have cut their lanes through the grain from north to south and have most unfortunately made themselves an exceedingly unpleasant reputation. Cheaper in the long run_ for them had they paid thrice the value of the grain cut down by them. The whole country was in a ferment and strong foelings very naturally manifested themselves—in some places by the summoning of large bodies of men armed with rifles. Knowing the Chinese fairly well, how reasonable they are when treated in the right way i and how passionate when roused by a senso of wrong, it is surprising to me that there has not been much more serious trouble. The chief source of trouble arose doubtless from the fact that no Russian knew Chinese.
no countryman Russian, The interpreters did not always attempt to smooth matters. Another very serious mistake was the apparently bighehanded fashion in which foreigners acted as though the country were their own without any notice Find a proclamation besa everywhere inszed ro viously sent out by the Governor-General.
stating the object of the Russians there would have been but a fraction of the friction, the results of which are not by any means ended. In all directions questions pi, have been angrily or suspiciously asked as to what is the real design of the Russians in their action. The people were sometimes slow to believe that the only object of the men in cutting down crops was really the demarcation of a line for the future railway. Possibly by such a fall statement of the difficulties needlessly raised here a recurrence of such unpleasantness may be avoided elsewhere.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.