Journal of the Society of Arts : Volume XLVIII, No. 2480 [‎685v] (20/24)

5 68
JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS.
{June l, 1900.
Russia had done much for the education and
improvement of the natives, such as Britain had done
for India, but he quite agreed with the Chairman,
that the English policy in the north-west provinces
with regard to moneylenders had not been altogether
wise, and that w r e had alienated to a large extent the
sympathies of the people on the frontier, the real
fighting backbone of India. No one who had been
in India could doubt the impolicy of this. The
moment we lost the confidence of the fighting
races, we should find it extremely hard to hold
our own ; and the Hindoo moneylenders, although
glib of speech and clever, had no military
instinct. He was not sure that the fact of a
specimen of coal being found in a museum was
proof that it could be found in payable quantities
in the country. Coal might exist, but so far it
had not been worked, and the Russians reckoned
this one of the great drawbacks to the country.
Mr. Skrine’s comparison of the disappearance of the
Turkomans to that of the Red Indians was very apt;
they w'ere probably one of tire most interesting races
in that part of the world, though he was not aware that
they possessed all the fine qualities Mr. Skrine had
attributed to them. Russia w'as not the only Govern
ment which, under somewhat similar conditions,
neglected to preserve a breed of horses. There was
not a country in the world, except Central Asia,
where horses could be bred and reared so well as
in South Africa, and yet we had seen a force of
240,000 men there kept idle for w’eeks, if not
months, for want of horseflesh. He had received
great courtesy and kindness from the Russian
officials, but he did not take quite the same view
of them as Mr. Skrine. No doubt wherever they
w^ent they replaced the existing system by some
thing rather better, but it was a very different
system from that introduced by our countrymen into
India. There w r as no liberty of the Press or of
speech, and, however well the country might be
administered it w’as by a despotic and autocratic Power,
and under such rule you could not expect officials to
be wffiat Anglo-Indian officials were, working under
a free constitution. The Government of India had made
many mistakes, and was still making them, but the
endeavour w^as always to elevate and 'educate the
native. In Russia they did nothing of the sort;
they simply ruled for their own advantage. He
could not subscribe to the theory propounded by Mr.
Martin Wood, for he was quite certain England was
not impregnable in India, and unless measures were
taken to arrest the Russian advance through Central
Asia to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and the Indian Ocean, there
would be grave difficulties in the future. Russia
might be impregnable in the heart of Central Asia,
but when she came towards the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and to
the China Seas he did not think she was at all
impregnable.
The Chairman then proposed a cordial vote of
thanks to Mr. Colquhoun, which was canied unani
mously, and the proceecings terminated.
TRANS-SIBERIAN RAIL WA Y.
According to L'Economiste Franpais the length of
rails laid down in nine years amounted to 3,356 miles,
which gives an average of 373 miles per year. Com
munication will be established this year between the
European continent and Vladivostock, partly by rail
and partly by steamship; the time occupied for the
journey will be about 17 days. The total length of
the Trans-Siberian railway, incluiing the line from
Manchuria, will be 5,512 miles.
MEETINGS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK.
Monday, June 4...RoyalInstitution, Albemarle-street, VW,
5 p.m. General Monthly Meeting.
Tuesday, June 5. ..Royal Institution, Albemarle-street,
W., 3 p.m. Mr. R. Warwick Bond, “ Ruskin,
the Servant of Art.”
Anthropological, 3, Hanover-square, W., 8| p.m.
Dr. J. G. Garson, ‘‘ The Metric System of Identi
fication used in Great Britain” (illustrated with
lantern slides!.
Wednesday, June 6.. .Geological, Burlington-house, W.,
8 p.m.
Archaeological Association, 32, Sackville-street, W.,
8 p.m.
Obstetrical, 20, Hanover-square, W., 8 p.m.
Archaeological Institution, Oxford-mansion, Oxford-
street, W., 4 p.m.
Thursday, June /...Linnean, Burlington-house, W., 8 p.m.
1. Mr. E. S. Goodrich, “A Viviparous Syllid
Worm.” 2. Dr. A. Staff, “ The Genera Phaeo-
neuron Gilg and Dicellandra Horkf.” 3. Miss
Embleton, “ The Structure and Affinities of
Echiurus Unicinctus.”
Chemical, Burlington-house, W., 8J p.m. 1. Mr.
W. S. Mills, “Diphenjl and dialphyl-ethylene •
diamines, their nitro - derivatives, nitrates, and
mercurochlorides.” 2. Dr. S. Ruhemann and Mr.
H. E. Stapleton,‘‘Condensation of ethyl acety-
lenedicarboxylate with bases and (3-ketonic
esters.” 3. Dr. H. A. D. Jowett, ‘‘ The constitu •
tion of pilocarpine.” 4. Drs. F. D. Chattaway,
K. J. P. Orton, and W. H. Hurtlcy, “ The nitrogen
chlorides derivable from m-chloroacetanilide and
their transformations.” 5. Dr. A. Lapworth,
“ Derivatives of cyanocamphor and homocam-
phoronic acid.”
Royal Institution, Albemarle-street, W., 3 p.m.
Rev. Canon Ainger, “ Chaucer.” (Lecture III.)
United Service Institution, Whitehall-yard, S.W.,
3 p.m. Mr. A. R. Colquhoun, ‘‘The Great
Trans-Siberian Railway.”
Friday, June 8...Royal Institution, Albemarle-street, W.,
8 p.m. Weekly Meeting. 9 p.m. Dr. A. Macfadyen,
“ The Effects of Physical Agents in Bacterial Life.”
Astronomical, Burlington-house, W., 8 p.m.
Physical, Chemical Society’s Rooms, Burlington-
house, W.,5 p.m. 1. Dr. S. W. Richardson, “The
Magnetic Properties of Iron and Aluminium
Alloys” (Part II.). 2. Mr. W. Campbell, “Note
on Crystallisation produced in Solid Metal by
Pressure.” Dr. C. H. Lees, “The Viscosity of
Mixtures of Liquids and of Solutions.”
Saturday, June 9.. Botanic, Inner Circle, Regent’s-park,
N.W., 3J p.m.
Royal Institution, Albemarle-street, W., 3 p.m.
Sir Frederick Bridge, “The Growth of Chamber
Musip.” (Lecture III.)