For two years he struggled hard at Tobolsk to root out the malpractices ; and then, conscious of failure, he gave it all up and ceased to attend to business at all.
Others, more prudent than he, never tried the experiment ; they made money themselves and let others do the same.
'I shall root out bribery.' said Senyavin, the Governor of Moscow, to a grey-bearded old peasant who had entered a complaint against some crying act of injustice. The old man smiled.
'What are you laughing at ? ' asked the Governor.
'Well, I was laughing, batyushka ; you must forgive me. I was 2. Mikhail
(1772-1839), minister under Alexander I, was Governor of
in 1819.
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thinking of one of our people, a great strong fellow, who boasted that he would lift the Great Cannon at Moscow ; and he did try, but the cannon would not budge.'
Senyavin used to tell this story hilllSelf. He was one of those unpractical bureaucrats who believe that well-turned periods in praise of honesty, and rigorous prosecution of the few thieves who get caught, have power to cure the widespread plague of Russian corruption, that noxious weed that spreads at ease under the protecting boughs of the censorship.
Two things are needed to cope with it - publicity, and an entirely different organisation of the whole machine. The old national system of justice must be re-introduced, with oral procedure and sworn witnesses and all that the central Government detests so heartily.
2
Pes tel, one of the Governors of Western Siberia, was like a Roman proconsul, and was outdone by none of them. He carried on a system of open and systematic robbery throughout the country, which he had entirely detached from Russia by means of his spies.
Not a letter crossed the frontier unopened, and woe to the writer who dared to say a word about his rule. He kept the merchants of the First Guild in prison for a whole year, where they were chained and tortured. Officials he punished by sending them to the frontier of Eastern Siberia and keeping them there for two or three years.
The people endured him for long ; but at last a tradesman of Tobolsk determined to bring the state of things to the Tsar's knowledge. Avoiding the usual route, he went first to Kyakhta and crossed the Siberian frontier from there with a caravan of tea.
At Tsarskoye Selo 3 he found an opportunity to hand his petition to Alexander, and begged him to read it. Alexander was astonished and impressed by the strange matter he read there. He sent for the petitioner, and they had a long conversation which convinced him of the truth of the terrible story. Horrified and somewhat confused, the Tsar said :
'You can go back to Siberia now, my friend ; the rna tter shall be looked into.'
'No, Your Majesty,' said the man ; 'I cannot go home now ; I 3· See note to p. 85.
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would rather g o to prison. My interview with Your Majesty cannot be kept secret, and I shall be murdered.'
Alexander started. He turned to Miloradovich, who was then Governor of Petersburg, and said :
'I hold you answerable for this man's life.'
'In that case,' said Miloradovich, 'Your Majesty must allow me to lodge him in my own house.' And there the man actually stayed until the affair was settled.
Peste! resided almost continuously at Petersburg. You will remember that the Roman proconsuls also generally lived in the capital.4 By his presence and his connections and, above all, by sharing his booty, he stopped in advance all unpleasant rumours and gossip. He and Rostopchin were dining one day at the Tsar's table. They were standing by the window, and the Tsar asked,
'What is that on the church cross over there - something black ? '
'I cannot make i t out,' said Rostopchin; 'we must appeal to Peste!; he has wonderful sight and can see from here what is going on in Siberia.'
The Imperial Council, taking advantage of the absence of Alexander - he was at Verona or Aix - wisely and justly decided that, as the complaint referred to Siberia, Peste!, who was fortunately on the spot, should conduct the investigation. But Miloradovich, Mordvinov, and two others protested against this decision, and the matter was referred to the Supreme Court.
That body gave an unjust decision, as it always does when trying high officials. Peste! was reprimanded, and Treskin, the Civil Governor of Tobolsk, was deprived of his official rank and title of nobility and banished. Peste! was merely dismissed from the service.
Peste! was succeeded at Tobolsk by Kaptsevich, a pupil of Arakcheyev. Thin and bilious, a tyrant by nature and a restless martinet, he introduced military discipline everywhere; but, though he fixed maximum prices, he left all ordinary business in the hands of the robbers. In 1824 the Tsar intended to visit Tobolsk. Throughout the Government of Perm there is an excellent high road, well worn by traffic; it is probable that the soil was favourable for its construction. Kaptsevich made a similar road all the way to Tobolsk in a few months. In spring, when the snow was melting and the cold bitter, thousands of men were driven in 4· Herzen is mistaken here.
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relays to work at the road. Sickness broke out and half the workmen died ; but 'zeal overcomes all difficulties', and the road was made.
Eastern Siberia is governed in a still more casual fashion. The distance is so great that all rumours die away before they reach Petersburg. One Governor of Irkutsk used to fire cannon at the town when he was cheerful after dinner ; another, in the same state, used to put on priest's robes and celebrate the Mass in his own house, in the presence of the Bishop ; but, at least, neither the noise of the former nor the piety of the latter did as much harm as the state of siege kept up by Pestel and the restless activity of Kaptsevich.
3
It is a pity that Siberia is so badly governed. The choice of Governors has been peculiarly unfortunate. I do not know how Muravev acquits himself there - his intelligence and capacity are well known ; but all the rest have been failures. Siberia has a great future before it. It is generally regarded as a kind of cellar, full of gold and furs and other natural wealth, but cold, buried in snow, and ill provided with comforts and roads and population. But this is a false view.
The Russian Government is unable to impart that life-giving impulse which would drive Siberia ahead with American speed.
We shall see what will happen when the mouths of the Amur are opened to navigation, and when America meets Siberia on the borders of China.
I said, long ago, that the Pacific Ocean is the Mediterranean of the future; and I have been pleased to see the remark repeated more than once in the New York newspapers. In that future the part of Siberia, lying as it does between the ocean, South Asia, and Russia, is exceedingly important. Siberia must certainly extend to the Chinese frontier : why should we shiver and freeze at Berezov and Yakutsk, when there are such places as Krasnoyarsk and Minusinsk ?
The Russian settlers in Siberia have traits of character which suggest development and progress. The population in general are healthy and well grown, intelligent and exceedingly practical.