Ishan" Collecting Money in the Name of Allah 32 Turcomans Si Heir to the Throne of Afghanistan ... 36 Typical Peasants op Great Russia . . i. . 38 Typical "White" Russians ....;.. 40 A Little Russian Girl-Milkmaid of Kiev .. ,.. 42 Ivan Ivanovitch 44 Preparing for the "Shachse Wachse" Celebra- tion ,.47 The "Shachse Wachse" Celebration ... 48 The "Kremlin," Moscow SO Registan Square in Front of Mechet Shir Dor IN Samarkand 53 Karavan of Afghans Crossing the Amu Daria River at Kerki 57 [9] LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Dk. C. C. Young in Kara Kum Deseet • ■ • 60 His Majesty the Khan of Khiva, West Turkes- tan, Central Asia 64 KoMRAT Real School 71 Mr. Konstantin Aleksandrovitch Mimi . . 72 A Hebrew Woman or Bokhara 76 "Gorodovoy" — Russian Policeman .... 78 The "Pristav" — ^District Chief of Police . . 80 Acting Governor Kaeaul Begi 82 The Atachabja Mirachur 82 Two Afghan Soldiers 84 Treacherous Daghas of Afghanistan ... 84 Author's Father, Mr. Christian Young, Sr. . 86 GuRi-MiR, Mausoleum of Timur 88 Karakul Ewe and Lamb 90 The Famous "Area" of West Turkestan . . 92 The Inhabitants of Khiva, West Turkestan . 94 Interior of the Summer Palace of the Emir . 96 A Tekin Wedding 98 The Minaret, the Tower of Death, in Old Bokhara City 100 Entrance to Old Fort of Old Palace . . .102 Khirgiz Women and Children in West Turkes- tan . 106 HiGH-CiAss, Veiled, Sart Woman . . . .108 [10] PREFACE When, in 1907, I began my travels in Russia, I was honored Ypith a personal letter of introduc- tion from Theodore Roosevelt, and I take this opportunity to express my gratitude for his in- valuable assistance. It was this letter which en- abled me to make the acquaintance of former United States Ambassador to Russia, Hon. John Riddle, through whom I met some of Russia's Ministers and other men of prominence in public life, including His Excellency A. S. Yermoloff. In 1912 it was the Hon. J. A. Tawney, of Min- nesota, who prevailed on ex-President William Taft to speak a good word for me to Mr. Guild, our Ambassador to St. Petersburg, who was at the time on a visit to the United States. In 1913, I was again put imder great obligations to Mr. Tawney for securing for me a personal letter from His Royal Highness the Duke of Con- naught, Governor General of Canada, to Lord Buchanan, the British Ambassador in St. Peters- burg, to whom I owe a debt of thanks for the many kindnesses extended me. [11] PREFACE The most courteous Morris Sheppard, United States Senator from Texas, interested President Wilson in behalf of my last Central Asiatic expe- dition, so that when I came to St. Petersburg the beginning of last year, I was most warmly re- ceived by our charge d'affaires, Mr. Wilson. My associate, Mr. Joseph Simonson, of Mid- dlewater, Texas, a warm friend of Dr. Osborne, our well-known Assistant Secretary of State, prompted the latter to introduce me to the Rus- sian Ambassador, Mr. Bakhmeteff, who wrote a letter in my behalf to the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sazonoff, for which I am more than thankful. To Russia's great railway Minister, Mr. Ruchloff , who saw fit to give me an annual pass over every railway in the empire dur- ing 1912, 1913 and 1914, 1 owe no small debt of gratitude. Never in my life will I forget the ex- ceptional courtesy shown me by Russia's Secre- tary of War, General Suchomlinoff , who received me in his home, and honored me with a personal letter to the Military Governor General of West Turkestan, Mr. Samsonoff , to whom I also owe my appreciation. I am obligated for nimierous favors received from the Russian Embassy at [12] PREFACE New Bokhara, Khanate of Bokhara, West Tur- kestan, Central Asia, who had received special in- structions about my visit to the northern border of Afghanistan from Mr. Klem, Director of the Asiatic Division of the Ministry of Foreign Af- fairs. Dr. Connor, until very recently United States Consul to St. Petersburg, furnished me with most of the data in reference to certain points dealing with our treaty with Russia. For some of the facts contained in this book, I have made reference to the Russian historians Kostomaroff, Karamzim and Ivanoff . Mr. B. P. Egert, of St. Petersburg, author of the book "The Conflict Between the United States and Russia," placed me under great obli- gations by his kindness. I have found the books of D. M. Lagofet, a member of the Russian Im- perial Geographical Society, of great help, as also those of the English writer, Maurice Baring. Dr. C. C. Young. [13] REFERENCES The articles to which I would like to refer the reader are as follows: "Some Foreigners from Oversea," Harper's Magazine, February, 1908. "Why Russia is Misunderstood," Taylor Sj- Trotwood Magazine, November, 1908. "Russia Waking up Under Third Douma," New York Times, August 16, 1908. "Is Russia Ripe for a Constitutional Form of Govern- ment?" Dallas (Texas) Morning News, Sunday Magazine Edition, September 26, October 3, Octo- ber 10 and October 17, 1909. "A Glimpse into the Heart of New Russia," Chicago Sunday Tribune, September 25, 1910. "West Turkestan and Bokhara," New York Times, Sun- day, January 18, 1914. Chicago Sunday Tribune, August 21, 1910. Columbus (Ohio) Evening Despatch, February 3, 1911. St. Louis Post Despatch, September 10, 1911. New York Herald, September 10, 1911. Literary Digest, September 30, 1911. New York Herald, April 20, 1913. The Journal of Heredity (Washington, D. C), Octo- ber, 1914. The Field, Elustrated, November, 1914, etc., etc. [15] A Russian Dancetjse in the National Costume of a Tadjick Woman or Bokhara ABUSED RUSSIA CHAPTER I SOME FALSE IMPRESSIONS In my travels over European and Asiatic Rus- sia, I have often been asked by apparently intel- ligent Russian people whether, in view of the In- dian and negro admixture, it will ever be possible to civihze the American masses. My own sister anxiously asked me what was the ratio of white people in such Indian cities as New York and Chicago. I couldn't help laughing at such ques- tions, and often answered by telling my curious Russian friends that there are practically only Indians in this country of expectation and prom- ise — white Indians 1 Further discussion of American topics often brought out the fact that having learned that mob violence occurred in the United States and that negroes were burned at stake, my friends came to the conclusion that a people displaying such barbarism could only be the progeny of inferior [17] ABUSED RUSSIA Indian and negro admixture. For this reason, they beheved one could find white people only in certain parts of the country and that yellow or swarthy hybrids filled the other sections. On one occasion a Russian Countess, who Hved in the interior of one of the Black Belt provinces, and had a national reputation as a philanthropist and social worker, hotly and rudely retorted to a remark of mine, that the lynchings of the United States ought to be stopped by the well-drilled soldiers of Europe, that the President ought to be executed for not exercising his power to stop these inhuman and outrageous death penalties, which proved conclusively that the Americans were not entitled to be called a civilized people. It did require some explanation indeed to con- vince her that our President could hardly be held responsible for mob violence, that it was discoun- tenanced by all good American citizens as well as by the major portion of the press. To further free the mind of the Countess from these errone- ous impressions, I reminded her that even in her own Russia men have been known to take the law into their own hands under pressure of cir- cumstances, and cited a case, then in the public [18] The Church op Resurkection' of Petrograd Built on the spot where Alexander II was killed SOME FALSE IMPRESSIONS eye, of a certain Covint of Crimea who was killed by his nephew for having compromised the wife of the latter, and that a jury of twelve represen- tative Russian gentlemen adjudged the culprit "not gxiilty," and that, too, when the Count had been one of Russia's richest and most influential noblemen, and a member of the Emperor's Coim- cil. But the Countess would not be wholly per- suaded, "If your President," she persisted, "should not be held accountable for these horrible lynchings — of which we read pages and pages — why do you Americans hold our gracious Em- peror responsible for the deeds of criminals — deeds which often make us blush for our country — and this when yoiu* own United States seem to have their share of the lawless and unrestrained !" "Is not the excuse for such degeneracy greater with the Russians," continued she, "since we have been the slaves of the barbarous Mongol-Tartars for three hundred years and it has been our hard lot to have had to assume the responsibihty of educating fifty-three millions of peasants, slaves for three hundred years, and who were only liber- ated about the time your negroes became free men? Then, too, some of our best people had be- [19] ABUSED RUSSIA come hybridized by the injection of the dreadful MongoHan Tartar blood, the demoralizing in- fluence of which can be only likened to the awful effect of wolf blood when introduced into a Scotch collie. To this day still applies the French pro- verb 'Gratez le russe et vous trouvez le tartar' (Scratch the skin of the Russian and you will find the Tartar) ." Of a similar trend was the opinion of Prince Khilkoff, who, in order to learn railroading, spent twelve years in America. "Instead of having practically every race on earth to contend with," he had stated, "your people are rather homogene- ous. They have not had to fight Asiatic hordes of Mongols and Malays for nearly a thousand years. They are not shut off from the world as we are by the jealousy of Europe, which has de- nied us an outlet. We have no access to the At- lantic Ocean — and that is practically true of the Pacific, and little can be gained by sailing on the frozen Arctic seas. Why do your people," he asked, "insult our Emperor, who is the kindest- hearted man in the world, and who suffers more than any other Russian when mob law becomes rampant in certain communities? Moreover," the [20] His Excelle>'CV Acting Governor-General Galkik of West Turkestan SOME FALSE IMPRESSIONS Prince continued, "having been the Minister of Railways during the Japanese-Russian war, and having had entrie into the court of our ruler, I know how he suffered because the war with Japan could not be averted. The senseless attacks made upon him by the all-powerful Semitic newspapers in the United States were certainly uncalled for, and what especially pained me was the fact that these papers were able to turn the entire country against our government and our nation, all of which we resented and which cost your people millions in loss of trade." Such, then, are some of the ideas current in Russia concerning America and Americans. Are the conceptions of Russia and the Rusians given credence in the United States as true or just? To the American who has made no special study of Russian conditions, Russia is a country without a summer, with frozen landscapes, mid- night sun, and everywhere a covering of snow. He pictures the sleigh with its troika as the mode of transportation, the wolves chasing behind; buildings in wild and gaudy colors, terminating in bulb-like steeples, resembling Mohammedan mechets; private houses, barbarously decorated [21] ABUSED RUSSIA inside and out. The people of Russia, in his mind, are divided into several highly dramatic types: diplomats hiding behind tapestry to hear the state secrets of unsuspecting foreigners, crooked generals who can be bribed for a dollar, gendarmes and Nihihsts, poor, starving peasants, who are always being knutted, robbed by the po- lice or the Russian priests, cigarette-smoking NihiUst princesses, who have sacrificed themselves to secure liberty for the peasants. And if his mind goes beyond this, the American layman fills in the picture with gendarmes of the Ochrana constantly plotting against peaceful citizens and arranging for their deportation to Siberia, with- out giving them even a trial; with dreaded Cos- sacks, who, in conjunction with the police, delight in chopping Jews to pieces or knocking them senseless with knotted wire whips called "knuts"; with brilliantly dressed Tartars, swooping down upon the people and gouging out their eyes. And these divers classes are supposed to be ruled by a bloodthirsty Tzar, who lives somewhere in dreaded Russia, and who is in perpetual fear of being transported to another sphere by way of a Nihihstic bomb. [22] Cathedral of St. Basil Built in 1554 by Tzar Ivan IV, and at that time said to have been the most beautiful "in the world SOME FALSE IMPRESSIONS These are some of the mistaken impressions of Russia prevailing in this cornitry. To trace their origin, we must bear in mind that all peoples have a love of the sensational and will more readily ac- cept as true a highly colored tale of adventure than a calm, dispassionate statement of facts. Then, too, a certain element of the press delights in pandering to the appetite for the marvelous. Some six years ago, I had an experience which vividly illustrated this point. I was in Odessa at the time, and that city was then considered one of the quietest in Europe. I remember being amused by reading in the Paris edition of the New York Herald an Associated Press despatch annoimcing another dreadful Jewish massacre in that city. On the night of the supposed massacre, I had been with a party of friends, motoring through Odessa, imtil three o'clock in the morn- ing, and we had been aware of no disturbance of any kind, nor saw nor heard anything that might have been construed as a commotion. When, later, we showed the paper to Governor Tohnat- choff, he laughingly remarked that if we stayed long enough in Odessa, we would have a chance to read more such despatches, as they were being [23 ] ABUSED RUSSIA sent to New York from time to time, and from there cabled back to Paris, by a certain class of anarchistically inclined Hebrews, to stir up the minds of the better class of their own people and of the Gentiles, and open a channel of revenue, supposedly for the cause of the downtrodden Jews. The means so obtained, the Governor told us, seldom reached the people for whom they were intended, and generally went to further the ends of the anarchists and revolutionists and, he laugh- ingly concluded, to contradict these false reports would consume the entire Russian budget I Practically everything written on the subject frightfully exaggerates the worst conditions of Russia and projects those false impressions into intelhgent American thought. Even Tolstoy, the most popular Russian author in America, has not helped the American people to get an im- biased view of the Russians, and many there are who do not realize that the social evils he so ably depicts in his books are universal maladies — alike in one way or another in all coimtries. The truth of the situation was well expressed by the English girl who said she greatly preferred English stories of Russia to Russian stories be- [24] The "Tzar Kolokol" or Monarch of Bells, Moscow Its weight is 440,000 pounds. It is 20 feet in height and 60 feet in circumference. The value of the metal in the bell is estimated at $2,000,000. Originally it hung in a tower, which was burned in 1737, and now it lies at the foot of the "Tower of Veliky," built in 1600 by Ivan the Terrible SOME FALSE IMPRESSIONS cause the Russian accounts lacked local color, while the English tales of Russia were so much more Russian. Careful observers have noticed that in the past twenty years, England, Germany and France have tried in every possibile way to influence our people in favor of their countries. Their am- bassadors delivered numerous lectures, never missed a national convention, and inspired many newspaper and magazine articles to turn the trend of pubhc opinion in the United States their way. We cannot say the Russian representatives made many efforts to defend their coimtry, nor have Russian writers done even as much. It seems deplorable that the Russian Depart- ment of Foreign Affairs has not always exercised the best judgment in the selection of its consuls, and has sent men to represent her here whom it would have been best not to introduce to the American public. This fact has been brought to the attention of the chief ofiicials, but since the United States showed a hostile attitude toward Russia in the Japanese war, and in vari- ous other ways have expressed their imfriendli- ness, it seemed to them that Russia's efforts to [25] ABUSED RUSSIA cope with the situation here were futile, and even should she send her most capable diplomats to America, the press would hear no word in her de- fense, thanks mostly to a certain hostile Hebrew influence. Only this year, one of the principal di- rectors of the Ministry told me that he was as- sured by some of the men who had in the past represented the Department in America, that no- body could say anything in favor of Russia on account of the attitude of the press. I did not hesitate to produce nxmierous articles, written by my friends and myself, and published by some of the largest newspapers in the country in defense of Russia, and proved that some of the consuls had apparently tried to hide their criminal inac- tivity by making false statements. It is only fair, however, to mention the fact that at present Russia is very fortunate in having such representatives at Washington as Mr. Bakhme- teff and Mr. Scherbatskoi. The Ministry of For- eign Affairs is to be congratulated not only for this wise selection, but for that of Mr. Oustinoff, as consul general at New York, and for that of his able assistant, the courteous Mr. de Routsky. Through these worthy gentlemen, it seems Russia [261 SOME FALSE IMPRESSIONS is at last bestirring herself and trying to make an effort to explain to us her many and intricate problems, and to right the wrong beliefs and prejudices fostered in the American mind by mis- representations and falsehoods. It would be greatly to Russia's benefit should she be able to deflect the stream of travel over the eastern continent, and obtain for herself the enormous amoxmts spent annually by American tourists to see countries no more interesting than her own. To one who knows Russia, it is pleas- ant to recall some typical country scene. The level land divided into narrow strips, sown with barley, rye, wheat, corn and flax, presents a veri- table checkerboard appearance, here and there interspersed with low-housed villages. In south- em Russia, these generally consist of squat one- story adobe houses, gorgeously painted in all the shades of blue, vermiUon, red and yellow, and often pure white, while in northern Russia, the dwellings are quite presentable frame houses. In the center of the hamlet is the church with its five or more bulb-shaped cupolas crowned with the Greek Catholic cross resting on the crescent, and this edifice, like the "isbas" or peasant huts, is [27] ABUSED RUSSIA beautifully decorated in and outside. Near the church stand the two most pretentious houses of the village, one for the school-teacher, the other for the priest of the "derevnia," as the village is termed. Beyond, is the lavmdry place for the in- habitants. Here the women sing j oy ously as they work. Close by is the bathing place, a shallow pool in the river, where with the utter unselfcon- sciousness of children, men and women some- times bathe together in Nature's costume. And over all, hovers the beautiful calm — the peace which comes to minds innocent of the thousand conflicting, complicating circumstances of city life. Shakespeare could have spoken as truly of this country as he did of the Forest of Arden, when he made Duke Senior say, "Hath not old custom made this life more sweet Than that of painted pomp? « iK « ^ « ^ >lt And this life exempt from public haunt. Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything." Russia has thousands upon thousands of such hamlets, yet what a totally different picture of her peasant life is maliciously projected into the minds of those imacquainted with her! [28] Village Authorities in" South Russia From left to riffht: (1) The "starosta," or village elder (3) Village secreta^. (3) Village school teacher. (4) The "Unadniek ' or chief of village police. (5) The "Schlts," or town crier. Only the "Uriadn.ck °s a full-blooded Russian Slav. The others are of Teutonic origin SOME FALSE IMPRESSIONS No less applicable to Russia than to any other nation is the truism that the physical characteris- tics of a country more than anything else deter- mine the occupation and character of its inhabi- tants. The two most important features of Rus- sia in this respect are its uniformity of surface and its absence of sea front free from ice. These two characteristics present the keynote to the his- tory of the Russian nation, and to the character of the Russian people. The imiformity of surface and the similarity of surroundings have always given impulse to immigration and expansion. From the pouit of view of production, Russia may be divided into four zones of imeven extent : (1) the great forests of the north; (2) the black land of the central provinces; (3) the zone of arable steppes; (4) the deserts of the south and southeast. The largest of these belts is that of the forests, which extends from the center of Russia to the frozen marshes of the north. The so-called "chemoziem" or black belt stretches from the banks of the river Prut to the Black Sea and is a region of wonderful fertility, and forms a wheat- growing section larger by one-third than the State of Texas. It was from this very part of the [29J ABUSED RUSSIA country that Athens once drew her grain supply. Southeast of this great section is the region of the arable steppes, the prairie home of the Cossack or Russian soldier cowboy, and beyond, lie the great deserts of West Turkestan. Owing to the level character of the country, the climate of Russia presents great contrasts in tem- perature. In winter the land is ice-bound from the Arctic more or less to the Black Sea, and in summer, in certain parts, it is too hot to go about in the day-time. Such, then, is the plain of Rus- sia, "mountain begirdled," as the Tartar puts it; the great plain into which have poured Novgo- rodians. Laps, Finns, Esthonians, Letts, Lithua- nians, Votishs, Tartars, Poles, Kalmucks, Arme- nians, Circassians, Georgians, Mongolians and countless others; the plain which comprises one- seventh of the world's area and is the home of a hundred and eighty million souls. [80] TaDJICK J USTICE OF PEACE OF BOKHARA, DECORATED WITH MEDALS BY '-^ Russian Governor CHAPTER II A BIT OF EARLY RUSSIAN HISTORY The history of Russia is the history of so many diverse races and governments that it is impossi- ble here even to touch upon many events of the greatest import. Of two phases of Russian his- tory, however, we must get a ghmpse in order to understand her problems : first, of the ancient Re- pubhc of Novgorod, and, second, of Russia's long struggle for the supremacy of the white race. Over a thousand years ago, when the great Teutonic and Anglo-Saxon races were still bar- barians, there existed in northern Russia a won- derful repubhc, with a constitution that causes men of modern times to marvel, a constitution that could have been formed only by a people supersaturated with the spirit of liberty and dominated by an unshakable behef in the equahty of mankind. This wonderful republic was known as Novgorod. It was governed by the Vietche (Congress) elected by the people, which, in turn, elected its head, or "Posadnik." This chief was [31] ABUSED RUSSIA looked upon as a servant of the people amenable to the constitution of the republic. The people of this ancient free country were of Scythian origin, from whom all Slavic races have descended, and who migrated from some Asiatic region into eastern Europe about twenty-four himdred years ago. The inhabitants of Novgorod showed wonderful commercial tendencies, their trading extending into Greece, Persia, and even the East Indies. The republic was so rich and powerful that all the nations around it became subservient to it, until eventually there was coined a phrase, "Who dares to oppose God and the Mighty Novgorod !" The fabulous wealth of this mighty republic became known to the Mongol- ians, who made repeated attempts to overrun Novgorod. In time the Novgorodians became surroimded by Asiatics of Mongolian origin, such as Finns, Khozars, Tartars, and others, and in- stead of being able to follow their commercial and agricultural pursuits, they were forced to de- fend themselves against the hordes poiu-ing down upon them from Asia. As to-day, so then the Aryans of western Europe could not see the danger threatening the [32] f— V AFCrHAX "'Ishan" Coi.i.ectino Money in the Na.iie of Allah Taken at Samarkand. Note in background Sarts, Tadjicks and Uzbecks all wearing the "chalina" A BIT OF EARLY RUSSIAN HISTORY white race, and instead of banding with the Nov- gorodians and helping them drive the Mongohans back to the place from which they had come, they too made war upon them. When, in the ninth century, the Novgorodians received as their grand prince, Rtu-ik, a descendant of the Variags (forefathers of the Scandinavians), it was on condition that he be amenable to the constitution of Novgorod. But finally, the downfall of that wonderful Republic came, the Tartars fell upon the land Hke wolves upon prey. At length there was nothing left of the mighty Novgorod, whose power had been likened unto that of the Al- mighty. The divided sovereignties were again and again overrun by the Tartars, who destroyed everything and carried back with them thousands of Russian women to become inmates of their harems. Eventually, worn out by the long strug- gle with the Tartars, weakened by internal dis- sensions, and depleted by a plague, the republic of the people, for the people and by the people disappeared from the earth. Three hundred years of Tartar yoke brought to Russia even a worse calamity than the down- fall of the republic— namely, the degradation of [33] ABUSED RUSSIA the Russian character. The famous Tartar, Genghis Khan, appeared with his vast armies, and sweeping all before him, subjected Russia to the horrors of the darkest forms of slavery. It was not until the reign of Catherine II, in 1783, that the last Tartar, Khan Shagin Gherei, was deposed. That year, which saw the birth of the American nation, f oimd Russia getting rid of the last of the merciless invaders. No people have ever been compelled to suflPer the soul-racking tortures and cruelties, the continual plunder and pillage, that fell to the lot of the Russian people. The tyranny which the Tartars visited upon them during this three-hundred-year period justified all efforts on the part of the Russians to escape from it. Infamy no longer brought shame in its train, and punishment was no longer the accompani- ment of crime. Honor disappeared, and only fear — great, overmastering fear — ^held the Rus- sians in its grip, brutalizing the natures of all. The Tartar crushed every bit of pride from the haughty Russian heart, vice and avarice became the leading characteristics of the nation, and might became stronger than right. There was danger for travelers on the roads, and families [34] A BIT OF EARLY RUSSIAN HISTORY had no security against the desecration of their homes. Tartars destroyed all the cities, first pil- laging and then burning them. Russian history shows that prior to the Tartar invasion the Russians were very thrifty, gener- ous, law-abiding citizens, and that they possessed, to a high degree, gentle and mild characteristics. When other European countries indulged in all forms of tortures and inhuman barbarities in punishment of political or rehgious offenders, it was an imknown thing to them to mutilate or tor- ture even the worst criminal, pohtical or other- wise. In 1113, Vladimir Monomachus abolished capital pimishment, saying, "Put not even an enemy to death, for the soul of a Christian is sacred." It was not again instituted until a long time after the Tartar conquest, when the no less noble Dimitri Donskoi (who administered a crushing blow to the Tartars in 1380) was com- pelled to reinstate it owing to the then changed disposition of the Russian people. To the Russians of the early eleventh century blows were imknown even in the heat of a quar- rel. It was the Tartar yoke that was responsible for the introduction of corporal punishment. [85] ABUSED RUSSIA The Tartars, too, introduced the practice of branding a culprit, and during the reign of Vas- sili the Blind flogging with the knut was prac- ticed, and even inflicted upon persons of noble station. Thus the Tartar brought about the "falling from its high estate" of the Russian character, and this corruption was consiimmated by the infiltration of Mongohan blood. I often wonder what would be the result if the fourteen million negroes living in the United States to-day were imqualifiedly permitted to intermarry with the white people, and if to that were added the Mongolian and Malay strains, which predominate in the Indians, Mexicans, Fihpinos and Latin Americans. It is certain that it would spell the end of the white race in America, for history supports the assertion that intermarriage of a superior with an inferior race has always resulted in the reduction of the su- perior to the level of the inferior. Not in a single instance has the inferior race been elevated one iota. We have, for example, Spain, who early adopted in aU her colonies the policy of racial in- termarriage. And where is Spain to-day? In this same way, some liberty-loving Russians, excellent [36] Heir to the Thkone of AFCHANisTAif Of Turco-Mongolian origin A BIT OF EARLY RUSSIAN HISTORY types of the Aryan race, were gradually changed into hybrids with despotic tendencies. Fortu- nately, the ruling class was mostly affected, the peasants in general retaining their white skins, blond hair and blue eyes. Think how the descen- dants of those Novgorodians must have degener- ated to submit to a quasi-aristocrat such as the stem half-Tartar, Boris Godunov, brother-in- law of the weak Tzar Feodor, son of Ivan the Terrible, making serfs and slaves of them, when in the days of Novgorod all men were considered equal. Let us hope this almost indelible imprint in the Russian trait of character will be obhter- ated by time, for even to-day, to a slight extent, the debasing strain of the barbarous Mongol makes itself evident. From the background of later Russian history three figures stand out pre-eminently — Peter the Great, Katherine the Great, and Alexander II. It is said that Peter the Great did not merely develop Russia — ^he created Russia I This state- ment is largely true, for it is in great measvu'e owing to his shrewd foresight, his almost super- human energy, and his dogged persistence, in both military and constructive imdertakings, that [371 ABUSED RUSSIA Russia owes her place among the nations. Peter obtained for Russia sea course upon the Baltic, he founded St. Petersburg, and there estabUshed a new national capital where before had been only a swampy marsh, he built a navy; he founded schools, he forced upon his subjects the civiliza- tion of western Europe. The reign of Katherine the Great, from 1762 to 1796, was hkewise full of important move- ments and developments for the strengthening of the Russian Empire. During her reign large territories were acquired in the east from the Tar- tars and the Turks and all the Polish territory east of the Bug and Niemen Rivers was gained. Katherine was also a patron of hterature, art and science. She gave the large towns charters, with the right to choose mayors and magistrates, and formed the nobles of such provinces into corporate bodies, with the right to elect judges and various minor offices. She even made an attempt to es- tablish a national parHament. Katherine corre- sponded with Voltaire, and he had a great admi- ration for the quality of her mind. Speaking of her, he said, "Light comes now from the North." The reign of Alexander II was a time of great [38] 'HH/n/W^ Typicai, Peasants of Great Russia Note shoes made of birch bark A BIT OF EARLY RUSSIAN HISTORY forward strides in the life of Russia. The work- ing of coal beds and oil wells was encouraged, and railroad and telegraph lines were greatly ex- tended. But the greatest achievement of the reign of Alexander was the emancipation in 1861 of all the serfs in the empire, comprising some fifty-three million souls, then almost half of the entire population ; and the establishment of a sys- tem by which the serfs in the country districts could acquire the lands that they cultivated. Af- ter the war with Turkey, the Emperor formed still larger designs for the improvement of condi- tions within the empire. There is little doubt he would have made a great change for the better had he been permitted to carry out his plans. But during his reign, there was formed a class of dis- contented theorists, the Nihilists, who became a dangerous element in Russia. They were too hot- headed to give Alexander time to carry out the plans he so earnestly desired for the good of the people, and they assassinated him in March, 1881. He was succeeded by his son, Alexander III, father of the present Tzar. The genuine Russians are divided into three classes : Great Russia, with a population of forty [39] ABUSED RUSSIA millions, occupying the northern section of Euro- pean Russia; White Russia, occupying the prov- ince of Mogilev, Vitepsk, Grodno and Minsk; and Little Russia, in the southern part of the country. The Great and the White Russians strikingly resemble the Scandinavians. They are of colossal stature, and have blond hair and blue eyes, excepting a small proportion where the Tartar influence has crept in. Then the yellow pigment becomes dominant, the_ hair straight, coarse and black, and the cheekbones quite prom- inent. The White Russians are probably the least contaminated, but there are only from three to f oiU" millions of them. [40] Typical "White" Russians CHAPTER III THE RUSSIAN TEMPERAMENT The Russian presents what would seem to an American peculiarly diverse traits. Generally, he is peaceable, malleable and docile, has great capacity for assimilation and imitation, but lacks initiative and will power. A Russian is very sym- pathetic, and often finds it hard to control his tears. Sometimes a whole group of men will be found together crying over the troubles that might have befallen one of their nxmiber, such as the death of a friend or the loss of an animal by theft or death, a crop failure, or some similar mis- fortune. Russians dearly love music and danc- ing. The most popular folk song is "Down on Mother Volga." The most popular folk dance is the Cossack Dance, where men and women whirl about by themselves, and it is a most wild and inspiring sight indeed. Though on the whole peasants are very dirty, yet every village has its public bath house, fre- quented every week even during the winter time, [41] ABUSED RUSSIA and in the summer bathing is the great sport of the peasant. In no coimtry in the world are the women more carefully brought up than in Russia. Of course, I refer to the intelligent classes. As for the peas- ants, they grow up exactly as the peasants of the European countries, excepting that they are probably better Christians. And it is the fear of God that makes the percentage of virtuous wo- men among them exceptionally high. Weddings and E asters are the chief fiestas in the life of the peasant. A wedding often lasts for two weeks, every participant consuming a great deal of vodka. It is considered a shame to leave a wed- ding sober. In fact, a peasant drinks when he has sorrow, and he drinks when he has joy; he drinks when he has a good crop, and drinks when he has a poor crop to drown his sorrow; he drinks when there is a death or a birth in the family; he drinks at a wedding, a baptism, an engagement; at the closing of a trade, and if he can find no other reason, he will drink to the saints and to the health of our Saviour Himself. I am not a tee- totaler, but here say that the ruination of the Russian peasant does not lie in his not enjoying [42] A Little Russian Girl-Milkmaid of Kiev She carries all her belongings with her and brings fresh milk from the country to the people in Kiev THE RUSSIAN TEMPERAMENT the liberties of a republican form of government, for which he is at present not ready, nor in the bleeding to which he has been subjected for years by a certain class of Hebrews, but vodka is his ruin, and poor as the peasant is, about $1,000,- 000,000 are paid annually for this poison. While it is realized that under the present system the Russian budget would be wiped out if the govern- ment stopped the manufacture and sale of vodka, it seems that some other way could be f oimd for the government to support its huge army, so necessary to hold the conflicting elements of that vast empire together, and to protect life and property. Great efforts are now being made in Russia to abolish the drink evil, thanks to the personal interest of the Emperor in the matter. We know how difficult is the solution of the prob- lem in this coxmtry, and we must give Russia time for the abohtion of alcohol. The Russians are the most hospitable people in the world. They never refuse a beggar alms. It is no more possible to escape the beggars of Russia than death itself. When entering churches, business places, or walking in the streets, you are trailed by a score of beggars. [43] ABUSED RUSSIA When you reproach Russian officials for permit- ting this, they tell you Russia is a free country, and any one may beg who wishes. The Russian is essentially a democrat, but with a very loose plan on how to maintain his democ- racy. He has a perverted conception of what comprises personal hberty, and a queer idea of what constitutes decency, although his family relations are doubtless on firmer grounds than the American. A hotel in Russia where one can- not live for months or years with a woman who is not his wife is unknown, notwithstanding the fact that the passport is always certain proof to the proprietor of a couple's living together il- legally. I have often wondered why the govern- ment permits such indecency, but it seems to be a custom. Of course, a large percentage of Rus- sian women disapprove of this. A certain class in- Russian society, pretending to be progressives, was incensed at the time the Russian writer, Maxim Gorki, was ousted from one of New York's respectable hotels, since the proprietor did not fancy Gorki's living there with his soul mate. That we Americans should enforce prohibi- [44] IvAX Iv'ANOVITCH Smoking a cigarette; his friend, and Ijarefooted wife, all "taking it easy," as is generally the case with the peasants. Those of South and Central Russia are far more active than the peasants of North Russia THE RUSSIAN TEMPERAMENT tion, clean out our red-light districts, arrest drunken men and women, see to it that the motion pictures are not demoralizing, make it an offense for a man to live with a woman unless he is mar- ried to her, pimish people trafficking in white slavery, stop the betting on horse races, and fine Sabbath breakers, causes some educated Rus- sians who have traveled in the United States to return and speak of us as tyrannical disciplina- rians. Few Russians understand that political liberty cannot exist without discipline, even if it should involve what some consider to be a sacri- fice of individual liberty. Until Russians come to understand the wisdom of self-restraint, they can never be governed otherwise than by the hand of a mihtary autocrat. In my opinion, this must continue for some years to come ; otherwise Rus- sia may suffer not unlike Mexico, although I do not intend to convey the impression that the open- hearted, faithful Russian has any of the despic- able, treacherous characteristics of the Mexican. When a section of the United States de- manded autonomy, the government put down the rebeUion by a long, bloody war. In Russia to-day some of the Finns, Tartars, Armenians, [45] ABUSED RUSSIA Gruzins, Sarts, Kalmicks and Khirgis, and even a few Little Russians think they can govern themselves and establish a nation for them- selves, and they resent the idea of the govern- ment interfering with the carrjring on of their propaganda. If the Douma in Russia were in- dependent of a certain conservative class, and of the Tzar, and of the army, it would likely vote the disintegration of Russia to-morrow. Until the Russians have some idea of what self-govern- ment means, they need a Diaz as much as Mexico does, instead of a too kind-hearted man like the Tzar. It is astonishing to note the ignorance of a certain race which has in the past years repre- sented the Emperor as a tyrant. [461 w ■E-a rt u nS >5 H :;2 S 3 < a M :S t^Ti p ID M & O-M tfj ■S 'S* •< ^ W (n T3 c --^ fl ^ >^ WJ K crt u 3 Ji! X » -• +J TO S ■g C 3 JJ D ffi -G u H 1 ey th uing, Baku a « H ii-S C pulp, rhages taken CHAPTER IV THE RELIGIOUS VIEW OF THE RUSSIAN In spite of prevailing opinions to the contrary, no people show more reUgious tolerance than the Russians. In no other country would such sects be allowed to flourish as the Christian Skoptsi, who mutilate themselves and their children in or- der to go to heaven; nor the Duchobortsi, with whom Canada knows not what to do. The same is true of the Sheit Mohammedan sect, who beat their bodies blue with chains and thrust knives into themselves, even on the streets where every one must see them. This so-called "Schachse Wachse" would positively not be tolerated in any other civilized covintry on the globe. Imagine, in the streets of a big city, where every one must pass, a Moslem spreading his prayer rug and, his face turned to Mecca, beating the ground with his forehead, shrieking weird mono- syllables in Arabic, asking Allah to stand by those of the true faith. Of the hundreds of na- tionalities in Russia, each appears robed in its own fantastic costume. Should a person appear [47J ABUSED RUSSIA upon our streets in some such garb, he would be stoned by the newsboys, as certain Greek Cath- olic priests learned to their astonishment. Yet a Russian never molests anybody, and shows great reverence for all worshippers of God, no matter how or where. To say that he hates the Jew because of his faith is an abominable he. The Greek Cathohc clergy (Russian included) is not governed by one head, as is the case with the Roman Catholic clergy, but is ruled by sev- eral patriarchs, one of whom now lives in Con- stantinople, the other in Antioch, in Syria, the third in Jerusalem, and the fourth in Alexandria, and up to the time of Peter the Great, there also was a Russian patriarch. All questions of either dogma or order are decided by them working together. The moral influence of the patri- archs over the rehgious Russian people has always been great, and at times the patriarch has been a more powerful man than the Em- peror. Previous to the reign of Peter the Great, all laws had to have the signature of the Emperor and of the patriarch. It happened that the patri- arch of Moscow during Peter's sovereignty was not so strong a man as his predecessors, and Peter [48] THE RELIGIOUS VIEW OF THE RUSSIAN purposely spoke of him in derision as a man who imbibed too freely. As Peter did not hke the idea of a divine interfering with his temporal power, he stopped the election of a new, after the death of the last patriarch of Moscow, and vested the power in a conclave of bishops constituting the Holy Synod. Since that time the Synod is pre- sided over by a bishop, who happens to be the Metropolitan of Petrograd. When a new rule is created by the Holy Synod, it is submitted to the prociu*ator, a kind of hard- worked hyphen be- tween the state and the Church, who, in turn, sub- mits it to the Emperor, to be approved, with alterations or without. For reasons of state, the Emperor has a right to unfrock, through the Synod, any bishop guilty of treason. In the his- tory of Russia, this has happened but once. Like the English king, the Emperor has the right to appoint bishops to this or that province or city, but not as an ecclesiastic dignitary, for he cannot consecrate bishops nor ordain priests. So much is the Russian Church like the old Episco- pal Church of England that Episcopal ministers and bishops may take part in the divine services in the Russian cathedrals, and are admitted behind [49] ABUSED RUSSIA the altar screen, where only priests in vestment may stand. Like the Roman Church, the Russian Church has seven sacraments. Little and Big Lent are obligatory, and for forty days no meat or milk is allowed, though fish, lobsters, oysters and clams may be eaten. The priests must marry, except monks, before they are consecrated, but can marry only once, and once married a priest can never become a bishop, unless as a widower he takes the monastic vows. Then the degree of Archiman- drite is conferred upon him. After serving in that capacity he may be consecrated a bishop. The liturgy is very similar to that of the Roman Catholic Church, but instead of Latin being used, they confine themselves for the most part to the old Slavic and Greek tongues. From the former is derived the language of the Rus- sians, Poles, Bulgarians, Servians, Croatians, Dalmatians and Bohemians. The worshipping of ikons, as is the case with Roman Catholics in Poland, is greatly in vogue, and, strange to say, the touching of the ground with the forehead while kneeling reminds one of similar Mohammedan salaams, the diiference be- [50] t- a; ■a ca 3 c o CS c c .■t; -a ^ Li- ^-25 w H I- S^ S c * 2 .2 c-S S .SP THE RELIGIOUS VIEW OF THE RUSSIAN ing that the Mussuhnans have ahsolutely no arti- cles of worship in their temples, nor will they tolerate the paintings of saints or even of Mo- hammed himself. It is a curious sight to see hun- dreds of people kneeUng in front of the Iver- ikon of God's mother at the entrance of one of the gates of the Moscow Kremlin, kissing the frame which holds the miracle-performing image. This, and the kissing of myriads of crosses and other ikons seems a most unsanitary mode of wor- ship. No doubt, it is the remnant of those early days of Christianity, when external impressions had a more forceful effect upon the mind filled with superstitions than they would have upon the developed mentaUty of to-day. Since the im- print on our minds would vary in significance were we looking at a statue of Venus or at a Crucifix, the truth of the foregoing statement is too obvious to need further comment. Peter the Great created the Synod. A Greek Orthodox recognizes the Emperor only as the temporal defender and guardian of the Church, for in question of dogma the Emperor has no more authority than the humblest peasant, and though he occupies a certain position of honor in [51] ABUSED RUSSIA the chtirch, he submits to all its rules — fasting, kneeling, confessing, and kissing of ikons and crosses — so that while the Emperor may repre- sent the highest power in the temporal affairs of the church, the highest spiritual power belongs to patriarchs and Synod. As to the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, of which the Russian Church is a part, Christ, the Saviour, is its only head. [52] CHAPTER V THE COSSACK Cossack is a Tartar word. In the sixteenth century the term was used all over Russia to designate floating labor — ^the kind that has no definite occupation nor permanent abode. Dur- ing the kingdom of Moscow mercenary soldiers were called Cossacks. In southwestern Russia, Little Russians made serfs by the Polish gentry known as Shliachta escaped into the steppes to the so-called Ukraina. Here they organized into bands to fight the invading Tartars, and here originated the Little Russian Cossack. At the end of the fifteenth century, hunters from Kiev went south into the steppes to "Cos- sack," that is, to trade in fish and game. These hunters made most of their money by inciting raids against the Tartars and the Turks, and this incensed these races against Poland. Poland wished to make soldiers of the Cossacks in time of war, and workmen in time of peace. But that displeased the unbridled Cossacks. They established a center of their own called [53] ABUSED RUSSIA Zaporojie, which means "Beyond the Rapids." These rapids are on the River Dnieper, and there a camp of armed traders was formed. Their mmiber was greatly augmented by the Cossacks of the Ukraina, when they felt the yoke of the Poles intolerable. Eventually any malcontent or adventurer was received by the Cossacks re- gardless of race or creed. There was no concep- tion of nationality among them. They regarded Turkey, Moldavia, and even Moscow as sources of plunder, and they considered the Polish gentry their worst enemies. They offered their services to the Emperor of Germany against the Turks, to Turkey against Moscow, and had no scruples in siding with Moscow and Crimea against the Poles. In the Seventeenth Century the Cossacks learned that an alliance had been entered into by the Polish king with the Polish pans (gentry) and the Jews, and that they were all preparing to make war upon the Church of Russia. Thereby the Cossacks, being also orthodox, were drawn into a religious war with the Poles. In 1625, the Metropolitan of Kiev called upon the Cossacks to defend the Russian Church. In the middle of the Seventeenth Century the [54] THE COSSACK Cossack commander, Bogdan Chmelnitzky, de- cided to rid his country of the Polish yoke and forever free the Ukraina, the real home of the Little Russian. He instigated an attack against the Poles through the Khan of Crimea, and marched into Poland with the Crimean Tartars and Cossacks. Poland was defeated, but the Little Russians could not rid themselves of the Poles completely. So they appealed to the Rus- sian Tzar Alexis, and begged him to receive Little Russia imder his protection, and asked that all Little Russians be accepted as his subjects. In case the Tzar would refuse, they threatened to form an alliance with the Sultan of Turkey. Upon Alexis taking in the Cossacks, there followed a war with Poland. At first the Rus- sians were successful and took Smolensk and Lithuania, but in the second war (1664) the Russians lost because of a previous five years' exhausting war with the Swedes. When Nicholas I parcelled off to the Cossacks of the Ukraina certain lands, and told them to farm them, a great many became dissatisfied, say- ing they were warriors, not tillers of the soil. So they became the warrior population, guarding the southern and eastern frontiers of their country; [55] ABUSED RUSSIA hence the Kuban Cossacks, the Don Cossacks, the Ural Cossacks, etc. They retained the privilege of electing their own ataman, or chief, who ap- pointed all officers, and at first they took orders from him only, and not even the Russian War Minister had power to dictate to them. All com- mands were given directly by the Tzar to the ata- man, and his subordinates executed the orders. The Cossacks constitute the most loyal body of men the Emperor has to this day. It was told in the last revolution that an ultimatum was sent to the Jews by the Cossacks to the effect that if they did not discontinue their agitation against the Tzar, the Cossacks would march against them five himdred thousand strong, and annihi- late them. This declaration had its effect, and while some few soldiers mutinied, no Cossack was found wanting. The Cossacks are the backbone of Russia; take them away and she will go to pieces. Socially, the Cossacks are delightful, big- hearted people, very hospitable and jolly. In many ways they resemble the cowboys as they were twenty years ago in the West. Like the cowboys, they are excellent shots, even better riders, though they cannot handle the lasso at all. [56] CHAFER VI THE PASSPORT SYSTEM The passport system existed in the countries of western Europe long before the Russians ap- propriated it during the reign of Nicholas I. From the middle of the seventeenth cen- tury there had been employed what was termed a "boimdary passport" for the use of official persons traveling to foreign coim- tries for governmental purposes, and for for- eigners arriving in Russia with a hke intent. When the Dekabrists (derived from the Russian "Dekaber," meaning December) mutinied for the purpose of enforcing a constitutional govern- ment, it was considered dangerous for the Russian advanced classes to make journeys into foreign countries, inasmuch as the leaders of the Deka- brist party consisted mostly of officers of the Imperial Guard, who while hobnobbing through other domains had become acquainted with the constitutional form of government, for which Russia was by no means prepared. Upon the death of Alexander I, the crown de- [57] ABUSED RUSSIA scended to Constantine, but he refused it and withdrew in favor of his younger brother, Nich- olas. The leaders of the Dekabrist party, in order to gain an advantage, purposely confused the soldiers of the Guard with the words "Con- stantine" and "Constitution," and stated that they were making war for the defense of Constantine, who had been illegally deprived of the throne by his brother, when in truth their object was to force a constitution upon Russia. During the reign of Nicholas I, the present passport system was inaugurated, mostly for the purpose of preventing the entrance of unde- sirable aliens, especially anarchists, criminals and fugitives from justice. All foreigners entering Russia must have passports from their own coiuitry, and these must be visaed by some Russian consul. Anar- chists are not granted this vise. Only such Jews as represent large firms, or are professionals, and those known to the consul to belong to no revolutionary class, are granted entrance right. The Russian Government confines Jews to a cer- tain pale of settlement, but in order to evade mili- tary service, some of them escape and become [58] THE PASSPORT SYSTEM citizens of the United States without permission, which is a criminal offense. For her to admit this class when they return as American citizens, and to permit them to live anywhere in her kingdom, would be to show great injustice against those Jews who reside permanently in Russia and sub- mit to mihtary service. Roman Cathohc clergymen, especially those of Pohsh origin, are not readily admitted. It is claimed by the Church that they proselyte among Russians, and collect money for themselves. Ab- solutely no hindrance is given to Protestant clergy. Roman Cathohc priests must have spe- cial permission from the Home Department, and Russian priests must have a special permit from the Holy Synod. On the whole, the Russian passport system is one to be condemned, and I have received assur- ance from the most influential members of the Russian Douma and from the Department of Foreign Affairs that the days of the passport system are numbered. But while it is in force, we must realize that under the sanction of in- ternational comity each nation exercises the right to vise its own passports with the words, "good [69] ABUSED RUSSIA in the language of the country where used." In the American passport, the Secretary of State does "hereby request all whom it may concern to permit safely and freely to pass, and in case of need to give him all lawful aid and pro- tection." Please observe the limitations of the passport. It is merely a request by the Secre- tary of State that the bearer be allowed to pass, and that he be given all lawful aid and protection. It is addressed to no one in particular; but cer- tainly the word "lawful" contemplates the laws of the country where the holder of the passport happens to be rather than the laws of the United States, though in a smaller measure also the lat- ter, as well as the laws of nations, or international law. Let no one suppose that in going to an- other country a citizen carries the undiminished sovereignty of his own land with him, no matter how well he may be fortified with a passport. His consul may vise the passport for him to give as- surance to foreign officials that everything is in order so far as the passport is concerned; but the local police for good cause may thereafter place him under arrest or conduct him to the frontier. The facts of the case may then become [60] Dr. C. C. Toun-g as He Appeared in the Kara Kuji Desert, West Turkestan THE PASSPORT SYSTEM a matter of dispute between himself and the local government, involving the services of his own government; but that is another matter. The root of the present difficulty is to be foimd in this: Russia alone of all the great powers has so far refused, or neglected, to con- form to international comity in the viseing of passports. This position is manifestly indefen- sible. Upon what grounds can she seek to jus- tify her practice of requiring her own consuls to vise the passports issued by other nations? How can she deny that it might be regarded as a kind of impertinence for any government to assume the right to say that the passport of a friendly covmtry is not good ? However, it would be just as idle to lay this charge against Russia as it would be to lay the same against the United States for interfering in the internal aflPairs of Russia when she insists, as she has a right, that her citizens shall be treated abroad with becom- ing respect. Russia has never yielded this point in international comity, which has long been ac- cepted by the other great powers, simply because her right and duty in the matter have never been challenged, and she has thus continued to exer- [61] ABUSED RUSSIA cise this unjustifiable audit of foreign passports because it suited her internal administration to do so. At present, as is well known, any one wishing to come to Russia must have his pass- port visaed by a Russian consul before he reaches the frontier. This, according to Russia, is merely an administrative device to assist the police in excluding undesirable foreigners and in giving timely warning to said foreigners. For this purpose the Russian consuls are provided with lists of proscribed persons, to whom they refuse passport visaes, and such persons are accordingly excluded if they come to the frontier. Now here is the only legitimate and real ground of contention by the United States — namely, that in adopting this method Russia uses her national administrative machinery to per- form a police function, and that, too, in foreign states; and in so doing she ignores the right of other states to pronounce upon the validity of their own passports. She could easily change all this and incidentally remove all ground of com- plaint by the United States if she would do as follows : First. Authorize her police on the frontiers to [62] THE PASSPORT SYSTEM deal with foreign passports just as she now au- thorizes her consuls all over the world; Second. Honor the vise of foreign consuls within her own dominions upon the passports of their respective countries; and as a necessary corollary, discontinue the viseing of the same by her own officials. It is evident by adopting this change Russia can effect what she is now accomphshing with regard to the exclusion of those whom she does not desire ; but it would be upon police grounds and would be freed from its international features and consequent complications. To this neither the United States nor any other nation can right- fully object. Nor, indeed, can those Jews who are adversely affected reasonably object; be- cause the United States, acting upon this same right of exclusion, in common with every other government, would eject by her present laws many times more Russian subjects than all the Jews in the world. While we may consider the Russian passport system a nuisance, we must admit that the entering of ahens into the United States is rather himiiliating, for even distinguished for- [63] ABUSED RUSSIA eigners coming here as first- and second-class passengers are often detained for hours, and have to imdergo an examination by the government board and answer many embarrassing questions. On coming to the Russian border, a gendarme takes your passport before you leave the train, to ascertain if it is properly visaed by some Russian consul. Porters take your luggage to the cus- tom house and the poHce wiU inform you that it is against the law to tip a porter. Nowhere in the world is luggage examined more superficially than in Russia, nor can the custom-house officials be excelled in politeness. Before the train leaves your passport is returned to you, and when reg- istering at a hotel it is given to the manager, who upon a few hours' notice has it entered into the passport register of the precinct of police. When leaving Russia, the passport must be visaed by the mayor of the town, and all this is attended to by the hotel management. Once the passport is visaed by the Russian consul all trouble is really over. The passport serves as the necessary identifica- tion in the banks when cashing drafts, in the post- ofiice in case of registered mail and money or- [64] His Majesty the Khan of Khiva, West Tukkestan, Centrai, Asia THE PASSPORT SYSTEM ders, and before notaries, where the legalization of your signature may be required; and it saves you from being compelled to run arovmd in a strange town imposing on some acquaintance to identify you. [66] CHAPTER VII REGARDING A NEW TREATY WITH RUSSIA When the treaty of eighty years' standing be- tween two then traditionally friendly powers, the United States and Russia, expired on the last day of the year 1912, it devolved upon that one of the powers which gave notice of abrogation (the United States) to take the initial steps in negotiating a new one. Since notice of abrogation has been given, at- tention has been focused upon Russia's attitude toward the main point at issue — namely, the ex- clusion of Jews, American or otherwise, from Russian territory. Those most in touch with Russian affairs are impressed with her determina- tion to maintain her present position on this point, inasmuch as she considers it merely a ques- tion of her right to regulate her internal affairs unhindered, a right which the United States ex- ercise freely. It is doubtful if the international aspects of the case have appealed to Russians at all, for they often express surprise that Ameri- cans, who have a race question at home, should [66] REGARDING A NEW TREATY WITH RUSSIA not understand that it is a race question with them, too. Eventually, the United States must submit a proposition which will successfully meet this situation, or otherwise no treaty relations will be possible with Russia. At first glance this would seem an impossible thing to do without an undignified backdown by the United States, a thing which their national self-respect could not permit them to contemplate. Fortunately, however, the situation is by no means so desperate as that, and it is the purpose here, with all due respect, to submit a way around the difficulty. The suggestion is offered in the belief that both nations are ready and anxious to reassume the traditionally friendly relations which have always existed between them, and will do anything reasonable and consistent with their dignity to remove all misxmderstandings. More- over, now that a controversy has been opened be- tween them, each should seize the opportimity to make more definite and precise its new treaty relations, in order to avoid misapprehensions in the future. All diplomatic treaty negotiations in time of peace are essentially give-and-take transactions, and the things which are yielded [67] ABUSED RUSSIA may benefit the party yielding no less than the supposed beneficiary. So it is quite conceivable that when the present situation is cleared up, each side may find itself the gainer because of the things it has conceded. There are a few other matters of minor im- portance that should receive consideration, now that the subject is open for the readjustment of treaty relations. Instead of the general terms of the earher treaty, there should be a specific restatement of the rights and duties of consuls in the two countries. This is all the more neces- sary because of the fact that the bases of Russian and American jurisprudence are quite dissimilar. The personal concern to the consuls signifies but httle; what is wanted is a fuller definition of what they may or may not oflScially do. A com- parison in this respect with the treaties of other coimtries will reveal much to be desired. The whole case, then, can be simimarized thus : First. Let it be granted by the United States that each nation has a right to regulate its inter- nal affairs imhindered, even to the exclusion of any of its citizens that the foreign coimtry may think fit to exclude; [68] REGARDING A NEW TREATY WITH RUSSIA Second. Let it be granted by Russia that every government has the exclusive right to vise its own passports. Then a slight readjustment of her administrative machinery wiU leave noth- ing to which the United States can rightly object. [69] CHAPTER VIII THE RUSSIAN JEWS In regard to the Jews, thousands of them would return to Russia from the States were they permitted, like other foreign citizens, to live out- side the pale. In America, crowded together in the ghettoes of the great cities, competition is in- finitely more keen than in Russia, where they constitute practically the only portion of the population engaged in commerce. The begin- ning of a Russian middle class has made itself evident the past twenty years, and in time this class no doubt will niake an effort to compete with the Jews. If usury, incendiarism and criminal bank- ruptcy could be made capital offenses, and if the sluggish nobility of Russia would rid itself of its anti-commercial tendencies, and its apathy for everything that has the scent of business, and if the Russian budget could be arranged so as to make available another $50,000,000 annually for the purpose of educating all the peasant chil- [70] THE RUSSIAN JEWS dren, the friction now existing between Gentiles and Hebrews would remedy itself. In the last four years Russia has appropriated more money for educational purposes than in the himdred years before, and since this is the case, I would like to correct another false impression — ^namely, that the government is fighting against the edu- cation of the peasants. Those circulating such falsehoods in this coimtry dare not confront a man who knows Russia. There are schools, both for boys and girls, all over Russia, north, south, east and west, where the children of peasants and those just a notch above them, Jews included, can receive their edu- cation together with the children of the highest nobility in the land. It was in one of such schools that I received my preliminary education. Among her bankers, manufacturers, large land-owners, generals, bishops and archbishops, Russia can show many men whose fathers knelt with uncovered heads before the great Alex- ander, listening to the proclamation which made them free men. Russia's able and most courteous minister of railroads, Mr. Ruchloff, who, hke Prince Khilkoif, is making history for his [71] ABUSED RUSSIA country, is the son of a peasant; so is Bishop Anatoly, a member of the Douma, and a most distinguished member of the conservative party, and Tshelisheff, the great prohibition advocate. Russia's task, in the major portion of her Euro- pean domain, is, of course, easier than ours with the negroes, as her people belong to the white race, but how does our record with our former slaves compare with hers? Again, let us not for- get that her people were in bondage six hundred years. History states that in the time of Vladimir, the Jewish emissaries came to Russia and asked him to compel his people, who at that time were heathens, to embrace the Jewish religion. He listened respectfully, but when they came to re- lating the rite of circumcision, he spat upon them and drove them from the country. They persist- ently returned, and in less than no time gained control of the commerce of all Russia. This is true even to-day, for nowhere can the Jews find a more prolific field for the accumulation of wealth than in Russia. It is the knowledge of this fact which draws them there, and, as has been said, thousands of them from everywhere would [72] p ^ o .^ o < s THE RUSSIAN JEWS flock back to Russia, were their indiscriminate entrance permitted. When Vladimir came to Kiev, at the close of the tenth century, the people complained bitterly to him that the Jews were craftily monopolizing all commerce. He called a meeting of the ruling princes of the various Russian provinces, and in this convention it was decided to drive the Jews out of Russia, and, should any of them return secretly, to kill them. In the days of Sviatoslav (1016), while fight- ing the dreaded Khozars, the Jews were accused of acting as spies for these Mongols. In 1495 Alexander Jakloutshik, the Lithuanian Grand Duke, prohibited the Jews from accepting any obUgatory papers, or any other written acts, and when this did not help matters he ordered the Jews driven out of the country. In the sixteenth centiu^y, the writer, Michel Litvin, stated: "To our coimtry have come the Jews, whom we find in all great cities of Podoha and Volynia. These are the worst people that have ever come to us. They are fatalists, sly, dangerous in every way, adulterating our goods, counterfeiting oiu* money, forging signatures and seals, and having [73] ABUSED RUSSIA no other art except cheating and blackmaihng." Ivan the Terrible refused them the right to hve in Russia. "They have poisoned our soul and body," said he. Even the pious Alexis Michalo- vitch drove them out of Moscow, accusing them of being very dishonest. In the bitter struggle between the Poles and the Little Russians the Jews were said to have plotted against the Poles until the Little Rus- sians defeated them, and Kridanos, a chief of the famous Cossack Bogdan Chmelnitsky, wrote the Polish Count Osproshsky advising him to drive the Jews out of the coimtry, as they were re- sponsible for his defeat. During the reign of Peter the Great, Catherine the First, and Eliza- beth, edicts were issued banishing the Jews from Russia. During Elizabeth's reign a law was passed permitting those Jews to remain in Russia who embraced the Greek Catholic faith or any other recognized Christian religion. This sense- less law made it possible for converted Jews to live anywhere in the empire, and is in existence to-day. During the time of Catherine the Great the Jews were finally permitted to settle in cer- tain parts of Little Russia and Crimea. [74] THE RUSSIAN JEWS The conquest of Poland added several millions of Hebrews to Russia's population. After the division of Poland, Catherine allowed the Jews to remain there, but did not permit them to visit the central provinces of Russia. In 1773, Coimt Kachrosky, Governor of Mogilev, wrote: "The Jews, although a sober people,' are very lazy when it comes to any kind of physical work and are sly, dishonest and superstitious. They succeed best where the government is weak and the laws lax ; they live entirely by fraud and on the honest toil of peasants ; they borrow where they can, and then declare themselves bankrupt ; by flattery and giving away free drinks, they cor- rupt people in all stations of life, and they mock our courts ; they are continually working in con- junction with our worst class of robbers, many of whom they started in their lawless careers." At the end of the eighteenth century, we find Jews in all the large towns of Great Russia. At first the right of residence had been granted to business men of the first guild. (In Russia, the class to which business men belong is determined by the amount and character of business done an- nually, and to enter the first guild a business man [75] ABUSED RUSSIA must, regardless of his race or nationality, pay $7,500 a year into the national treasury. ) Later, permission was given to college and university graduates to live outside the pale, and finally this right was extended to artisans, doctors, lawyers, druggists, midwives and prostitutes. (In order to better control venereal diseases, Russia tol- erates prostitution.) During the reign of Alexander II, the era of freedom and emancipation in Russia, the Jews were permitted to have a share in pubHc and national life. They were granted the right to enjoy unrestricted tuition in all schools through- out the empire, to enter the service of the state, to take part in local self-government, to acquire real estate in all places where they resided, and to participate in industrial undertakings of every kind. Everjrthing pointed to the fact that the Russian Government had the fixed intention gradually to place the Jews on a footing of equal- ity with those of its other inhabitants. Then came the assassination of Alexander II. The conservative, progressive element of Gen- tiles and Jews suffered alike because of this crime, which must be laid to the doors of the senseless [76] A Hebrew Woman of Bokhara Seldom, if ever, seen unveiled THE RUSSIAN JEWS hot heads who called themselves Nihilists, and among whom there appeared more than one na- tionahty. The pale of settlement to which Jews are con- fined consist of fifteen provinces of west, central and southern Russia, and ten provinces of Polish Russia. The writer has seen practically every section of European and Asiatic Russia, and while the pale constitutes only one-twenty-third part of the Russian Empire, including the xmin- habitable deserts of Central Asia, and the dry steppes of the Crimea, Caucasus and South Si- beria, it does seem that the pale is the only section of Russia where a white man would really care to live, outside the two or three north Russian provinces, which include Moscow, Novgorod and St. Petersburg. Here only a few privileged Hebrews are supposed to have residential priv- ileges, but a great many of all classes are encoun- tered. In principle, however, it seems an out- rage that a white man should be refused resi- dence in any part of the earth where he wishes to live. That the Jews are permitted to send only seven per cent, of their children to colleges and uni- [77] ABUSED RUSSIA versities is of course a great hardship, and, in my opinion, a great injustice. If the govern- ment fears, as I have often been told, that by con- tact with the Jewish students the Russian chil- dren are weaned from the Church and initiated into all forms of Nihihsm, which means pohtical ruin for them and exile, why does not the govern- ment force the Jews to build their own schools? The majority of them are not the poor, down- trodden outcasts pictured in this coimtry by crafty revolutionists, but by far the most pros- perous people of the land, and many of them would make desirable citizens in any country. Those Russians who see the urgent necessity of protecting the peasants from the exploitations of the more commercially qualified Jew should ad- vocate such stringent laws as we made in the States to protect the Indian, and then there need be no fear for the welfare of the peasants. It is realized that to permit the Jews to own land everywhere in Russia now would mean the reversion of many peasants to serfdom, due largely to the peasant's insobriety. The same condition is said to exist in Hungary, where the Jews were treated as liberally as in America, [78] "Gorodovoy" — RussiAK Policeman, is FoKEGHOtrifD At right is a cabman or "izvostshik" on his "droshka" THE RUSSIAN JEWS with the result that the political supremacy and the land slipped into the hands of the Jews. This compelled many natives to emigrate, for what chance has the shiftless Hun against the hard- working, sober and shrewd Hebrew? Students of political economy say that in New York Gen- tiles are being gradually driven out of business and forced to go West by the erstwhile Russian Jews. It is true that Russians as well as Americans when condemning the Jews often do not recog- nize the fact that among them, as in every race or creed, are grades and classes of individuals- It is true that a great nvmiber who swarm to the ghettoes of our big cities are by their presence and questionable busiaess methods a thorn in the side of the nation. Their own co-rehgionists of the better class — those thoroughly Americanized Hebrews who are among our best citizens — suffer greatly because of this element. There is noth- ing against the Jew racially, and to hear an American speak of excluding him from this or that club or society indicates a mind not free from ignorant prejudice. Great responsibility rests with the better He- [79] ABUSED RUSSIA brews, for upon them devolves the task of freeing a large percentage of their brethren from those traits which arouse the animosity of the Aryans. In Russia as elsewhere the better class of the Hebrews will continue to suffer from the wrong- doings of the worse, imtil they have taken radical steps to instill into the minds of their weaker brethren a proper standard of business morality. Instead of shielding Jewish culprits and putting forward efforts to protect them from the laws they have outraged, they should always refuse the vrrong-doers any moral or financial support, de- cline to tolerate guilt, and see to it that justice was administered to every criminal. Surely, every right-minded Gentile would aid in this work of correction. That the advanced Jews fully recognize their responsibility in this regard I have been assured by the eminent Hebrew, Rabbi Simon, of Washington. With such men as Schmakoff, Purishkevitch and other prominent members of the Union of Russian People, there prevails the mistaken idea that to give the Jew equal rights would mean eternal slavery for the peasant. This should not be the case if proper laws are enforced for his [80] The "Pristav" — District Chief of Police THE RUSSIAN JEWS protection, and especially if pressure is brought to bear upon the authorities executing the law which regulates the rate of interest for lending money, and if in some way the crookedness of the police and gendarmerie could be bridled, there would be less of Jewish dishonesty. Every mem- ber of the Union knows that practically all the money of the coimtry is in the hands of the He- brews, and though they control its commerce almost entirely, not every peasant is in the clutches of the Hebrew money-lenders. Just prior to the war, before any one thought of the great conflict, the Tzar returned through Kishinev and Odessa from Constanza, Roumania, where he had met the king of the country and where the finishing touches were put to a pre- viously arranged entente. The simplicity and cordiality of the reception of the Tzar staggered me, and the behavior of the Jews was above re- proach. The Hebrews, forming a large major- ity of the population, lined the streets on both sides, and any one of them desiring to harm the Emperor could easily have done so. I remarked to a friend of mine at Kishinev, known to be an xmreasonable Jew-hater, that apparently the [81] ABUSED RUSSIA Tzar seemed highly pleased with the assistance the Semitics gave the local authorities, and he answered, "If the Jews had always been loyal and had fought their battles by themselves, and had not tried to induce your nation to poke its nose into our internal affairs, they might have gotten what they so greatly coveted long ago." I resented the insinuation, but felt that there might possibly have been more truth than poetry in the remark. Everywhere in Russia it is evident that the conduct of the Jews in the past few years has been such as to merit serious consideration by the government of their demands for equal rights. It is to be regretted that their cause received a considerable setback on account of the Beiliss case, which the Jewish press all over the world tried and passed judgment upon before giving the jury at Kiev a chance to render its decision. Doubtless the Jews will soon attain the right they are contending for, if they can subdue the zeal of their co-religionists in other countries, that incites senseless attacks upon the Emperor and the Church. [82] -^ M^ r lassaJestK* resaa^^a ihpL^ ^ -w^^^^^^^^^ k [l ^^S > .^;'--1l ^ 1^ ^ Acting Governor Karaui. Begi Of the kishlack (town) of Karaui, capital of the district of Karaui, Bokhara, and his staff The Atachadja Miraciiur Aide-de-camp to His Excellency the Kushbegi, Vice Emir of Bokhara, who drove with me through Old Bokhara City and its vicinity in this very vehicle, imported to Bokhara from Moscow CHAPTER IX ASIATIC POSSESSIONS For many years the people of the United States thought well of Russia. In a critical hour Russia sent her fleet over, and certainly placed the American people under no small obligation, as the American historians and writers of the Civil War period concede. In 1893, during the World's Fair at Chicago, Russia still was one of our most favored nations. This state of affairs did not exactly please England. She could not forgive Russia's aggressive policy in Central and Asia Minor and connived against her at every turn. It is no credit to that great nation that through her intrigues in Afghanistan the Emir not only turned out all Russian busi- ness men, but actually executed the natives in Bokhara who traded with them. When in the early nineties the Russian Ambassador at Kabul committed suicide, because he was continually harassed by hired assassins who were spending English money, Russia gave up the struggle. Up to about ten years ago the English press [83J ABUSED RUSSIA never lost an opportunity to abuse her enemy, and as English sentiment is naturally reflected in our press, the American people gradually be- gan to think less of Russia. But since the Eng- lish people have come to imderstand Russia bet- ter, they have indeed regretted their former atti- tude. Public sentiment has changed in England since she has learned that it is to her advantage to work together with Russia (the same holds true of Russia), lest some day Kaiser Wilhekn's prophecy, made some twenty years ago, come true, and the Asiatics, now ruled more or less through bluff by England and Russia, wake up and drive the intruders into the Atlantic Ocean, unless, as a saucy Mongol remarked to me, "the Christians in time will embrace the Mohamme- dan faith and amalgamate with us." The United States have an all-powerful class of citizens of Semitic origin who felt they were jus- tified in weaning our people away from Russia, and, controlling as they do a large portion of the press of the United States, they took advantage of the events of the Japanese-Russian war to turn public sentiment in this country against the Russians. This same class showed its [84] Two Akoiiajj Soldiers Deserters taken at Kosaii, Bokhara. Tliey made me pay them $6 for sineins one Afshan song, "Sultan Dian" Treacherous Dachas of ArGHANisTAN Photographed at Kerki on the border of Afghanistan ASIATIC POSSESSIONS strength and hostility when our treaty with Russia was abrogated, and caused some of our Congressmen to make speeches which were any- thing but justified, and nearly brought about a rupture with that covmtry. That we have not entirely sacrificed our Rus- sian trade, amoimting to millions annually, is entirely due to such able representatives as Mr. Guild, of Boston, whom we had in St. Peters- burg, and who had to deal individually with every single proposition. The able charge d'affaires, Mr. Wilson, who is still in St. Peters- burg, has also proven himself the right man for the difiicult task. Such a state of affairs puts us in a ridiculous position, considering the fact that Russia is the buyer of our products, and that, with the exception of cotton, she can do very nifcely without any of our goods. Where in 1911 we sold her the value of $83,000,000, Russia sold us less than $7,000,000 worth of goods. It is not my intention to criticise those Americans who feel that Russia is dealing imfairly with their co-religionists, but it does seem that it should be apparent by this time that we cannot force Russia to run her country to suit us. In [85] ABUSED RUSSIA the eyes of the leading German, French and English newspapers at the time of the abrogation of the treaty, our government certainly deserved the severe criticism it received. During the Jap- anese-Russian war, the fact that we lent our moral support to Japan, and made it possible for that coimtry to place its bonds over here, and thus pursue the war (to-day she is our dreaded rival), left a sore that we will find no easy task to heal. The present situation seemed to me to have been well summed up by a business man of Tash- kent, who said, "Once the time comes when we are not only able to do without your cotton, but can compete with you in the markets of the world, then your people will not be so anxious to abrogate treaties with us or seek to meddle with the internal administration of our country." After discussing the matter with people of all classes in nearly every section of European and Asiatic Russia, I have come to the conclusion that we will sacrifice millions annually in trade unless we try in every tactful way possible to improve our relations with Russia. The Tzar rules over one-seventh of the world, [86] ASIATIC POSSESSIONS and it is his Asiatic possessions that have made up his enormous empire. For lack of time, much cannot be said about the conquering of vast Siberia, but a vital point to us is that the build- ing of the Trans-Siberian Railway through the entire length of Asia has opened up a covmtry fabulously rich in resources. What the chemoziem of central and southern Russia used to be to the world from the standpoint of wheat-raising, Siberia is becoming now, as immense tracts of wheat land are being opened up. What hap- pened in Dakota and in Nebraska twenty years ago, from the point of view of colonization and general development, is taking place to-day in Siberia, no longer a country isolated from every- thing and used for penal settlers only, but a country as fit for habitation as any of our north- western States, where one finds the latest agri- cultiu-al machinery and people up-to-date in every respect. Just as settlers in the West have progressed more rapidly than those of the East, so have the Russians who settle in Siberia left their less fortunate brethren in European Russia far behind. Siberia is the coming country of Russia, and [87] ABUSED RUSSIA if we use any judgment, we can develop a market for our goods that will bring us millions annually. But another blvmder such as the abrogation of the treaty, and we will have lost forever our chances of doing business with Russia, and Ger- many, by rattling her saber, will get it all. The section of Asia that will interest us the most is Txu-kestan, Central Asia, as it is from here that the beautiful Persian lamb and Astra- khan furs are imported. The coimtry known as West Turkestan, where immense areas of cotton are now planted, lies immediately west of Chinese Turkestan, is bounded on the west by the Caspian Sea, on the south by Persia, and by Afghanistan and Chinese Turkestan on the east. On the north it graduates into the plains of Siberia. This country is one-fourth the size of all Europe. The longitude is the same as that of South France, Italy and the Balkan Peninsula, but the climate is different from that of those countries. Owing to the distances from large bodies of water, the summers are extremely hot and the winters in- tensely cold. Turkestan can be divided into two parts, the low northwestern part, which comprises two- [88] GuRi-MiR, Mausoleum of Timor The murderous Tartar conqueror, in the city of Old Samarkand ASIATIC POSSESSIONS thirds of the area, and the southeastern section, which is mountainous and takes up one-third of the desert. Occasionally one finds large hollows below the level of the ocean, such as the Sari Ka- mish, ten thousand square miles in area, and one hundred and thirty-five feet below the sea level. Between Merv and Khiva is a hollow with an area of eighteen thousand square miles, two hun- dred and thirty feet below the level of the Cas- pian Sea. In the lower portion of Turkestan are some of the worst deserts in the world, such as the Kara Kum, Kizil Kum, Minunistrum, Sari Tishk, Otran and the Hunger steppe. For thou- sands of years the storms have blown a fine white sand from the exposed mountains, and together with that carried down by the rivers, enormous piles of sand are formed in these awful deserts, considered by some to be worse than the Sahara. When traveling on the Transcaspian Railroad from Krasnovodsk east toward Bokhara and Samarkand, one beholds for miles and miles in every direction nothing but the shifting sands, in dimes and hillocks, very much Hke the choppy waves of the Black Sea. Wave on wave of sand drifts back and forth. Sometimes the wind will [89J ABUSED RUSSIA sift a mound against the Sacksaul, the only plant of the desert. It resembles the mesquite bushes of Texas, excepting that it has no thorns and fur- nishes nourishment for camels and for fatrump and Karakul sheep. Just as in the Dakotas and in north Russia the railroad tracks are protected by high snow fences, so here we find dry bushes arranged for miles in fencelike fashion. In spite of this pre- caution, traffic is at times tied up for weeks, and the people at stations, dependent upon the trains for their water supply, are left to perish. Where water reaches the clayey soil from the Zaravshan, Sir Daria or Amu Daria rivers, such crops as cotton, com, alfalfa, wheat, barley, and fruit such as pears, peaches, apricots and plums, will grow. The Bokhara melon is much more de- licious than ovir Rockeford canteloupe and keeps through the entire year. In Turkestan too, are the Pamirs, which constitute the so-called roof of the world, where the average elevation is 14,000 to 16,000 feet. In these mountains are wonder- ful glaciers, higher than those of the Alps, and one there is thirty miles in length. There are absolutely no trees in the Pamirs, excepting in [901 ASIATIC POSSESSIONS the Aktsh Valley, near the fort of Shah-Djan, where the brother of the Chief of Audi j an, Mr. Bjezitsky, was stationed for three years. He boasts of having planted three trees, the only trees in the Pamirs. Mr. Bjezitsky is the only Russian who has traveled through the entire Pamirs. He has gone as far south as Djilala, the most northern railway station in India, near the River Indus. The principal rivers in Transeaspia are the Murgab and Tedjent, and they furnish consider- able water for irrigation purposes. The very ancient kingdoms of Sodigian, Baktria, and Khorezm occupied the rather improtected sections of Central Asia, and were entirely dependent upon a few rivers for their existence. It was but neces- sary for a hostile people to interfere with these rivers, and immediate submission followed. It was in this way that Assyria and Babylonia im- posed their rule over the people of southwest Turkestan. Persia then occupied this country vmtil the conquest by Alexander of Macedonia, and it is an easy matter now to collect coins here made at the time the Greeks held that country. When the Greeks lost their power, all of Central [91] ABUSED RUSSIA Asia came under the control of China, and Jian Kian, who one hundred and twenty-six years be- fore Christ, traveled through Kliiva, speaks of the grapes, rice, wheat and fruit which grew where the land was watered, and of the vast amount of territory imder irrigation. The Chinese began first to trade with Central Asia, then went west as far as Rome, and eventually they made the Aryans of South Turkestan their dependents. In going from the railway station of Bairam Ah to Merv in Transcaspia, one sees about forty square miles of ruins of the old city of Merv, built by Shachrock, son of Timur, in 1409, after the awful Mongolian invasion. To-day the Russian Emperor irrigates at his own expense an im- mense area of land at this place, and is having modem methods of agriculture taught to the natives. From time immemorial the Aryan pop- ulation of Turkestan was subjected to forced hybridization with the Turkish-Mongolians, and has resulted in a people called the Sarts, who occupy Central Turkestan. In the same way were formed the Taranchi, who occupy Chinese and Eastern Turkestan. In the moun- [92] The Famous "Arba" of West Turkestan . The driver always mounts the horse; the driver here is a Sart J ASIATIC POSSESSIONS tains of the districts of Samarkand and Fergana are still found remnants of the old Aryan race. From the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, Turkestan was invaded by Russia, and caravans from Bokhara and Khiva came to Russia. In 1717, Peter the Great tried to get into Khiva, but every man of his was slaughtered. Failure after failure taught the Russians where their weak- ness lay. Finally Perovsky, Chrutcheiev, Tsher- naev, Skobelief , Kauffman and others conquered the country for Russia. The oldest town in West Tiorkestan is Samarkand, which was founded by Persian kings four thousand years ago. This place has had an interesting history imder the various peoples and dynasties that have ruled it. It was taken for Russia by the cele- brated Kauffman. The Khanate of Bokhara is of great interest to Americans, as we spend milhons in that coun- try annually. It is from there that we obtain Persian lamb, Astrakhan and Krimmer furs, also beautiful rugs and silks. (See Altman's collec- tion in New York.) In 1912, 1913, and some five months this year, [93] ABUSED RUSSIA I traveled in Bokhara in quest of Karakul sheep, and made three importations to the United States and Canada. Up to September 1, 1914, no one else had ever imported any of these animals. Numerous tests have been made by various breed- ers and my own associates, and the Department of Agriculture, proving that we can produce the so-called Persian lamb skins and broadtail in America, at no small profit to the breeder, by crossing Karakul rams to our lustrous coarse- wooled long wools, such as Lincolns, Cotswolds, Leicesters, Black Faced Highlands, etc. But to obtain satisfactory results only such Karakul rams as are free from fine wool admixture must be employed, and American breeders are here warned against the purchasing of worthless ani- mals from unscrupulous breeders, to whom some inferior stock has been sold by us with the un- derstanding that none of it must be offered for sale tmtil properly bred up, which they failed to do. Even as recently as the reign of Alexander II it was still impossible to penetrate into Bokhara. To cross the Caspian Sea meant certain death, and the Russians had a proverb, "If you don't [941 The Ixhabitaxts of Khiva, West Turkestan, Live ijf Tents Resembling Those or Our Indians Summer and winter, they wear fur caps about half a foot in height, which is modest compared to the outrageously high caps of the Turcoman and Tekintzi, which often are twice that length ASIATIC POSSESSIONS wish to die, don't cross the Caspian," In the early sixties England sent a representative to Bokhara with a view to making a commercial treaty, but the fanatical natives could not tolerate a non-believer among them, and after frightful torture they killed him. This was the fate of every European who ventured into the forbidden country, and often Russians living on the border were attacked. After cutting women and chil- dren into pieces and destroying everything by fire, the wild Turcomans would return to their homes and prepare for other raids. At one time an ItaUan ventured into the country of the blood- thirsty Sarts in quest of the larva of silkworms. He was imprisoned and tortured and a frightful death awaited him. Frantic efforts were made by the Italian Government to liberate him, and the kind-hearted Alexander II was appealed to. At this time several influential Uzbecks from the capital of Bokhara were in Orenburg trading. The Russian Emperor ordered their detention. Word was sent to the Emir that unless the Italian was released he would order the execution of some five hundred Bokharans, including Kara- van Bashi Azis, son of one of the great favorites [95] ABUSED RUSSIA of the Emir. This resulted in the liberation of the Italian. When last in Bokhara I enjoyed the hospi- tality of this very same Azis, the oldest and largest dealer in raw Persian and Astrakhan skins in Bokhara. He is eighty years old and a million- aire. He lives in a house that has no windows on the outside and looks like any common Mexi- can adobe hut, but in the interior is a ver- itable oriental palace, whose decorations are most beautiful. Only in the summer palace of the Emir could one see the same character of decorations and rugs. I could not help feeling that American money paid for many of these lux- uries, because the States and Canada buy the greater part of the entire output of Karakul skins, known under the trade name of Persian lamb and Astrakhan furs. I enjoyed the hospitality of Mr. Azis and will never forget the "ploff" on which we feasted. We were all seated on rugs, there being no furniture of any kind. A httle "taburetka," a small, low, square table, was placed over a hole in the floor, into which hot charcoal had been poured. The table was then covered with a quilt. This posi- [96] s ^.3 ■S ASIATIC POSSESSIONS lively constitutes the only furniture in the re- ception-room of any native, rich or poor, and while it is thus possible to warm one's feet, the rest of the body freezes, as the quilt seldom reaches farther than the hips, and it certainly does get very cold at times in Bokhara. Green tea was first served in Chinese cups, and then came the "ploff," consisting of mutton, raisins and rice, and served for all in one dish. No guest ever gets a chance to leave the palace of the Kushbegi (Minister of Interior) or any of the beks (governors) before he has thoroughly stuffed himself with "ploff" and fruit, and he is expected to drink from five to ten cups of green tea. Though the inhabitants of Transcaspia, who for years were the most dreaded of desert rob- bers, have become a peaceful people, they are still closely guarded by Cossacks. But civihzation does not seem to have affected them in the least in other ways, and they live in their iurtas (felt tents) and mud houses just like the wildest tribes of the North American Indians. They are ideal horsemen, and the Tekin horse is said by some to siu-pass even Arabian breeds. [97] ABUSED RUSSIA The Turcoman women do not always cover their faces as do the Sart, Tadjick, Uzbeck, and Jewish women. When girls are seven to eight years old, they have already been sold for wives, and, provided they are paid for, are dehvered by the parents or nearest male relative when twelve to fifteen years old. If only partially paid for, the girl may Uve a while with her betrothed, but must again return home until the balance is paid. The price now paid for a wife is fixed by the Russian Government at twenty-five him- dred rubles, although secretly much higher prices sometimes obtain. There is less polygamy in Turkestan now than in former days. This is no doubt due to the in- fluence of Russians and others who trade among the natives, and never miss an opportunity to tell them of the financial advantages of monogamy. Old Bokhara City and Old Samarkand are in- describably filthy. The water holes, known as "gowsy," are never cleaned, and it seems incred- ible that a people who perform their daily gluteal ablutions (a religious rite practiced by every Bokharan, from the Emir down to the shepherd in the desert) in these mud holes would also drink out of theml But they do, and as a result about [98] ASIATIC POSSESSIONS thirty per cent, of them suffer from the dread disease known as "reshta." Infection due to filth causes the death of many. Is it any wonder that cholera, plague, fatal dysenteries, and the dread "pendinka" are always prevalent? A European must not touch a morsel of food that has not been boiled for at least fifteen min- utes. In spite of the greatest care, in some dis- tricts few Europeans escape "pendinka," which causes wovmds to appear aU over the body that cannot be healed up with any known medicine. They leave frightful scars ; but fortunately after nine months this awful disease cures itself, usually leaving no bad effects, though it sometimes pre- disposes one to rhevmiatism, as can be testified to by my OAvn experience. In her treaty with Bokhara, Russia agreed not to interfere with the Emir in the internal man- agement of affairs, but it seems that His High- ness is imable to bring about any reforms what- soever, and for that reason has refused to reside in Old Bokhara City, preferring to hve on his estate, about one hxmdred miles east of the cap- ital. Only a few years ago, when the old Emir still lived, criminals were hurled from the tower minaret, which is about three hundred feet high; [99] ABUSED RUSSIA others were chopped to pieces on the square in front of the palace, while the public looked on, apparently enjoying the awful sight. Still others were thrown into a noisome stink hole and there left to die. This hole has never been cleaned and proves the method of punishment most feared by the natives. It has takeil the Russian Government and the Emir several years to do away with some of these awful penalties, but as the Russian Ambassador stated, to bring about other reforms now would mean a bloody war, so by educating the children of the better Sarts in the Russian schools, which have been established in the principal towns, it is hoped that in time the natives may learn to hve like human beings. Russia's problems with her fifty millions of Asiatic polygamists are of a most serious nature, and she must take every precaution to prevent the Mongol from asserting himself again and ruling the white race, as he has done before. We may thank God that we have no race problems to solve quite as serious as Russia's. A Russian prince said to me, "Admit our Asiatics and we will admit all Jews." I do not thiak we want to trade with Russia. [100] The Minaret, the Tower of Death, in Old Bokhara Citv Only a few years ago, a woman found guilty of prostitution was put into a sack and hurled head downward on the Registan Square NOTE The last pages of this book were written on the northern border of Afghanistan, and when I parted with the camels in Old Bokhara City, I was already apprised of the possibiUty of trouble between Russia and Austria. I was not in the least disturbed, but scarcely had I reached my birthplace, one of the German colonies in Bess- arabia, when certain events occurred which made war a stern reality. I left Libau three days be- fore the town was bombarded by the Germans, and en route to St. Petersburg came face to face with mobilization. I witnessed the mob which broke up the German Embassy, and saw numer- ous processions of many nationalities, and it be- came evident that the Russian people were to- gether in this war. I saw a demonstration by the Hebrews, who carried a picture of the Em- peror through the streets, and nimierous flags and emblems placarded "Down with the Kaiser," and I learned subsequently that a handful of Jews in St. Petersburg raised in two days one hundred and forty thousand rubles for the war [101] ABUSED RUSSIA fund. The leading Russian newspapers stated that all over Russia the Hebrews were collecting money and offering their services to the govern- ment. I prophesy that after the termination of this terrible war, whether it ends satisfactorily to the Russians or not, the Jews will win by their loyalty what they most covet — namely, the right to live in any section of the empire, a right to which they were entitled long ago. That the de- mands of the Polish and Finnish people will be satisfied in every respect is a foregone conclu- sion. The great demoralizing effect which vodka has produced among the peasants has already been removed by the Emperor, and I am sure laws will be passed which will make it extremely diffi- cult for the peasants to obtain this life-wrecking poison, responsible for ninety per cent, of all of Russia's ailments. Until the early fall of 1914, Russians were perishing with drink. Drink was the real obstacle to progress, and more than any- thing else retarded the manifestations of the many talents of this gifted nation. Yet lo and behold! when people saw that the exigencies of the present war were demanding the utmost self- [102] H '\ o NOTE possession, the coolest brain and the clearest eye, there came a word from the Imperial Throne, half stern command, half earnest supphcation: Stop driaking, close the drinking shops, devote sober heads and calm hearts to your country 1 And drink was stopped. Saloons and houses trading in vodka were closed. People obeyed be- cause they beheved the Emperor was right. The Anghcan Bishop of London said in a re- cent address that what especially won his heart to the Russian people ("Our Eastern ally") was exactly this wonderful, tremendous, self-sacri- fice involving an annual revenue to the state of ninety-three millions sterling, let alone the sacri- fice of personal habits, which at first, at least to many people, meant sickness and in few cases even death, and the loss of their habitual though factitious psychic equilibrium. The eminent British ecclesiastic added : "When we in England hear of our public houses (saloons) being crowded sometimes even in the early mornings now, I hope that we shall follow the example of oiu- Russian ally." The following despatches on this subject are most interesting: [103] ABUSED RUSSIA London, January 25, 1916. — ^A despatch from Petro- grad says that Kharitonoff, Secretary of the Russian Treasury, speaking before the Douma Budget Commit- tee to-day, declared that, owing to the great increase in the national savings due to prohibition, the extraordi- nary outlay occasioned by the war has as yet caused no great suffering in Russia. As proof of this, Kharitonoff said the national sav- ings in December, 1913, which had amounted to 700,000 rubles, had increased to 29,100,000 rubles in December, 1914). He added that the total savings for 1913 amounted to 34,000,000, as compared with 84,000,000 rubles for 1914. About vodka, a Petrograd despatch says : With war and without vodka, Russia is more pros- perous than with vodka and without the war. That the Tzar and all the people are to- gether to-day as they have never been before in the history of the empire is a well-known fact. What is especially gratifying is the knowledge that this war will break the backs of the last remaining bureaucrats, who owe their existence to the old, haughty, aristocratic German barons of the Baltic provinces, who have always been under the influence of Berlin. The teaching of the Russian language in all of the public schools has been made compulsory. [104] NOTE This is a measure which I had been advocating for years, but which had always been met with opposition on the part of my friends, who told me that the Americans must have queer ideas of liberty when they forced the English language upon all their people regardless of nationality. All arguments to the effect that one language and one system of teaching in all public schools in the entire land meant the creation of a homo- geneous xmit and the obliteration of the spirit of nationality — often a block to the concerted action of a people — were met with ridicule and derision. In view of all nationahties seeming only too eager to support Russia to-day in her terrible war, and seeming ready to sacrifice the last drop of blood for their country, one might be led to believe that the opposition with which I met whenever in the past I discussed the necessity of Russification of all the empire's people along the same lines as practiced by us in this country, was justified. Yet prior to the war I was confronted with a picture of the various conflicting elements of Russia's vast domain expendiag most of their time and efforts to exterminate each other, due mostly to strong feeling entertained by certain [105] ABUSED RUSSIA nationalities. Every one knows of the great ani- mosity which exists between the Russians and the Jews, the Tartars and the Armenians, the Poles and the Russians, the Sarts and the Persians, the Uzbecks and the Tadjicks, the Osetins and the Liazgins, and known, too, is the attitude of the Teutons of the Russian Empire, who hold their heads high above every other nationality, to give the impression that they are conferring a favor on all the others by condescending to live among them, and who are ever anxious to impose their language and their iron discipline on all of them, feeling that because they educated the Russians along practically every line imaginable, that that entitled them to be the only rulers of the land. The Douma should discountenance every pro- posed xmreasonable restrictive measm'e resulting from the war against those Germans who have been Russian citizens for a long time. In this way they will avoid adding to Russia's already full measm-e of race problems. I fear that the very recent compulsory introduction of the Russian language into all German schools and throughout the empire has been more the result of revenge upon the millions of Ger- [106] -a a 2 2 a — : -? >■ IS — W NOTE mans living in Russia than the desire to Russian- ize the hundreds of different nationalities of the empire, but no matter what the motive may have been, I predict that in this case the end will jus- tify the means. With one national ideal, united on all national problems — as she is to-day on the one great question of the war — and ever ready to make sacrifices for a still greater Russia, up- holding the motto, "One People, One Country and One Flag," Russia would become invin- cible. Those of Russia's great men who are doing the thinking for the empire should remember that in order to accomplish what we have in this coim- try — ^namely, the practical obliteration of all nationalities and subsequent general amalgama- tion, they must ever bear before them the fact that there should be equal privileges for all and special favors for none. While we in the States have not been entirely successful in carrying out this maxim, the bulk of our people and many of our greatest reformers are working earnestly in that direction. The great moment has arrived for Russia. All caste distinction and special privileges to the [107] ABUSED RUSSIA nobility should be eliminated and every nation- ality put on an equal footing. All people born in Russia, regardless of their nationality, should be honored with the pohtical term "Russians" in the same sense as we in America use the term "Americans," and rehgion should not be the only means of classification, for every sane man knows that no child is responsible for a religion which the Russian Government, as has been the case imtil recently, and Russian parents force upon it. I have never contented myself with the fact that because I am of Teutonic origin and because my parents determined upon my being a Stundist, that I had not the right to consider myself a full- fledged Russian mitil I saw fit to accept the anointment imposed by the Russian Church, at my request, I must admit, or that because of my German origin I could not consider myself an American when the Constitution of the United States granted me that right. Every fair-minded Russian must acknowledge that it is an injustice to say that only those of Slavic origin or those having become members of the Greek Orthodox Church are true Russians. Have few people not of Slavic origin and not [108] High-Class, Veiled, Sart Woman In Old Tashkent, the capital of Sir Daria Province, West Turkestan, Central Asia, where the Russian Governor General of Turkestan resides. The architecture of the house and the introduction of windows indicate the dawn of civilization NOTE members of the Greek Orthodox Church helped to make Russia the great empire she is? Most Russians resent the idea of Hebrews born in Russia caUing themselves Russians — ^which, biologically speaking, they are not — ^yet if they are bom in Russia and are Russian citizens, I cannot see why they may not apply to themselves the political term "Russians." The peasantry should be compelled to remain sober forever, and the necessary protective laws made for the peasants who desire to sell their land, and if the most stringent laws governing the rate of interest are enforced, the laws now on the statutes affecting Hebrews could be re- pealed, and the same rights granted to them as are accorded to all other nationalities without doing the peasants the slightest injustice. That the nationalization of all those Russians who are styled foreigners by the true Slavic Russians is most imperative, I am firmly con- vinced. I think the Emperor voiced the proper senti- ment in this matter when, in appealing to all his people after the declaration of war, he stated, "Let us forget all internal dissension, and let us all be Russians." [109]