Page:Morgan Philips Price - Siberia (1912).djvu/53

 Rh them on to a crude Siberian framework, whether it fitted or not. Assisted by a handful of enterprising private citizens who had made collections at their own expense, the bureaucratic machine did the rest. To satisfy bureaucratic minds an elaborate account was kept of how many people entered the museum in one year, and yet not a penny was spent to preserve the specimens in that museum from dust and decay. On the surface it looked as if the higher Government officials in Russia are in advance of the people in their ideas of progress, but their enthusiasm seems to be more for programmes than for performances. Thus all the material for a scheme is found and great labour is expended, but one thing is lacking—namely, the men to work the machine. The majority of those we saw all round us preferred to spend a large part of every day leisurely sitting on the doorstep, cracking nuts or getting drunk on Sundays and holidays. And yet the people complain that the Government is not enlightened and progressive, and does not study local needs.

But if the educational institutions of a young Siberian town are certainly not up to European standards yet, there are others which more nearly attain this end, and to some extent act as their substitute. In most towns throughout the Eastern Empire the military authorities are always in evidence, and along with the vodka factory generally possess the finest buildings in the towns. There is always a great "kazyerm" or barracks in every important place, as if Siberia were under an army of occupation. And indeed Siberia is a useful training-ground, especially as it is near the Far East, where political conditions are always apt to be volcanic.