Page:Siberia and the Exile System Vol 2.djvu/188

172 dangerous class of state criminals in complete isolation, allowing them no communication with their relatives except through the gendarmerie. It is manifestly impossible for me to give this intention effect if political convicts are allowed to live outside the prison where they can be seen

and interviewed by strangers. Foreign travelers are coming more and more frequently to Siberia, and Kará is no longer an unknown or an inaccessible place. If army officers like Pótulof are going to aid such foreign travelers in opening communication with the political convicts, the Government must either abolish the free command and recommit its members to prison, or else abandon the idea of keeping them in isolation."

It was not difficult to foresee the probable consequences of such a report. I might, by a single secret visit, bring disaster upon the whole free command, and cause the