THE MIND OF RUSSIA.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1409, 9 April 1912, Page 6

THE MIND OF RUSSIA.

DECADENCE OF EDUCATED MIDDLE CLASS, HOW POLITICAL FREEDOM IS STAMPED OUT. Ono of the most interesting and informing writers on Russia to-day is tho Hon. Maurice Baring. His four l>oo!cs published by Methuen arc the best introduction to the lifo and mind of Russia to-day. Tlio visit of a group of Englishmen to Russia (not a representative Parliamentary group), and the publication of tho first issue of a "Russian Review," are directing special attention to Russia at this moment. Russia lies like a lazy glacier across Western Europe, and one day when Russia is directed by minds which can stand political "freedom, Europe may seo things happen. In tho "Eye Witness," Mr. Baring gives a most interesting glimpse of those whom ho calls "Russian Intelligentsia." "Iu Russia every man who tucks his shirt inside his trousers, instead of wearing it outside his trousers, with a belt round his waist, lays claim to tho title 'Intelligent' (pronounced with a hard g)," ho says. "In its widest sense, the word means anybody who can read and write, and anyone who is not forcibly constrained to earn his living by tho strength of his muscles or the deftness of his fingers. "Tho frame of mind represented by a certain sense of the Russian word 'Intelligentsia' is not," ho says, "peculiar to Russia, but can bo. found in every other country of Europe. The Russian Frame of Mind. "In Russia, at tho present day, if you talk of- the 'Intelligentsia,' or of an Intelligent,' you are generally understood to mean tho professional middle class; nevertheless, 1 want to speak of the thing liero in its slightly narrower sense, because the words 'Intelligentsia' and and 'Intelligent,' used in this sense, denote a thing, a fact-, a frame of mind, which while they are of capital importance in Russia, exist and are making themselves prominent in all the countries of Europe, including England. "An Intelligent in Russia is supposed to be able to speak glibly not only of tho classics, such as Goethe, Dickens, Schubert, and John Stuart Mill, but also of Bergson, D'Annunzio, Anatole France, Jerome K. Jerome, Richard Strauss, Bernard Shaw, Schnitzler, Debussy, Mrs. Humphrey Ward, Aubrey Beardsley, and Malisso (I mingle the old-fashioned with the new). I have drawn up my list according to Russian taste, and I have included no writer, painter, or musician who is not popular in Russia. Apart from this, they share certain shibboleths with regard to religion, philosophy, and morals, to be without which would give them the sensation of being naked. , . . Tenets Upside Down. "It would ba shorter and simpler to say that tho tenets of this kind of 'Intelligentsia' are tho tenets which the majority of mankind have found good since tlio beginning of tho world turned upside down. "Here I hear a whispering voice saying to ine: 'You are exaggerating.' My answer to this is as follows: It is quite true that if you took, out of ten, say four or five members of the Russian 'Intelligentsia' thov would not profess such tenets in such definite terms, but if you listened to their talk on the soul and tho body, on men and books, nature and art, and reduced the essence of that talk to its lowest terms, you would find at the root of it such ideas and no others." Mr. Baring, however, believes that "the present generation aro protesting against tho hall-marks, the shibboleths, tlio 'cliches' of the ancient 'Intelligentsia. Two years ago, four prominent members of the 'Intelligentsia' wrote a book on the Russian revolution and the catises of its failure. They found only one cause; tlio 'Intelligentsia'; its outlook, its frame of mind. , „ "They found that it was divorced from tho popular ideal, that it had been strenuously advocating, for years, and sacrificing even its life in so doing, an ideal which was not onlv unpopular, but in tins eyes of tho people, abominable. The Future of Russia. "Tho ideal of tho 'Intelligentsia' vras practically death; since it was tho negativo of everything else. As soon as this was clear to tlio people they rejected it. And now the 'Intelligentsia' has realised its mistake and has begun to say, ho long as we are divorced from the people, so long wo shall bo helpless.'" Lovers of liberty, however, despair when thev read of what Russia has done in Poland, in Finland, in Persia, in Manchuria, and to tho Jews in Russia. Those who are interested in this side of Russia will find many facts in a new weekly sheet, called "Darkest Russia. Friendship with Russia does not involve assent to tyranny or to tho fettering of political freedom. Russia believes in autocracy, and tlio world has never been morally for autocracy. Think of tho impertinence of the following official Russian notice to the Poles:—"Tho 'Varshavsky Dnevml;, the official Russian journal of Warsaw, warns the population of that town and other places ill tho locality against complying with the anpeal, issued by tho National Mourning Committee of Poland, to go into mourning on account of the approaching annexation of the Holm districts bv Russia and the transfer of tho Warsaw-Vienna Railway to the Imperial Government. It reminds the public that by Article 7 of tho Statute drawn up by the late Committee for the affairs of tho Kingdom cf Poland the Governor-General ot' Warsaw is empowered to inflict penalties on persons putting on mourning without reasonable cause." A striking statement on Russia s attitude to' Finland is quoted in the'"Manchester Guardian." It is by M. Mecholin, President for several years of tho Finnish Senate and one of tlio most prominent figures in Parliamentary life. Russia Oppresses Finland. "Wo cannot," he said, "cherish friendly feelings towards the Russian bureaucrats and party leaders whoso fault it is that Finland's rights are trampled upon; we condemn them with all tlio severity their unjust and unworthy proceedings deserve. Neither can wo feel respect for the semiofficial and nationalistic newspapers which strive to excite Russian opinion against Finland. But we know that this policy of oppression is seriously disapproved of among various sections of the Russian nation. Consequently the personal relations between Finns and Russians are not of an' unfriendly or hostile character. Russia is at present passing through a period of restlessness and transition. The reactionary tendency revealed in administrative caprice, police tyranny, and other abuses of power is fighting against. the realisation of tho new principles that wero recognised by the State Acts of 1905 and ' "Tho conception of constitutional government has not yet entirely penetrated Russian society, but it will be victorious in tlie near future. Then it will bo admitted that tho Finnish nation acted rightly wh»n, bv passive resistance to illegal ukases, it sought to protect tho sanctity of its taws. Then, too, it will ba realised that tho resistance was not dictated at all by hatred of Russia or the Russians, with whom, 011 tho contrary, wo desire to live on good and friendly terms. Millions of Peasants Starving. "The Labour party in the Russian Duma addressed a letter to M. KhomiakolY, the president of the committee appointed to receive the British visitors to Russia. "The partv state that they cannot participate in the festivities which will mark tho occasion. They would welcomo any rapprochement with tho Brifish people, but the present visit, they declare will not serve to bring the two nations closer together, and it is inopportune at a time when both Governments are oppressing tlio Persian people who are fighting for their freedom. The Russian Government and the liussiun people, the communication goes on to say, form two hostile camp.-', and in Russia millions of peasants are starving." The failure of the crops last harvest in twenty liussian provinces has affected the health and well-being of 'JO,000,(100 people, and reduced to starvation more than 8,000,000. And yet so much do the revenues of the Empire exceed tho expenditure that it, has just set. aside a surplus nf myre than J.'4o,ooo,ooo.—"Public Opinion."