pire. An instruction, issued in May to the officials of the newly-formed educational district of Orenburg, describes with much detail the policy of the Government in this matter. The above district comprises the provinces of Perm, Ufa, and Orenburg, whose inhabitants are mostly of Asiatic origin, there being upward of two millions of Bashkirs, Kirgheez, Mordvins, Tehouvasches, Tcheremisses, etc., nearly all either Mohammedans or pagans. The Government directs that by means of the schools"the various parts of the empire shall be so unified that all may be penetrated with the same ideas and feelings toward the state, and that the principles hostile to the Russian Empire, which are based on the blindness of ignorance or on obstinate isolation, may totally disappear." The chief object of the schools in districts inhabited by non-Russian nationalities is "to prevent those who are not Russians from giving themselves up to the dangerous isolation of narrow national tendencies and to religious intolerance; in a word, to convert an inaccessible and reserved mass of people into citizens of the Russian state, with a warm sympathy for its interests." There is to be no compulsion as to the abandonment of religious doctrines or national peculiarities; but the Government considers it has an "undoubted right" to require a knowledge of Russian from all its subjects; "Russian must become not only an object of study, but a means of study." The official estimate of revenue and expenditure for the years 1875-'76 is as follows (value expressed in rubles, one ruble = $0.772): Turgai.. 202,192 289.930 Uralsk. 559.361,193 570,138,308 The public debt of Russia, on January 1, 1875, amounted to 2,409,579,986 rubles. This sum includes advances made to railroad companies, to cities, and other corporations, to the amount of 634,489,942 rubles. Deducting this amount, the real public debt would be 1,775,090,044 rubles. The movement of commerce in the years 1872 and 1873 was as follows (expressed in thousands of rubles): Central Asia 1,277,254 8,500,623 Turkey.. Caspian Sea.. 169,666 Belgium. Netherlands. 18.590 25,113 22,331 28,756 19.561 19,559 18,709 20,075 6,023 7,000 5.251 4,679 6.907 5.338 5.310 12,778 9.175 7.457 18.464 8.980 7,046 187 The annexation of Khokan, which was completed in the early part of 1876, added 28,270 square miles and 800,000 inhabitants to the Russian Empire. The Russian Government is more determined than ever to spread the Russian language and Russian institutions over the whole of the em Greece. China.. Persia... Sweden and Norway. Roumania. Portugal.. United States. The following table exhibits the development of Russian commerce from 1863 to 1873 (value expressed in rubles): The length of railroads in operation on January 1, 1874, amounted to 18,796 kilometres. At the close of the year 1872 the telegraphlines in operation had an aggregate length of 78,073 kilometres, while the length of wire was 155,444 kilometres. The Russian Ministry of Communications has ordered an inquiry to be made into the canal system of the empire, with the view of increasing its utility for public traffic. At present, the Baltic Sea is placed in direct communication with the Caspian by means of three canals, all debouching into the Volga the Vyshne Volotchsk, the Tishyin, and the Maria Canal, which is the largest of the three. The lakes of Ladoga and Ilmen, on which navigation is dangerous, owing to the prevalence of sudden squalls, are surrounded by canals, and it is possible to proceed from the White Sea to the Baltic by means of a canal connecting it with the Dwina, and to the Caspian by another canal, which connects it with the Sheksna, a branch of the Volga. There are canals between affluents of the Dwina and the Kama, which facilitate direct communication between the White Sea and the Caspian; and the Duna and Dnieper, the Vistula and the Niemen, etc., are also connected by canals. Most of these canals, however, have so deteriorated in the course of time, that few of them are used, except the Maria Canal. The Government has decided to take the necessary steps for this purpose as soon as the inquiry is completed. The operations of the Russians in Central Asia were, in 1875, of more than usual importance. An insurrection, which in July broke out against the Khan of Khokan, soon assumed the character of a Mohammedan war against the Russians, in which both parties of the khanate population, the settled (Sartes), and 209,500,000 8,200,000 226,600,000 247,100,000 9.400.000 7,900,000 264,400,000 842,900,000 8,700,000 8,400,000 860,000,000 852.800.000 7,600,000 8,900,000 869,800,000 311,600,000 6,200,000 9,300,000 827,000,000 845,900,000 8,800,000 9,500,000 864,500,000 the nomads (Kirgheez and Kiptchaks), took part. An invasion of the Russian territory resulted in the defeat of the invaders, the march of the Russians into the khanate, the occupation of the city of Khokan, and the occupation of a part* of the khanate to the Russian dominions. (See KHOKAN.) The Khans of Bokhara and Khiva continued throughout the year in peaceful submission to the Russian rule. An important expedition, under the command of Colonel Ivanoff, was sent, in January, against the Toorkoman tribes which inhabit the country inclosed by the Caspian and Aral Seas, the Amoo Darya, Afghanistan, and Persia. Most of these tribes are tributaries of Khiva, and the Russian expedition was undertaken under the pretext of punishing them for their insurrection against the Khan of Khiva. The Russian newspapers extol the brilliant manner in which the campaign was conducted, and the remarkable results which it has produced. According to the accounts given by the Russian papers, the detachment under Colonel Ivanoff, consisting of 1,500 men, crossed the Amoo Darya on the 17th of January, and directed its course toward KooniéOorgentch. Before setting out, Colonel Ivanoff sent a proclamation to all the Toorkoman tribes, demanding instant submission; then, after causing rumors to be circulated that he intended to march to Kizib-Tasleer, he advanced thirty-three versts in that direction and bivouacked on the banks of an irrigation canal under the walls of Koonié-Oorgentch. The next morning at daybreak the army approached the town, but instead of continuing its march southward, it turned suddenly aside toward the northwest, passed through the town, and surprised the encampments of the Kool-Yomoods, eight versts from it. So unexpected was the attack that not a single tent had been struck. The tribe, possessing 1,000 tents, was considered the most refractory one of all; it having pillaged a Persian caravan in 1874, and attacked the Khivan officials sent to demand its submission. For this reason Colonel Ivanoff determined to strike terror into the hearts of the rest of the Toorkoman tribes by punishing this one severely, and, dividing his army In the early part of 1876 the whole of the khanate was annexed to Russia, and organized as a Russian province. into two detachments, he dispatched one, consisting of 150 Cossacks, to burn all the encampments situated within a radius of four miles of the Russian camp at Boyoodor, while he, with the main body, ravaged the rest of the country belonging to those nomads. Out of the 1,000 tents, only two were spared, because their owners had befriended the Russians while on the march to Khiva. The cattle were confiscated, and the poor wretches were left with only their lives. The news of the punishment inflicted on the Kool-Yomoods spread rapidly among the neighboring nomads. Colonel Ivanoff again sent warnings to the Toorkoman chiefs, and then, to give them time to reflect, marched southward to Ak-Kala. The inhabitants of Koonié-Oorgentch, delighted at the punishment inflicted on the Kool-Yomoods, furnished fuel and forage at extremely moderate prices. While the troops were stationed at Ak-Kala, the Khan of Khiva sent a letter to Colonel Ivanoff, thanking him for what he had done, and announcing that all the Toorkomans seemed inclined to submit, with the exception of the Yomoods of Kazavat, who were still hesitating which side they should take. He also offered to place himself at the head of his Oozbecks and join the expedition if the Russian commander judged it necessary, but Ivanoff refused to allow him to do so. He said he was quite able to punish the Toorkomans without any assistance from the Khan, and advised him to make a lasting peace with the nomads as soon as possible, as Russia could not always be sending soldiers to fight his battles for him. In June a new expedition, about 1,000 strong, left Krasnovodsk, on the Caspian Sea, under the command of General Lomakin. Having reached the wells of Igda, in the steppe between the Caspian and the Amoo-Darya, General Lomakin` received some Toorkoman chiefs from the south, among them Budai Verdi Khan, brother of Kaushit Khan, the head chief of the Merv Toorkomans. These guests assured the general that, though their tribes had been formerly hostile to Russia, they were now animated by feelings of friendship and sympathy. The general then ordered a small detachment to escort the engineers and other scientific members of the expedition along the ancient bed of the Amoo-Darya to Sary Kamish, where they were met by about fifty Khivese troopers, the main force retracing its steps and proceeding farther south to visit the Russian possessions on the Lower Attreck. The reconnoitring party which left for Sary Kamish arrived safely at the Tcharyshli Wells, situated 150 versts in a northwesterly direction, where the principal chiefs of the Teking tribes declared to General Lomakin that the Tekings had, in a special assembly, resolved to submit to Russia, and to surrender all the prisoners in their hands. The surrender of the latter was, accordingly, at once effected. The nomad tribes friendly to Russia now leave caravans unmolested, and have punished those 697 who had committed hostile acts against Russians. The expedition to the Attreck River, which has its mouth in the southeast corner of the Caspian Sea, and constitutes part of the frontier between Persia and Russia, did not start until August. Russian accounts of this expedition state that a detachment under the command of the chief of the Transcaspian Military District marched in the direction of Lakes Shairdy and Bugdaily, on the way to Tchikishliar, in the vicinity of the mouth of the Attreck. Another detachment proceeded thither by water, being conveyed by the Caspian Sea flotilla. stretches of country, of 57 and 50 versts reAlthough two spectively, had to be traversed without water, and with the thermometer ranging almost continually above 90°, the march of the first column was accomplished quickly, and without detriment to the health of the troops, each of the above distances being performed in less than twenty-four hours. borhood of the Shairdy and Bugdaily Lakes, In the neighthe column met 3,000 Thibits, belonging to the nomadic Toorkoman tribes. A perfectly good understanding prevailed between them and the Russian troops, and no disturbance occurred. The Toorkomans informed General Lomakin that the Afghan Ishkan, who had arrived to incite the tribes to revolt against the Russians and the Persians, had found no adherents, and was finally killed. Other tribes on their passage sent delegates to General Lomakin, offering their services. The column remained ten days on the shores of Lake Bugdaily, and General Lomakin, with some other officers, visited the ruins of the ancient cities Mestorian and Meshed. The land in this district was exceedingly fertile, and the wheatcrop plentiful. Mestorian must apparently have been one of the largest cities of Central Asia. The march from Lake Bugdaily to Tchikishliar, a distance of 110 versts, was also most successfully accomplished. At the latter place, the column met a battalion of the Schirwan Regiment, which had already arrived by transport across the Caspian Sea. The inhabitants received the Russian troops in a most friendly manner. After a week's rest at Tchikishliar, the column started for Attreck and Lake Tchat, to explore the upper course of the Attreck. The expedition to the Attreck produced a profound impression both in Russia and in England, for in both countries it was looked upon as a preparatory step for the occupation of Merv. This town is the headquarters of the Toorkomans hostile to Russia, and is looked upon as a point of the utmost military importance. It is on the caravan-road from Meshed to Khiva and Bokhara, and its possession by Russia would complete the subjection of Cen tral Asia to Russia. A strong Russian force in Merv to the south of Khiva and Bokhara will find it comparatively easy to keep down extensive insurrections in the khanates, as they would be completely encircled by the Russians. Merv was once one of the four imperial cities of Khorassan, and the capital of many of the Persian sultans, especially of the Seljook dynasty, but has in modern times greatly declined, especially since the beginning of the present century, when it was sacked by the Oozbecks. It now has only a population of 3,000, but in the hands of the Russians it cannot fail to become more flourishing than at any former period. The Russian papers, while clamoring for the occupation of Merv, disclaim any hostile intentions toward England, and argue that a pacification of the Toorkomans might prove as advantageous to England as to Russia. English statesmen and writers are fully agreed as to the importance which Merv will have for the Russians, though there is a difference of opinion as to whether it would involve a direct danger for the English interests. Sir Henry Rawlinson, in his work "The British in Asia" (London, 1875), thus sets forth the views of those English statesmen who believe that an occupation of Merv by the Russians would precipitate a crisis in the Central Asiatic question: A scheme of territorial settlement is said to have been much discussed in influential quarters in the early part of the present year, by which it was thought the Toorkoman respite might be indefinitely prolonged, so as to remove all future cause of disagreement between England and Russia, so indeed as to restore peace permanently to Central Asia. According to this scheme, Russia was to declare her territory between the Caspian and the Aral to be bounded on the south by the old bed of the Oxus throughout its course, recognizing all the region beyond as the "Independent Toorkoman Steppe." Now it seemed incredible that Russia should voluntarily consent to a surrender of this nature, which would compromise the safety of the military and commercial lines that she had been at such pains to establish across the steppe, and would further necessitate a withdrawal from Petro-Alexandrofsk, which could not be permanently held without lateral support from the Caspian; but we were nevertheless assured that the project had been approved by the peace party in Russia, and that a moderate degree of pressure on the part of England was alone required to insure its adoption. That pressure certainly was not exerted, and the project, if it ever existed, except in the imagination of certain enthusiastic politicians, accordingly fell through. In its place we are now informed that the long-contemplated expedition against the Toorkomans is on the eve of accomplishment, a double column of attack having been organized, with instructions to advance sinultaneously into the country of the Tekkehs from Chikishlar and the bay of Michaelofski, south of Krasnovodsk, and to commence serious operations against the nomads. By many, no doubt, this movement will be regarded as "the beginning of the end;" but for my own part, I venture to think that "the end is not vet." The present expedition may pave the way to important results, but time is required before anything serious can be accomplished. Large preparations indeed must be made, stores and supplies must be concentrated both to the east and the west; and above all, grave explanations must take place with England, and negotiations with Persia, before Russia can settle down in Merv, throw up intrenchments, found a colony, draw in populations, and directly threaten the Afghan frontier. What is proposed at present is probably to sweep up the Yomuts and Goklands as the force marches to the eastward, and thus make a strong demonstration against the Tekkehs. The western division of this tribe, already more or less demoralized, is not likely to offer any sustained resistance-though desultory skirmishes may be expected to occur and General Lomakin will accordingly be able, as he advances, to establish along the skirts of the hills a line of posts, connectAshkabád-with the Russian base on the Caspian. ing the advanced station at Kabriz-or possibly at At the extreme point to which the columns may penetrate, a fort will no doubt be erected, whence the same influences, both of conciliation and pressure, will be directed against the Tekkehs of Akhal and Merv, that have already been so successfully employed against their western brethren from Krasnovodsk and Chikishlar. Disunion will be introduced among the eastern Tekkehs as among the western; portions of the tribe will give in their allegiance, while the stubborn who elect to fight for their ancestral pastures will be denounced as rebels and marked down for future chastisement. But Russia will no doubt proceed in this matter with the same wariness and skill that have characterized her previous movements. The first expedition is always bility be organized next year, but even that effort tentative. A second expedition will in all probamay perhaps extend Russia's dominion no farther than Akhál, and a third expedition may thus be necessary before the great and crowning success be attained in the capture and occupation of Merv; the Oxus in the mean time, however, being thoroughly opened up to navigation, and regular communication being established by means of a line of wells and military posts between the Oxus and the Murgháb. This last-named precaution, indeed, is absolutely necessary with a view of connecting Petro-Alexandrofsk with Merv, and thus forming a continuous frontier; and it will not be less important both to the growth of Merv as a commercial emporium, and to its strength and stability as the extreme Russian post to the south, that there should be a thorough understanding with Persia, and a secure passage across the desert which intervenes between Merv and Serakhs. If these auxiliary measures should be fully executed, and Merv, whose natural advantages are of the highest order, should thus, in due course of time, take rank with Samarcand and Tashkend as one of the bulwarks of the Russian position toward India, then, and not till then, would the danger of collision with England assume a tangible form. The Amir Shere Ali, has already foreseen under such circumstances that the eastern Tekkehs, together with the Saruk and Salor tribes, who encamp to the south of Merv, would be driven up the valley of the Murgháb, and be thus forced to take refuge across the border in the Afghan district of Badgheis, whence they would continue to raid and plunder as is their wont, throwing the whole frontier into confusion, and provoking pursuit and punishment. But retribution exacted from the Toorkomans on Afghan soil would inevitably lead to collision with Afghan subjects, with the Tamshidis and Tymuris especially, who guard the northwestern frontier, and any such aggression on Herat territory would be the sure prelude to our own interference. Putting aside, indeed, the obligation on our part to protect Afghanistan from invasion-an obligation which was indicated by Lord Derby in his very important speech of May, 1875-the mere fact of Russian troops being stationed in any considerable number at Merv-although drawn to that point in their legitimate pursuit of the Tekkehs, and detained there in order to hold the tribes permanently in check-would be fraught with such peril to our Indian interests that we could not remain passive, even if we wished. There is one point, indeed, the pivot of the whole Eastern question, which must never be lost sight of -we cannot afford to expose Herat to the risk of being taken by a Russian coup-de-main. If the Russian force is sufficiently near to threaten the safety of the key of India, we must also have a British force sufficiently near to protect it. All other questions relating to the Russian position in Central Asia are, as far as the British interests are concerned, of much inferior importance to the Toorkoman expedition and its results. At the present moment, indeed, it may be assumed that the attention of Russia is steadily turned in the direction of Merv and Herat, and that she will be mainly guided in her general Asiatic policy by considerations affecting this special question. Whether, for instance, the Khan of Khiva be continued in the nominal chiefship, or whether he be superseded by a Russian governor, will depend upon which arrangement promises best for the control of the Toorkoman tribes; and even the great engineering works, the ship-canal and railway between the Caspian and the Aral, which are about to be commenced, are probably regarded by Russia as of more value in strengthening her position on the Oxus, with a view to the occupation and restoration of Merv, than as improving the communications with Toorkistan. (See PERSIA.) In May the Russian Government concluded a convention with Japan, by which the Japanese part of the island of Saghalien is ceded to Russia. Japan received in return the sole Sovereignty over the Kurile Islands, eighteen in number. The La Peyrouse Strait is declared the boundary for the future between the two empires south of Saghalien, and the strait separating the northernmost Kurile island, Siurmushia, from the promontory. Ropatsuka, in Kamtchatka, is to serve as boundary in the north. The treaty reserves to the inhabitants of the ceded territories the free choice of their future nationality. They may remain Japanese and Russian subjects respectively without forfeiting any of their rights of ownership which are guaranteed by the treaty. It appears from official statistics that between the years 1822 and 1872 no less than 500,000 persons have been banished to Siberia; yet there has been scarcely any perceptible increase in the population; and now, as fifty years ago, there is not one inhabitant per square verst. The reason of this is that the number of persons who make their escape from Siberia continues to be very great. In 1873, for instance, the number of persons entered on the lists as condemned to banishment in the Irkootsk district was 10,387, while 1,994 only were to be traced as residing there; and in the ten years from 1835 to 1845 no fewer than 12,652 fugitives were recaptured. In 1859 the exiles in the Government factories at Nertchinsk attempted to escape in a body, and 580 of them have been returned as "missing" ever since. The great number of criminals and escaped convicts in the country prevents its free development, and the Minister of Communications, General Possiet, urges that the system of transportation to Siberia should be given up altogether. "That country," he says, is more than twice as large as European Russia, and its natural wealth is still far from being appreciated. Is it to be condemned to serve forever as a residence for the criminals of a popu 699 lation of seventy millions? Now that the Pacific is gradually becoming a second Mediterranean—that Russia, by acquiring the Amoor district, has reached its coast, and the border states have developed themselves with great rapidity-the time has arrived to place Siberia also on the road of progress, and relieve it of the disgrace of being the home of criminals." This view finds many advocates in the Russian press. bank of the River Tena, Russia, was entirely In June the town of Morshamsk, on the right destroyed by fire. It had a population of eral manufactories and saw-mills. In August 20,000, and contained three churches, and seva similar fate befell the town of Briansk, in the government of Orel. Two-thirds of the town panic to the fields, where they passed the night. were destroyed, and the inhabitants fled in a plete destruction. A heavy rain alone saved the town from com sian Government issued a circular to its dipOn September 26 (October 8), 1874, the Ruslomatic agents, for the purpose of obtaining the opinions of the different Governments on the propositions of an international declaration concerning the laws and customs of war, submitted to the Brussels Conference, and the revised project, as agreed upon there, in order to formulate these propositions in some definite international act or treaty. The German Government was the first to accept the proposition. Sweden followed in February. On February 20th Earl Derby sent a dispatch to the British embassador in St. Petersburg, in which he refused to accede to the proposition in the following words: In my dispatch of the 28th of September I stated tinetly understood that by authorizing the signature that her Majesty's Government desired it to be disof the final protocol, they did not accept the rules thereto annexed. A careful consideration of the whole matter has convinced them that it is their duty firmly to repudiate, on behalf of Great Britain and her allies, in any future war, any project for altering the principles of international law upon which this country has hitherto acted, and above all to refuse to be a party to any agreement the effect of which lyze the patriotic resistance of an invaded people. would be to facilitate aggressive wars, and to para sian Government permitted the publication of In the beginning of February, 1875, the Rusthe proceedings of the Brussels Congress in the Russian papers. Up to that time they had only been published in a supplement to the French Journal de Saint-Pétersbourg, of which only a limited number of copies were printed. On June 2d the International Telegraphic Congress was opened in St. Petersburg. The American Government, and others, had received an official invitation from Russia. At first the invitation was declined on the ground that telegraphing in the United States was done by private enterprise, which was not subject to the control of the Government. Mr. de Voigt, the chargé d'affaires in Washington, then intimated a disposition to receive delegates from private companies. This was made known |