"They have sent a great many military expeditions into Central Asia in the last fifty years. For a long time their base of operations was at Orenburg, on the frontier of Siberia, but latterly it has been transferred to the shores of the Caspian. Orenburg is now far in the rear, and its chief use is as a military post, from which order is maintained among the Kirghese.
"Some of the Russian expeditions have turned out disastrously, but they have always followed a disaster by a triumph. In one expedition every man was killed, captured, or perished of starvation or thirst in the desert, but immediately another army was put in motion, and the Russians more than recovered the prestige they had lost. The list of the battles fought in Central Asia is a long one, but longer still is the list of bloodless conquests made through Russian diplomacy.
"Khanates, chieftaincies, and principalities have been absorbed by Russia in her southward and eastward march over the steppes and along the valleys of the rivers. The cities of Tashkend, Samarcand, Khiva, Kokan, and Bokhara, have passed from the flag of the intolerant Moslem to that of the tolerant Russian, and with the cities have gone the khanates and principalities of which they were the capitals."
Fred asked if the subjugation of these territories had been beneficial to their inhabitants or not.
KIRGHESE GROUP.
"In every way it has been a benefit to them, and none of those who are peaceably disposed would care to return to their old condition. The Russian yoke is easy upon the necks of the inhabitants; the Russians make no interference with the religion, laws, manners, and customs of the people, excepting where they are manifestly cruel or tyrannical; they allow the natives to do exactly as they like, protect them in the possession of their property, give them facilities of trade never before enjoyed, and in every way better their condition.
"In place of the outrageous taxes formerly levied by the Moslem authorities whenever the khan or his officials wanted money, the Russians have a fixed annual tax which is never above the easy ability of the subject to pay; it is generally asserted that the taxes in Asia are much lighter than those of European Russia, to make sure that there shall be no discontent among the people. The Russian Government requires that every subject shall pay a tax, not so much for the value of the article received as an acknowledgment of subjection.
"In the settled portions of Russia the tax is payable in money, but in the wilder regions taxes are collected 'in kind.' On the shores of the Arctic Ocean and through all the northern part of Siberia the yessak, or tax, is one fox-skin; in Kamtchatka it was formerly one sable-skin, but since the increase in the price of the fur, one skin is received for every four inhabitants, who arrange the division among themselves. In some of the grain-growing parts of the Empire the tax is paid in grain; on the Amoor River it is paid in fish, and among the Kirghese and Turcomans it is paid in cattle, sheep, or horses, which constitute the circulating medium of the country.