A Trip Through Siberia 



45 



timber, navigable water-courses, coal, 

 iron, copper, gold — indeed all of the re- 

 sources which properly developed tend 

 to make a nation great and prosperous. 



Into and through such a country 

 the Russian Empire has built a rail- 

 road which is as marvelous as the coun- 

 try through which it goes. Undoubt- 

 edly planned as a military road, its 

 freight and passenger traffic has so enor- 

 mously increased that there is no longer 

 a question of its present and future 

 financial success. From its be- 

 ginning a steadil}' increasing 

 tide of immigration has flowed 

 into Siberia, not only by rail 

 from central and northern Eu- 

 ropean Russia, but by means 

 of the Russian volunteer fleet 

 through the Suez Canal and 

 the Pacific ports until Vladi- 

 vostok, which forty years ago 

 consisted of four Chinese fish- 

 ermen's huts, is now a flourish- 

 ing city of fifty thousand souls, 

 and Khabarovsk and Blago- 

 vestchensk are not far behind 

 in wealth or population. At 

 first a Cossack occupation at 

 strategic points, then an as- 

 sisted immigration of the for- 

 mer serfs, now an eager and 

 enthusiastic search for wealth 

 in the fertile soil and rich min- 

 eral resources of a new country. 

 To each family moving into the 

 Amur and maritime provinces 

 an allotment of 269 acres of land 

 is made, and into the central and western 

 provinces forty acres for each male im- 

 migrant, with certain tax exemptions 

 and lessening of military service in both 

 cases. The fare to incoming settlers is 

 preposterously low, being about twelve 

 ■dollars for 4,500 miles. 



At frequent intervals hospitals, bar- 

 racks, and dining stations are erected, 

 where medical attendance is given free, 

 where children and sick persons are fed 

 without charge and all others can pur- 

 chase food at cost. Wherever the}' go, 



the fostering care of the government 

 follows them. Loans of money and seed 

 are made to the needy and deserving 

 and government stores supply agricul- 

 tural implements on the installment plan. 

 Is it any wonder that Siberia is rapidly 

 filling up with a strong, sturdy, vigor- 

 ous population of independent Russian 

 farmers, and that the brutish and cruel 

 Cossack, who is regarded there some- 

 what as the Sioux Indian is on our own 

 frontier, must look for other fields where 



A Business Corner in Stretensk 



his peculiar skill in fighting, plunder- 

 ing, and vodka drinking can be dis- 

 played ? 



There is little doubt but that the 

 Russian Empire will ultimately expend 

 upon this stupendous enterprise at least 

 $500,000,000, but it is building for the 

 future, and is laying the foundations 

 deep and strong. 



REMINISCENCES OF TRAVEL 



On the 28th of June, as I bade good- 

 bye to Consul Harris in Nagasaki, he 



