99' 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



December 1, 1913. 



waiting to welcome him. He can see 

 grassy hill-slopes just ahead, and the 

 mirrowed lake appears to lie just be- 

 yond some beckoning meadow. He fol- 

 lows on and on, ever on ; and afterward 

 drains the last drop from his canteen. 

 Then his throat becomes parched, his 

 tongue cleaves to the roof of his mouth, 

 and strange things pass before his eyes. 



The buzzards begin to soar over him, 

 and the coyotes sit upon their hunkers 

 and watch him chase rainbows until he 

 pitches forward upon his face and closes- 

 his eyes upon a world that is too mys- 

 terious and merciless for him to linger 

 in longer. 



Do you wonder that Beck finds joy in 

 the work he is doing? 



RUSSIA IN ASIA. 



In tlie " Russian Review " Otto 

 Hoetzsch gives an impartial summary of 

 " Russia's Position in Central x'Vsia," and 

 leaves little doubt that Britain's agree- 

 ment with Russia in respect to Persia 

 will be utilised for the fullest expansion 

 of Muscovite interests. It is, however, 

 in another direction that we must look 

 for developments. The writer says : — 



Turkestan is becoming- the ever more evi- 

 dent centre of Russian expansion in Asia, 

 since her development on the Pacific coast 

 was checked by the war with Japan. No 

 very prolonged time will elapse till the econo- 

 mic importance of Turkestan surpasses that 

 of Mongolia, whose value in this respect 

 appears somewhat doubtful. All this will 

 indeed be of little benefit to European trade 

 and industry at large, since Russia, for 

 political and economic reasons, has made it 

 a forbidden land. Access can only be ob- 

 tained by special permission from the Minis- 

 try of Foreign Affairs. Consular representa- 

 tion and similar arrangements are also 

 denied on principle. Russia has spent much 

 blood and money in acquiring and fostering 

 this territory. It is not humanly possible 

 that anyone should dispute its possession 

 with her, nor will anyone be in a position 

 to bar her development in the directions in- 

 dicated. Its importance to the world in 

 general is at present inconsiderable, and will 

 remain so for some time. It will take Tur- 

 kestan a longer time to become a cotton 

 exporter than will elapse before Siberia takes 

 its place as an international granary. But its 

 latent possibilities should not be under-esti- 

 mated. Of all European nations Russia is 

 the one which has not only acquired most 

 Asiatic territory, but established herself 

 most firmly in that continent. Her methods 

 of procedure show — and this should be em- 

 phasised in the face of belittling criticism — 

 that the Russia of to-day possesses and main- 

 tains her great and ancient talent for 

 colonisation. 



THE NEW SIBERLA. 

 In the same magazine we have a 

 pleasing picture of Siberia from the pen 

 of Arthur G. Marshall, who calls atten- 

 tion to the error of misguided public 

 opinion in regarding Siberia as " off the 

 map " : — • 



Siberia has probably been the subject 

 of more misconceptions than any other 

 country. Through the modern novet 

 which deals with Russian life it is pic- 

 tured in the minds of most people as a 

 land of perpetual winter, extremely 

 barren, its only industry being mines- 

 worked by convict labour, whose unwill- 

 ingness is overcome by the constant ap- 

 plication of the knout, until eventually 

 death gives them a hai)py release. This- 

 picture, which is on a par with the- 

 popular conception of the Russian-. 

 Government, is entirely erroneous. 

 Siberia in reality is Russia's Canada,, 

 and Canada, as portrayed by the nove- 

 list, is a land flowing with milk and 

 honey, where everyone is rich and every- 

 one is contented. Thus we have two- 

 countries really very similar, but con- 

 cernmg which popular conceptions are- 

 absolutely different. A first visit to 

 Siberia is an eye-opener to those w^ho 

 have gathered their knowledge of the- 

 country from the novelist. The tourist, 

 arriving in the spring, finds himself in 

 the land of flowers, and in place of dis- 

 contented strings of chained convicts he- 

 finds contented, hard-working agricul- 

 turists and no signs of the miserable- 

 poverty he had expected. 



Mr. Marshall gives statistics showing 

 the great advance in manufacturing, 

 mining, and agriculture, and concludes : 



Siberia is one of the last of the world's 

 big areas to be opened up. China already 

 has her own civilisation. Canada, South 

 America — excepting only Brazil — South 

 Africa and .'Vustralia are all well advanced, 

 and are now working on regular lines ; while 

 Siberia is like an open, untilled field, and if 

 one will but take advantage of it there is a 

 vast opening here ; but time must not be lost 

 or the trade of this country will continue tO' 

 be in the hands of our competitors. 



