154 APPENDIX 



so clear. Dean Swift once said, in reference to his 

 critics, that unless the asses ate off the ground leaves of 

 certain plants, they would never grow tall, and cer- 

 tainly Russia has had a tendency to sprawl. Occupy- 

 ing one seventh of the land of the globe, she includes a 

 wide diversity of people, and is not entirely a homo- 

 geneous nation. National spirit has been lacking, her 

 circulation has been slow. Individualism and personal 

 initiative in the great mass of her population have been 

 at a low ebb. It is idle to attribute this condition to 

 the character of its government, for no government 

 has failed to reflect the status of its people for any 

 great length of time. This internal condition of 

 Russia has been improving, very rapidly so during 

 the last ten years, but the effects already observable 

 seem to indicate that the war is going to accomplish 

 for Russia within the few years of its duration what 

 would have ordinarily required many years. Already 

 the greatest social evil in Russia, drunkenness, has 

 disappeared, with startling effect upon the economic 

 and moral status of the people. The Russians are 

 united in this titanic struggle, and a genuine national 

 spirit is in evidence. Old customs are being broken 

 up, and a new experience brought to every individual 

 in the Empire. No final judgment can be formed 

 at this time, but it would appear that the quickening 

 of the spirit of Russia may eventually be considered 

 worth its terrible cost. 



