Page:Siberia and the Exile System Vol 1.djvu/418

396 is manifestly unjust, prejudicial to the interests of the state, and detrimental in the highest degree to the welfare of the Siberian people, all suggestions made by experienced étape officers with regard to methods of stopping it have been disregarded. Ten years ago Colonel Zagárin, the inspector of exile transportation for Eastern Siberia, made a report upon the subject to Governor-general Anúchin in which he recommended that hard-labor convicts, as a class, be made distinguishable from forced colonists, as a class, by means of a different shaving of the head. Both classes now have their heads half shaven on the same side. Colonel Zagárin suggested that the heads of all hard-labor convicts be shaved on the right side and of all forced colonists on the left. The exchanging of names and identities between the two classes would then become impossible, for the reason that every étape officer and every soldier of the convoy could see at a glance to which class any particular criminal belonged. The forced colonist Iván Pávlof might answer, as before, to the name of the hard-labor convict Mikháiel Ivánof at roll-call, but it would be perfectly useless to do so, because the cut of his hair would at once betray him.

"What did the governor-general say to your suggestion?" I inquired, when Colonel Zagárin finished telling me about this report.

"Nothing," he replied. "It was never acted upon. Anúchin referred, even in his report to the Gossudár, to the bad results of this practice of changing names, but he never tried to stop it in the way that I suggested."

"What preposterous stupidity!" I exclaimed. "The method is simplicity itself, it would cost nothing, and it would make the exchanging of names absolutely impossible. What conceivable reason could Anúchin have for not adopting it?"

"I don't know any reason," replied Colonel Zagárin, "except that he did n't happen to think of it himself. Our high