Russia in Recent Literature 



567 



ignorance of matters which are common 

 knowledge to the rest of Europe. Side 

 by side with the most revolutionary 

 doctrines that would shock the most 

 advanced of English or French radicals, 

 there are students, like one whom I met 

 last autumn, who simply refuse to be- 

 lieve that such a thing as religious free- 

 dom exists in any country in the world. 

 These incongruities are but the result 

 of the system of repression of ideas 

 which, while it succeeds admirably in 

 •destroying all independent thought 

 among the stupid masses, drives others 

 to the wildest extremes of revolutionary 

 ideas in politics, literature, and philoso- 

 phy." ; 



Nijni, the site of the renowned fair, 

 is in its decadence, although still most 

 picturesque. Its description is worthy 

 -of perusal. It is tersely described ' ' as a 

 piece of mediaeval Europe and unchang- 

 ing Asia, with an infusion of modernity, 

 it is unequaled even in this land of glar- 

 ing contrasts." 



Provincial Russia, from Moscowsouth- 

 ward to the Crimea, is briefly treated. 

 The great cities are lamentable specta- 

 cles, through their absence of local 

 patriotism, local information (many 

 large towns have no local newspaper), 

 and owing to the corruption and bru- 

 tality of local officials. The situation 

 is perhaps best conveyed by the state- 

 ment that censorship forbids the papers 

 of a large provincial town to publish 

 " descriptions of love scenes, criticisms 

 on reactionary journals, the mention of 

 trade unions, criticisms of the acts of 

 police officials, the mention of the name 

 of Gorky, accounts of the religion of 

 the Japanese, praises of Tolstoi, the 

 word ' bureaucracy, ' the names of cer- 

 tain diseases, the enumeration of ele- 

 mentary schools, facts concerning the 

 bad organization of the local hospital 

 and the barracks, criticisms of the arti- 

 cles by Krushevan (the instigator of the 

 Kishinieff massacres)." 



In the Black Sea country, one of the 



most fertile regions of the world, with 

 its grain, wine, iron, coal and oil, Odessa 

 is perhaps the most remarkable port, 

 with a population of nearly half a mil- 

 lion. The Jewish question is treated 

 in the description of Odessa, where the 

 streets, promenades, and buildings are 

 superior, owing to the large Hebrew 

 element, about one-third of the popu- 

 lation, which controls chiefly the busi- 

 ness. Of the Jews, Villari says : 



" The great majority are extremely 

 poor, and engaged in various handi- 

 crafts and small trades. One of their 

 chief grievances lies in the obstacles 

 placed in the way of the education of 

 their children' ' (limited to one-tenth the 

 whole number of pupils). 



This rule means selection and com- 

 petition, which bring forward the ablest 

 Jewish students, who ''are not infre- 

 quently elected by their fellow-students 

 as presidents of the literary and scien- 

 tific societies. . . . They generally 

 come out with the highest honors, and 

 those who do not go into business be- 

 come lawyers or doctors, the only liberal 

 professions open to them, and rapidly ac- 

 quire the best practice. The result . . . 

 accentuates the bitterness against them 

 on the part of the Christians." 



Their unpopularity is due to many 

 causes, principally economic. Specula- 

 tion in grain, most widespread, brings 

 them in bad standing with the peasants, 

 who hate the Jews, but trade with them, 

 as they often mistrust more the Chris- 

 tian merchants. 



He adds: "In spite of their many 

 undesirable qualities, the Russian Jews 

 are absolutely indispensable to the wel- 

 fare of the country. Without them there 

 would be no trade, in many districts 

 money would not circulate, and eco- 

 nomic activity would be paralyzed." 



The industrial development of Russia, 

 stimulated by the government, has been 

 astonishing in the past twenty years, 

 especially in textiles and metallurgy. 

 These industries are divided by Villari 



