120 RUSSIA THEN AND NOW 



robed in a noble ideal to become his consort iu the 

 preservation of Russia. The romance of it, the dis- 

 covery of themselves, awakened in the Russian people 

 a great patriotism and a depth of religious feeling 

 never before manifested by any nation. 



The story is so athrill with romance, inspiration, 

 and dramatic action, that it only awaits a master mind 

 in Russia for interpretation into a great Homeric 

 epic. 



But to us the story of the temperance movement 

 in Russia is of significant interest, because it is the 

 most gigantic experiment ever undertaken in tem- 

 perance reform, affecting as it has nearly two hun- 

 dred million people and extending over eight million 

 square miles of territory. 



The work began twenty years ago, and never before 

 was reform inaugurated under more propitious and 

 satisfactory conditions. Removed from fanaticism 

 by its conservatism, assured against failure by auto- 

 cratic power of enforcement, financed by an Imperial 

 treasury, and clothed with respectability by the 

 Church, Russia's scheme for temperance reform be- 

 gan most auspiciously. It was not even hampered 

 by the necessity of returns on the investment, for the 

 government took over the vodka traffic without any 

 form of compensation to the sellers. 



Never were such gala days as when Russia opened 

 her state vodka shops in 1894. Grand-duchesses par- 

 ticipated in the inaugural ceremony, and bishops 

 blessed the drink. Princes and princesses and other 

 titled folk acted as bartenders in serving bottles of 



