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National Geographic : 1905 Dec
Contents
RUSSIA IN RECE umes of Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace and of Luigi Villari, the latter being an original work. Wallace's " Russia" is an enlarged edition of a work which, though it orig inally appeared thirty years since, is yet recognized as a standard authority upon the land of the Czars. Sir Don ald's observations of Russia now cover a period of thirty-five years. The changes in Wallace's book are very few, indicating slight modifications as to discomforts of travel, scarcity of good roads, absence of domestic com forts, and, above all, the continued low state of the clergy. While stating that the younger priests have aspirations for the future improve ment of the people, he speaks of the sys tem as "presenting continual simony, carelessness in religious rites, and disor ders in administering the sacrament, thus transforming the service of God into a profitable trade." Of the original volume the only mate rial changes have been in the treatment of local self-government, but the value of the volume is largely increased by ad ditional chapters on industrial progress, nihilism, socialism, and other revolu tionary movements. With regard to the zemstvo, now of forty years standing, he expresses the opinion that it is destined " to play a great political part in the future." This system of local government has suffered from restrictions on the devel opment of education, through gov ernors' suspending its action, by in creasing the representation of the bu reaucracy at the expense of the peas antry, from preventive censure as to its publications, and by opposition to its efforts to establish equitable taxa tion. The zemstvos in late years have improved local conditions materially as to hospitals and asylums, and less so as to primary education, agriculture, roads, and bridges. With its defects, the zemstvo is " infinitely better than the institutions it displaced."' NT LITERATURE 565 The growth of nihilism and its reac tion are carefully treated. Repressive measures failed to check it, the decline being due to the foundation of a liberal party. Nihilism found its warmest par tisans among students, whose beautiful theories lacked the power of even sug gesting concrete forms. The trans formation of nihilism into socialism is attributed to Tolstoi's educational re form, which brought the revolutionists into closer contact with western social ism. The various phases of propaganda, agitation, energetic repression, and of terrorism, with its associated crimes, culminated in the assassination of Alex ander II, which discredited terrorism. The development of manufactures and the creation of a proletariat mate rially affected the revolutionary move ment, which assumed the form of social democracy. Political agitationsand trade unions resulted in labor troubles, but the efforts of the government, through legislation and its support of working men in labor disputes, failed to control the situation. Father Gapon's connec tion with labor unions and his subse quent career are discussed, together with his failure as a self-appointed repre sentative of the oppressed people and the leader of a political revolution. Sir Donald admits his inability to state whether the outcome will be reform or revolution. He outlines Plehve's repressive policy, the demands of the constitutionalists, the aims of the social democrats and agrarians. The liberals counsel peaceful methods, while the re- olutionists resort to popular disorders. Considering a strong man necessary, he says of Witte : "As an administrator he has displayed immense ability and energy, but it does not follow that he is a statesman capable of piloting the ship into calm waters." The most interesting, if not most im portant, chapter is on industrial progress and the proletariat. A protective tariff and government support have wonder fully developed manufacturing indus-
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