6 3 6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and are brought back as often, is great ; and many " unfortunates " 

 spend the last days of their lives in trying to get back to Russia, and 

 being retransported to the colony. 



This is the shadow-side of the convict's existence : I will now briefly 

 sketch the bright side. A convict, who has become skilled in mining, 

 repents of his offense, submits to his fate, works industriously, and con- 

 ducts himself well in every respect, and ventures in time to open his 

 heart to the director and ask to have his situation improved. The offi- 

 cer encourages him, gives him good advice, and permits him, after he 

 has suffered three, four, or five years of punishment, to have his chains 

 replaced by lighter ones, and, when he is convinced that the man is 

 really reformed, grants him a settlement. Thus the prisoner has be- 

 come a free man, except that he is never permitted to leave the district 

 to which he is assigned. Now, the advantage of the system that per- 

 mits the family of the prisoner to go with him to the place of punish- 

 ment is manifested. The man has, during his long years of hard labor, 

 been with his wife and children, has gained courage and strength in 

 this family life, and has become a good man. The presence of his 

 family has been a blessing to him. When in other countries the doors 

 of the prison close upon a condemned man, the world is no more to 

 him all connection between him and his is severed ; while to the Rus- 

 sian prisoner is left the comfort of his family, a strong anchor that 

 holds his heart fast against the tumult of his sufferings. The re- 

 leased miner goes with his family to the settlement which has been 

 designated for him. He has nothing but the bare land, his own strong 

 will, and his energy inured to suffering. The village must extend a 

 hand to him and advance the means for setting up an independent 

 establishment. He is furnished a house of course a very poor one 

 farming-tools, seed-corn, and a start in live-stock. Now, he begins a 

 new life. After the first harvest is gathered, and what is necessary for 

 his bare support has been reserved, he goes bravely to work to dis- 

 charge his obligations to the commune. After ten years at latest, he 

 will have made good to the last grain of corn, and he then becomes 

 the owner of an estate free of debt, for which he has only to pay a 

 small ground-rent, and has the satisfaction of knowing that after his 

 death his children will be free men in a home founded by him. 



Now, how does the condition of a person discharged from prison 

 in one of the so-called civilized countries compare with that of this 

 Siberian ? The last spark of self-respect that may be left in him is 

 extinguished by the reception society gives him. Contempt, suspicion, 

 and scorn meet him at every step. Neither Government nor society 

 will give him the means of rehabilitating himself by labor and of 

 founding a new existence, and he sinks deeper and deeper, with no 

 way of escape open to him, into crime and ever again into crime. 



Pardoned convicts or their children are living in nearly every 

 town and village of the Altai region, and this fact is the origin of the 



