ON THE WAY HOME 299 



opinion of the soldiers I came in touch with, who 

 are also well educated. They are to be seen at the 

 stations, and are fine handsome men, nearly six feet 

 high, clothed in long grey overcoats, which are most 

 picturesque. From my experience of the Russian 

 and Siberian soldiers, and the Russian naval officers, 

 whom I have seen often enough, I think that they 

 compare very favourably with the British, and the 

 book entitled Russia As It Really Is contains a very 

 unfair criticism of them. I was delighted to meet 

 with a strong criticism of this book in the columns 

 of the Dally Telegraph of the 3rd July, 1903, which 

 I reproduce verbatim : "It would be hard to find 

 a book written in more violent language than this, 

 the natural result being that the author defeats his 

 own aim." This criticism is not by any means too 

 strong, and to my mind could be applied with almost 

 equal truth to the writings of many pretended 

 authorities on Russia and Siberia who, through an 

 excess of anxiety to belittle and traduce Russia, only 

 succeed in discrediting their own sincerity. 



Other writers, having visited Siberia, have found 

 that the subjects of the Czar are disinclined to talk 

 about or criticise the actions of the Government, and 

 have been obliged to rely upon the stories of the 

 exiles, who are the Government's bitter enemies, and 

 are secure against being banished farther into 

 Siberia. I tnyself have listened to stories from exiles 

 here and there, but owing to my business training, 

 which causes me to sift and prove a statement before 

 I accept it, I have found that many of them will not 

 bear investigation, and I have not thought fit to 

 repeat them. If our own murderers and convicts 

 had been banished to a country like Siberia for the 

 last seventy-five years, instead of being imprisoned 

 or executed, it is open to us to imagine the grievances 

 they would conjure up and pour into the ears of 



