-Mr.
V
roB iFi&iNCtfEisrGl-
'ii
jfn
or am. iiMcnirnoNH
'ftA
x
M'0Vif
4 $
(;xi:UTiii at :riw ori'M'K
JOHK SHMteT
WITtf JIBAwCsvJSfn MHI'ATCII
Subscription Rtesvsmrt -
One ycaf,.f ,fcf.f-,f;f $3 50
Six month, ,.,...n",,..3ftrj.....i 5
Three months. . .', .... X Co
ff SAN rntPVPF?tna' vo,L.vL
MARSH'FIELD, OREGON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1884.
NO, 42
... .,. . MT t.rint lOfttrti.
.'I
Ml y' V A" rN f I 1 JT v m M 4 "" "T7 ii Vhukav
" m .'Wsw k mcrmsrrih ibT-, m m . .. by
JJJID I vi A I I .,,.,
" " V' V74lBJVaP!BIIMBnr-2 iti T 4sm jit, jBm JBL- an js sm
L :".'! . ' '? '-' ' ' " ' Mi
- j
Miscellaneous
GREAT REDUCTION IN PRICES
-AT Til ft-
X 1. W T-CASH' STORE
1 -OK ACCOUNT OK
ODlosol-ULtlorL' of
i, , ' " i .
jcrOXi.i( And hi-Ik roil yo0'6w;i.jr, t
Wo nro hoUIiik CLOTH INO AT GREATLY REDUCED' RATES..
Anil wuhnvo nlso ili(cfulnV(l to null anything tftnt (lio icopM'o need
In our lnu id U,v L0WE8T PRIUK8. ' ' " '"" ' ' ' '
' i ' i ii '
Hi'IihmhIht, wo NEVER
FAIL
i
olock mid Hint tyt havo put
PRICES DOWN
TO
JiiHt dri In mill try In comprehend our prices, and you will, noliee
that mi nctlv trade In ulwnyft condiietcij nu Hid iun,l;pr,Ml!H plnit., .
iyn viewing our luuiinriHo stock of DRY (iOODH, OLOTIlfNO,
LADIES' Mini UKNTUVHKN'S JFURNISllINU U0OD8, IIOOT8 nnd i
BIIOKB, 1IAT8 mid OAI'8, OlL.OLQTIUNn und RUIUllvR 000D8,
n full assortment of I-itdles' mxl Children's CLOAKS nud U0LMAN8,
UUOCHRIIvB, PROVIHIONB, TOBACCO, CHlARS, WINES mill
LIQUORS, CROCKERY, OLASSWARE, PAINTS nud OILS, un.l other
article too numerous to mention, tint unlvursul uxelumiitioii In, Wlmt
it ticrfcct Mloro itutl wlmt cheap gWjdH I
J. LAMO & SON, Proprietors.
NEW PEPAHTUReT
Tlio undersigned having IxMight ftom DIt. C. . aOHDEN llio
IRSHFIELD DIG STORE
I'rowt Ntrcol, .Ttitr-ahflcid, Oregon,
liilcbiudiuiufco of ?lho liberal imtrounuo cxtumlud in tlio imHl.
Hullel
i
I.urco Iniiirovdiuuiit nru licitit: nmilo
Piuu Drti.Vlininlu'nlK, PikleiitMciliniuoy, IVrfiniicrtcH, TrimicH, HpOiiKCM,
ComU, llfuihrt, I'UIn nnil I'uncy Candln, Nollon ami I'uncy CKxl or nil Llntlt.
'I he lrl rfttoiiiiirnt of I'ktuir I'mihci Hi ihcTcotinly, all ! ami at nil inicrt, kept In Mock
or nwiilc lit imkr at lioit nollrc,
1 ull ami conitilfl line of I'jInU, Oili. V.tnlshe. GUu nml I'uliy of the puirtt qiul.ly.
tUlnicrV ami AitiiM n-itriUU of cteiy ilocililion coniuiilly on Ii.iihI.
Am arisngltij: to Iiiim)ii thlouch NVw Oilm, Ulrt-cl Irom C'uhi, llir fmcil limmH of IliirniM
( Ig.-ti aml'l ntutco. lor uii.ilnl.iiirf ulli Iraillm; toUicroliHli in New OdtMiit uill rimdle
mc lo nxiue llic fmrtt koo1 nt the loet jirlcev
All cootlt at uliolewtle at well a retail
.11. (.om
N. U.-Precrlptlona And Family Recipes carefully compounded. m-ii
bOQu
BAY MliTORE
m
MarshfLelcl,
Henry Sengstacken, - - Proprietor
HRM.r.11
Drugs
Caiulioi, ToWco nnil ClKnn, Hlutloui-ry nml Fancy Tollot Articles, Puro WlnuB
itml LiiiuoM for Misllcliml une,
PruwriiitloiiH wklllfully coiiimiiui(iiI. A'Otit for WcIIm, Fiiit;o it Oo'n ICs)nKH.
N. 11. Tlio Kinplro Citv Dnlt; Ktoro w ill roulinuo uiulor tho nnmo iminiiKi'iniiiil
nml ownomliin ah licrvtolore. Orilont left at either Rtoro will, rccoivi) proiniit
attention. lllJNKY 8BS0STACKKN.
BAY VIEW
MABSHPIBLD, OK.,
leiiiiiieiien
PBOPBIETOBS, ;
Kevpti coiiBiiiiuiy on liniu! w oJiiin for wilo u Htijiorior nrtielo of
LAGER BEER, ALE AND PORTER,
WHOLKBALK and HKTAlh. ..
irirvaj. v naa'a ititmir Mtirn tirMmfinf rin i vnn "i M
mi UAH JO tiVi Vhll'.U Willi nr. wiiuiur3i uufiq we
WINES, LIQUORS AND CIGARS.
ouiB
a
o
o
Q
V.
EH
W
E. A. ANJDEltSON,
LIVERY AHD FEED 8TABLE,
MAitsiiFiKr.D, oiti;aoN.
OADDLK II0U8KS AND
llliaOY THAMB lo lot nt nil Iioiiih.
1IAUL1N0 tlono nt tlio Hlinrtont no
tice uut tit wry rciBoiiub!o rntun,
COAL and WOOD alwoyn on Imnd
nud'UuKvy'rod at tho lowcU itttca.
flHHBI
Advertisements.
OopsixtrLoxelxip
to Ik) cotitiiiiiiilly lidding to uurl
ii 'I
T1IK LOWEST. NOTOJI.
nuil tlio nloolc lioitvih' iiicroiixni.
'Hie titcnt traiie will lie tupiillnl at liU-ral rales.
- in(lciif fioiii nni:lilxrin' couutir ul!cill.
I'. A. J01Mi:.. lrorlolor.
Oregon,
)
IN
Medicines, Oh.eniicals,
Paints, Oils,"'
BREWERY
& ESyaiiofiK
9
H,.3iTC3-'S
H vHH J w t
5-.3r -wr J P-ja
LIVEJIY STABLE
MAitsirFifiD, owsaox.
TOU8K8 TO I.KTAT ALL I10UKS.
iriuillug ilono nt Bhort uolico,
WOOD nml COAL nhvnyu on iinmf,
wlilcli will bo tiollvoicd nnywhero nt tho
lowcut ratC3. A. LANO,
i
H
Sjf
.SIBERIAN FROZEN HELL.
Prince KrApotlcine Terrible Story of
Tyrinny And Torture How Younff
Llyes are Worn Away Iti Hopeless
Toil and Frightful Ationles Under
the Awful Cruelty pf .Russian Masters.
borne hi ynatn ago, nearly nil tlioco
iiiOO peoplu who woro roiuloiunod every
year lp hard labor were Hent lo eastern
Blborln. One part of tlieui wan employ
ed nt tho iivor lend nml mid iiiIiich of
thu NerlehliiHk diHtriet or nt tho Iron
workH of J'oi.9Vsk (not fur froiiiKJaklitaJ
nml, Jrkuluk, or ut tho bH worka of
.Uitolltvpud UMt-Kut; n foty worp cin
Jiloyrd nl mlrnpery Iri ,tlia ntsiffhbtirliood
of IrkuOjk, nml thojreiualndor woro nont
to tiie koIiI milieu, or atlicr wM wahu'
inn of Knrn, whero they were ImmiihI to
dig tliu.lriidiLlonnl"iiundred poodh''
CiaOQ.jioundH) of j;oli,'for tho 'cnblnot
of IiIh inuJeHlv," that In for tho personal
purm of tho emperor. The horrible
tnlex of ftiibterruilean work in tlio gllver
and lend milieu, under tlio tnostnloinin
Able eondilloiiH, under tho wlilpH of ovcr
HOerM who ronipelled each ten men to
nccompllMli a work tlmt would lw hard
OVi'n for doublo thm number; of eon
vlntH working in tho darknciM, charged
with heavy ilialim and rivclod to bar
rows; of people dying from tho poiHon
oiiii einanatloiiH of the niine; of priHon
er Hdgged to dentil, or dying under five
or Mx hotmaiid utroken of tho rod, by
order of traditional iiioiiHtorM like
llnzgtiildcufr ull tliexo tales, well
known everywhere, are not titled duo to
tho fancy of imaginative writcrH, they
am trtio hiHlorit-lo recordH of n nal reali
ty. And they are not talcti of a remote
pant, for Htieh were tho condition!) of
lianl labor in tho Nerteliinuk mining
dldlrict no farther back than 'Si years
ago. They might Imj told by men Htill
in life.
More than that, many, very tunny,
features of, thin horrible pnHt have lwon
iiirtlntained until our own tiuiCH. Every
one in eastern Kileria known of the ter
rible Hctirvy epldemicfl which broko out
at tlio Kurn gold milieu in 1W7, when
uccordiug to olllcinl reortn rtiBcd liy
ii. Mnxiinoir no lens than lOOOconvictH
out of Homo 17,000 died in tlio eoureo
of one nummer, and tho catiHo of tho
epideuilcH if) u nocret to nolnidy ; it is
WoU known that tlio uttthorlticH, hav
ing perceived that they would bo tin
uble to dig oul tho traditional 100 povln
of kiiM, caused tho courted) to wr'k
without. rout, uInjvo their ulrengtli, until
Home foil dead in thu mincH.
Ah to the 1800 or 11)00 hard-labor c6n
victfl who are transported every year to
BilHjrin, tliey nro Hitbniitted to dilleront
kiiidH of treatment. A certain number
of tlient (2701) to 3000) nro locked up in
tho hmd-hihor pririona of western ;(ml
eastern Hilnirla; wliilo tho reinalndor
are trnnHported, cither to tho Knra gold
willing or to the nalt workn of UhoIIo
nud L'st-Ktit, or to- tho coal mines of tho
Sakhalin inland., Tho few mines and
workH of tlio crown in Siberia being,
however, unable to employ tlio nearly
10,000 convicts condeined to hard labor,
n novel expedient was invented in rent
ing tho convicts to privato owners of
gold washings. It is easy to perceive
that thu punishment of convicts belong
inn to tho sumo hard-labor category can
bo thus varied to an iinmenso degree,
doHMiding'on tho caprice of tho authori
ties nud a good deal on tho length of tho
ptirsa of tho convict. Ho may bo killed
tinder tlio pleles at Kara or Ust-Kut, ns
iilnb ho may comfortably livo nt thu
private gold initio 6f some friend ns
"overseor of works' and bo nwnro of
Ids' removal to Siberia only by tho long
delay in receiving news from his ltus
Hluti'frionds. Leaving nsido, however, these oxcoi-
tiouul favors and n variety of subdivis
ions of less importance, the hard-labor
convicts in Hlboria can bo classified un
der three groat categories those who
nro kept In prison, those who tiro em
ployed nt the gold mines of tho imperial
cabinet or of privato persons, nud those
who urn employed nt thu salt works.
Tlio fato of tho llrst is very much liko
tlio fato of those who nro locked up in
central prisons in Itussla. Thu Slburiau
Jailer may smoke u pipe instead of n
cigar when Hogging his inmates. Ho
tuny miiko use of lashes instead of birch
rods, nud Hog tho convicts when bis
soup is spoiled, while the Russian jail
er's bad temper depends upon nu un
successful hunting. Tho results for tho
convicts tiro the same. In 8i1uria, ns
In Russia, u jailer "who pitilessly Hogs"
is substituted by n jailer "who gives
free play to his lists, mid steals tho lust
cojipersof thQ.iirlsonerH;" and nn hon
est limn, if ho is occasionally nominated
us thu head of a hard-labor prison, will
soon be dlsmlssod or expelled from nn
administration whero honest men nro n
nuisance.
Tho fato of, thoso 2000 convicts who
are employed nt the Kara gold minus is
not bettor, Twonty years nga tho ollle
iul reports represented tho prison nt Up
per Kurn ns an old, weather-worn log
wood building, erected on swampy
ground nml impregnated with tho lilth
inpss accumulated by long generations
of ovorcrowded convicts, They conclud
ed that it ought to bo pullod down ut
once; but tlio same foul and rotten
building contluues to shelter tho con
victs .until now, nud oven during M.
Kononovltch's reasonable rule, it was
said to bo whitewashed only four limes
ft yenr. It Is always' 111 led up lo doublo
its' cubical capacity, mid thu inmates
sleep on two stories of platforms, ns also
on tho floor, that Is Covered with a thick
shoot of sticky filth, their wet and nasty
clothes being mattressou and coverings
nt once. Bo It was 20 years ago : soil
Is now. Tho chief prison of tho Knrn
gold wnsbingo, tlio lower Kara, was de
scribed by JL MuxImoflMn 1803, and by
the ofllcinl documents I have ionised,
ns it rotten, nasty building, whero wind
nnd snow freely Jicnelrato. Ko it Is de
scribed ngnlu by friends. Tho middle
Knrrt prlson'wnM 'restored a few years
ago, btitil soon became ns filthy ns tho
others.
Tl(e situation of the convicts would bo
still worse if tho overcrowding of tho
prisons and tbo Interests of the owners
of tho gold mines bad not compelled the
government to sljortcn tho timo of im
prisonment. .Ann rule, thrf hanbJnbor
convict ought to bo kept in prison, at
tho mines, only for about, one-third of
tho time to which ho bus been condemn
ed. Ileyond this time ho must be set
tled in tho vilIugdclose by tho mine, In
n separate hotiho, with his family, if his
wifu lias followed him ; he is bound to
go to work, liko olhor convicts, but with
out chains, nnd bo has his own hotipo
nud hearth. It is obvious Hint this law
might lo nn immense benefit for the
convicts, but its provisions nro marred
by tiie manner in which it is applied.
Tlio liberation of tlio convict depends
entiiely upon the caprice of tlio suiierin
toiidcnt of tlio mine. Moreover, with
tho absurd payment for his lubor, which
hardly reaches n few shillings per month
in addition lo tlio ration of flour, thu
liberated convict fails, witli but few ex
ceptions, into the most dreadful mbcry.
All investigations of the subject are
agreed in representing tinder tho dark
est aspects thu misery of this class of
convicts, and in snying that the im
mense number of runaways from this
category of exile is chiefly duo to their
wretchedness.
Tho punishments obviously deticnd
entirely upon fancy of tho superintend
ent of tho works, nnd they are atrocious.
Tho privation of food nud tlio blackhole
are considered as merely childish pun
ishments Only tho plete, the cul-o'-nino
tails, distributed at will, for the
slightest delinquency, nnd to the amount
dictnlv'd by tho good or bad temper
of tho manager, is considered as n ptin
ishmont. It is so tiRtial a thing in tho minds of
the overseers, that "hundred plules,"
100 lashes with tlio cat-o'-nine-tails, nro
ordered w'ith the same easiness ns ono
week's incarceration would bo ordered
in Kutojvoan prisons; but there nro
other heavier punishments in storo: for
instance, tho chaining for several years
to tho wall of nn underground, black
hole, especially nt tho Akatuy prison;
the riveting for ilvo or six years to tho
barrow, which is, perhaps, the worst
imaginable moral torture; nnd finally,
tlio lecssa (the fox), that is, n beam of
wood, or n pioco of iron, weighing one
pood nnd n half (48 pounds), attached
to the chain for several years. Tho hor
rible punishment by the leessa is be
coming rare, but tho chaining for sev
eral yours to u barrow is qulto usual.
Quito recently, the political convicts,
l'opko, FomichcflT nnd Hcreznuk word
condemned, for nu attempt at escape
from tho Irkutsk prison, to bo riveted to
barrows for two years.
I hardly need to add that the superin
tendent of the mines is a king in his
dominions, nml that to complain about
him is quite useless. JIu may rob his
inmates of their last coppers, ho may
submit them to tho most horrible pun
ishments, ho may torture tho children
of convicts no complaints will reach
tho authorities; nud tho convict who
would bo bold enough to daro n com
plaint would bo simply starved in black
holes, or killed. under tho pletes.
Thoso who aro condemned to hard
labor not only loso their civil nnd per
sonal rights, thoy nro separated forever
from their mothor-hmd. After their re
lease from hard labor thoy nro embod
ied in tlio great category of tho ssyluo
posolentsy, nnd thoy remain in Blboria
for life. No possible-roturn, uudor any
circumstnticos, to Russia. The category
of bottled oxilos is tho most numerous
in Siberia. It comprises not only tho
released hard-labor convicts, but also
tho nearly 3000 men nnd women (23,332
In tho space of 10 years, 1807 to 1870),
transported every year under tho head
of ssylno-posoloiitsy, that is, to be set
tied in Siberia, also for life, und with n
totul or partial loss of their civil nud
jwrsonnl rights, To these ssylno-posol-ontsy
or simply poselentsy In the cur
ropt language must o ndded tho 23,
383 exiled during tho same 10 years nn
Yodvoroule, that is, to bo settled witli n
partial loss of their civil rights; 2551
exiled nu jitio (to live In Sllwrla) with
out loss of their imrsonnl rights ; nud
tho 70,080 exiled during tho samo timo
by slmplo orders of the administrative,
thus making n total of nearly 130,000 ex
iles for 10 years, During tlio last livo
years this liguro has still increased,
reaching from 10,000 to 17,000 oxilos
ovety year.
It appears from these investigations
that, while more than half a million of
pooplo have been transported to Blboria
during tho last 00 years, only 200,000
tiro now ou tbo lists of tho local admin
istration; the remainder have died with
out leaving any posterity, or have dis
appeared. Even of thpso 200,000 who
figure on tho olllcial lists, no less than
one-third, that is, 70,000 (or even much
(more, according to other valuations),
have disappeared during thu last few
years without nnyliody knowing what
lias become of them. They have vanish
ed like n cloud in tlio sky on n hot sum
mer day. Part of them have run away
nnd have joined the human current, 20,
000 men strong, that silently flows
through the forest hinds of Siberia, from
east to wcst,-toward tile Ural. Others
and these aro the great number al
ready havo dotted with their bones the
"runaway paths" of tiie forests nnd
marshes, ns nlso tho paths that lead to
and from tho gold mines. And tho re
mainder constitute the floating popula
tion of the larger towns, trying to cg
catH) an obnoxious supervision by as
sliming false names.
Hut not only is the moral force of tho
convict broken by the prison; bis phys
ical force, too, Is.inostlji broken forever
by tho journey and the rtojourn at their
hard-labor colonies. Jinny contact in
curable diseases; 'all are weak. As to
thoso who liavojqKjntsomo 20 years in
hard labor (an attempt at escapo easily
brings tho seclusion lo this length),
they nro for tlio most part absolutely
unable to perforin any work. Even
put in tho best circumstances, they
would still be n burden on the commu
nity. Hut the conditions imposed on
tho poselcnl aro very hard. He is sent
to some remote village commune, whero
he receives several acres of land tho
least fertile in the commune, nnd he
must become a farmer. In reality, he
knows nothing of tlio practice of agricul
ture in Sileria, nnd, after three or four
years' detention, ho has lost the taste
for it, even if he formerly was an agri
culturist. The village commune receives
him with hostility and scorn. He is
"n Russian" a term of contempt with
the Siborynk and, moreover, n convict 1
lie is nlso one of those whose transport
nnd accommodation cost tho Siberian
peasant so heavily. For tho most part
he is not married 'and cannot .marry,
tho proportion of exiled women being
as olio to six men, and the Siberyak will
not allow him to marry bis daughter,
notwithstanding tbo CO roubles allowed
in this case by tho state, but usually
meK-Kl nway oh 'their long journey
through the hands of numerous ollicials
Theio wus no need in Siberia for tlio
olllcial scheme-inventors who order the
peasants to build houses for tho exiles
and who settled the poselentsy, Ifivo or
six together, dreaming of pastoral exile-
communities. Tho practical result was
invariably the same. Tho fivo poselent
sy thus associated in their miseries in
variably ran away after n useless strug
gle against starvation, and went under
false names to tbo towns or to tho gold
mines in search of labor. Whole vil
lages with empty houses on the Siberian
highway still remind tho traveler of the
sterility of official Utopias introduced
with tho help of birch rods.
Thoso who find some employment on
tho farms of tbo Siberian peasants are
not happier. The whole system or en
gaging workmen in Siberia is based ou
giving them largo sums of hand money
in advance in order " to put
them permanently in debt, und to re
duce them to n kind of jmrpetual serf
dom ; and the Siberian peasants largely
use this custom. As to those exiles
and they aro the great proportion who
earn their livelihood by work on tho
gold washings, they nrc deprived of nil
their savings ns soon as they havo
reached tbo first villago and public
house, after tbo four or fivo months of
labor of bard labor, in fact, with all
its privations at tho mines. Tho vill
ages on tho Lena, the Yonissei, tho Kan,
etc., where tho jvirties of coal miners
nrrivo in the autumn, nro widely
famed for this peculiarity. And who
does not know in Siberia tbo two
wretched, misorablo hamlets on tho
lxsna, which havo received the names
of Paris nnd London from tho admirable
skill of their inhabitants in depriving
tho minors of tlteir very last copper?
When the miner has left in tho public
bouse his last hat and shirt, bo is im
mediately re-engaged by tho agents of
the.gold mining company for tho next
summer, and receives in oxchnnge for
his passport some hand money for re
turning home, Ho comes to. his village
with empty hands, und tho long wilder
mouths ho will spond porhaps in tho
noxt lock-up 1 In short tho final conclu
sion of nil olllcial inquiries which havo
Itoon made up to this timo is that tho
few housekeepers among the exiles nro
in n wrotebod state of misery, nnd that
tho paupers' nro oithor serfs to tho farm
ers nnd mine proprietors, or to uso
tlio words of nn official report "nro
dying from hunger nnd cold."
I havo now to examine tho situation
of political exiles in Siberia. Of eourso
I hliall not venture to toll hero the sto
ry of political exilo bIiico tho year 1007,
when ono of tho forefathors of tho now
reigning dynnBty, Vnssllly Nikitich
RomunniT, oped the long list of proscrip
tions, nud torinlnntcd his lifo In nn un
derground coll nt Nyrdob, loaded with
04 pounds' weight of heavy chains. I
Bliull not try to revive tho horrible sto
ry o! tho Bar confedorotoa arriving In
Siberia witlt their noses and ears torn
nway, and so says, at least, tho tradi
tionrolled down tho hill of tho Krcml
at Tolwlsk tied to big trees 1 I shall not
tell the infamies of the madman Fres
kin nnd his Ispravmk Loskutofr; nor
dwell upon tho execution of March 7,
1637, when tho Poles, Szokalski, Bier
ocznskt and four others, wero killed un
der 7000 strokes of the rod ; nor will
I dcscrilie the sufferings of tlio "Decem
brists" and of the exiles of the first
days of Alexander H.'s reign ; neither
give here tho list of,,, our, poets and
publicists exiled to Siberia since the
times of RudisebefT until those of Odoc
ysky, und later on, of Tcbernyshovsky
and Mikhailoir. I sltall speak only of
those xolitical exiles who aro now in
Siberia.
Karats tho placo where thoso con
demned to bard labor wero' imprisoned,
to tho number of 150 men and women,
during tlid'aultimn of 18S2. After hav
ing been kept from twb to four years
in preliminary detention at tho St. Pe
tersburg fortress, at the famous Litov-
skiy Zamalr, at the St. Petersburg
house of detention, and in provincial
prisons, they were sent after their con
demnation, to tho KhardolT central
prison. There they remained for three
to five years, again in 'solitary confine
ment, without any ocenpatibn) without
any intercourse witli their parents, lit
erally starving on tbo ioor allowance
of one-and-a-quarter pence per day, and
at the mercy of their jailers, Then they
wero transferred for n few months to
tho Mtsensk depot, whero they were
treated much better, nnd thence they
were sent to Transbaikalia. Most of
them performed the journey to Kara in
the manner I havo described on foot
beyond Tomsk, and chained. A few
were favored with the uso of cars, for
slowly moving from one etape to an
other. Even these last described this
journey as a real torture, and say : "Peo
ple becomo mod from tlio moral and
physical tortures endured during such
a journey. Tho wife of Dr. Bielyi, who
accompanied ner nusuunu, nnu two or
three others, have had this fate.'"
The prison where they aro kept at
Middle Kara is one of those rotten build
ings I havo already mentioned. It was
overcrowded when 01 men were confin
ed in it, nnd it is still more overcrowded
since Hip arrival of 00 more prisoners ;
wind and snow freely enter the inter
stices between the rotten pieces of log
wood of tho walls, nnd from beneath
the rotten plunks of tho floor. Tho
chief food of tho prisoners is ryo bread
nml some buckwheat; mentis distribu
ted only when they nro at work in the
goldmine; that is during 3 months out
of 12 nnd only to 50 men out of 150.
Contrary to the law and custom, nil
wpro chained in 1881,, and went to work
loaded witli chains.
There is no hospital for "politicals,"
nnd the sick, who aro numerous, re
main on tlio platforms, side by side,
witli nil othors, in the same cold rooms,
in tho same suftbeating atmosphere.
Even tho insane Mine. Kovalovskayn
is still kept in prison. Happily enough,
there are surgeons among them. As to
the surgeon of the prison, it is sufficient
to say of him that tho insane Mme. Kov
alevskaya was kicked down and beaten
under his eyes during an attack of
madness. Tho wives of tlio prisoners
wero allowed to stay at Lower Kara,
and to visit their liubsands twice a
week, as also to bring them books and
newspapers. The greater number are
slowly iiL- from consumption, and
the list of deaths rapidly increases.
Put the most horrible cureo of Irani
labor at Kara is tlio absolute arbitrari
ness of the jailers; tlio prisoners aro
completely nt tho mercy of tho caprices
of men who wore nominated by the
government with tho special purpose
of "keeping them in urchin-gloves.''
Tho chief of tho garrison openly says he
would Iw happy if somo "political" of
fended him, as tho offendor would bo
hanged ; tho surgeon doctors by means
of his fists ; nud the adjutant of the gov
ernor general, a Captain Zagarin, loud
ly said: "I am your governor, your
minister, your tsar," wlion tho prison
ers threatened him with making a com
plaint to tho ministry of justice. Ono
must read tho story of the insurrection
at tho Krasnoyarsk prison, or hoar N.
Lopatiu's narrative of it to bo convinced
that tho right .pluco for such nn individ
ual would lo a lunatic asylum. Evon
Indies did not escapo his mad brutality,
and woro submitted by him to a trent
mont which revolted tho simplest feel
ings of decency; nnd, wlion tho prison
er Schedrin, In defense of his brido,
gavu him n blow ou his face the milita
ry court condemned Schedrin to death.
General Pedashenko acted in accor
dance witli the loudly oxpressed public
feeling at Irkutsk whon ho commuted
tho sentence of death into a sontcuco of
incarceration for u fortnight; but fow
olficials havo tbo courngo of the then
provisional govornor general of eastern
Siberia. Tho blackholcs, tho chains,
tho riveting to barrows, nro UBital pun
Ishmonta, and they aro nccompaniod
sometimes with tho regulation "hundred
plptes." "I shall kill you under tho
rods, you will rot In tho bltickholo,"
such is tho .languago Mutt; continually
sounds in the oats of tbo iirls.onort).
lint li.iimllv onouub. conkmil nunlsh-
Imouthasnot boon used with political
prisoners. A 50 years' oxpcrion,co lias
(aught the officials that tho -dayjt 'was
applied "would bo a day of great blood
shed," as the ptibli8bers,of tho Will of
the People said when describing the lifo
of their friends In Siberia. , ,J1W, ..
As to the prescriptions of the. law with
regard to exiles, they aro openly tram
pled upon by tbo luglior and lower auth
orities. Thus Uspcnskiv 'Tcharoushin,
Bcmenovsky, Sliisuko were liberated
from the prison and Bottled in Hip .Kara
village after having reached thoierm
of "probation" established by thojlaw.
But in 1881' a ministerial decision, taken
at St. Petersburg, without reasonable
cattsc, ordered them to bo again locked
up. The law being thus trampled under
fool, and the lost hopes of amelioration
of the fate of tho prisoners having thus
vanished, two of them committed sni
cide. Uspcnskiv, who endured horriblo
sufferings in bard labor sinco 1867, nnd
-whoso character could not bo broken
by these palils, wftft unable lo.ltve more
of this hopeless life, nnd followed ttho
example of his tWo cdmrade'sj ' If Jtho
political convicts at Kara wero common
murderers, they would still bayb tho
bbpc that, after having ipro'rnica' tlielr
7, 10, or 12 years of hard lalor for , hav
ing spread socialist pamphlets, among
workmen, they would finally be set nt
liberty and transferred to some- pfov
inco of southern Siberia, thus becoming
settlers, according lo tho prescriptions
of our penal system. But there is no
law for political exile!). Tchertiyshev
sky, the translator of J. S. MilPj)."Po
litical Economy," terminated 10 years
ago his 7 years of hard labor. If ho
bad murdered his. father nnd mother,
and burned n bouo with a dozen child
ren, ho would lie settled now in some
villago of the government pf Irkutsk.
But lie has written economical papers ;
he has published them with the author
ization of the censorship; the govern
ment considers him as u possible leader
of tlio constitutional party in ilittssia,
aud he is buried in the hamlet of. Yilti
isk, amidst marshes and forests, 500
miles beyond Yakutsk. Tliferd, isolated
from all the- outside- world, closely
watched by two gendarmes wbo-lodgo
in his house, he is burled forcverr and
neither the entreaties of tho Russian
press nor the resolutions Of the last in
ternational literary congress could save
him f; ora the hands of a suspicious gov
ernment. Hdwever bitter the condition of the
hard-labor convicts in Siberia, tho g6v
ernment has succeeded in punishing! as
hardly, nnd perhaps, even moreiso,
those of its political foes whom it could
not condemn to hard labor o't exile,
oven by moans of packed "courts, nomi
nated ad hoc, and pronouncing their
sentences in absolute secrecy. This re
sult has been achieved by means of (ho
"udministrativo exile," or transporta
tion to "more or less remote provinces
pf tho empire," without judgment,
without nny kind or even phantom of
trial, on n single Order Of th6 omnipo
tent chief of the third sectio'n. 13vcry
year some five or six hundred young
men nnd women are arrested under sus
picion of revolutionary agitation. ,Tho
inquiry lasts for six months, twb years,
or more, according to the number of
persons arrested in connection with,
and the importance of "tho affair."
One-tenth of them are committed for
trial.
The causes of exiles wero always tho
same ; students and girls suspected of
subversivo ideas, writers whom it ivas
impossible to prosccuto for their writ
ings, but who wero known to be imbued
with n "dangerous spiritj" workmen
who havo spoken "against tho au
thorities;" persons who havo been
"irreverent'' to some governor of1 a
province, or ispravnik, aud so on,
wero transported by hundreds every
year to pcoplo tho hnmiota of
the "more or less rcinoto provinces
of tho empire." As to radical peoplo
suspected of "dangerous tendencies,"
tho barest denunciation nnd tho most
futilo suspicions wero sufficient tor serv
ing as a motivo to exile. Girls (liko
Jliss Bardino, Soubbotine, Lubatovieh
and many others) were condemned lo
six or eight years of hard labor for hav
ing given one socialistic pamphlet to ono
workman ; and others (liko Miss Gouk
ovskayu, 14 years old) wero condemned,
to exilo as poselentsy for having shout
ed in tho crowd that it ia a shamo to
condemn peoplo to death for nothing.
Ono will easily realizo tho condition
of tlieso exiles if ha imagines a student,
or a girl from a well-to-do-family, or a
skilled workman, taken by two gendar
mes to a borough numbering 100 houses
and inhabited by a few Laponians or
Russian hunters, by ono or two fur-traders,
by the priest and by tbo police offi
cial. Bread is at famfno prices; each
manufactured article costs its weight
iu silver, nnd, of eourso, there is abso
lutely no means of earning; evon a .shil
ling. Tho government givos to such
exiles only four to eight roubles (eight
to ton shillings) or month, and imme
diately refuses this poor pittance if tho
exilo receives Jrom his parents or friends
tho smallest sum of money, bo it oven
ton roubles (1) during 12 months. To
give lessons is strictly forbidden, oven
if thoro wero lessons to givo; for in
stance, to the slanqyoy's children.
When reading these linen wo aro trans
ported back at onco to tho seventeenth
century, and scorn to hear again tbo
words of tho protopopo Avvakum:
"And I remained thoro iu tho cold block
houso.nnd nftorwnrdwith tho dirty Tun
gttses, as a good dog lying on tho straw;
sometimes thoy nourished mo, some
times they forgot." And liko tho wifo
of Avvakum, wo ask now again: "Ah,
dear, how long, then, will thoso suffer
ings go onY" Centuries havo elapsed
since nud u whole hundred years of
pathetic declamations about (prore3
nud humanitarian principles, all to
bring us back to tho same point, ivhek
tlio Tsars of Moscow Bent their adversa
ries to die iu tlio toundrus on tbo simpk)
donuncmtioii of u Javorito,
Aud to the question of Avvakmn's
wife, roiKMitod now again throughout
Blboria, we have "but 0rMjj)aibkiiy i
No partial reform, no chahm of ,m
can ameliorate! this hocri-bo tF, w
things; nothing short of s, comiitefe
transformation of tho famlttietal eok
ditlous of Russian lUo. '
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