Wonderful development of peter the great’s pet

Peter the Great may justly be credited with having been the greatest civilizer of his race. To him is due the credit of nationalizing his country and inaugurating vast industries, through the medium of the Ship. So far in advance of his time was he that his startling innovations and wonderful discounting of the arts of diplomacy must have endangered his head had he not been fortunate enough to have been born a despot. Peter?s last will and testament outlined the policy to be pursued by his successors, looking to the aggrandizement of Russia, and startling though its terms are in their selfishness, they are so thoroughly diplomatic that his successors have religiously lived up to their full meaning. And so it comes to pass that the ever-advancing and constantly-tightening grasp of Russia on adjacent territory is alarming the Governments of the Old World and may, indeed, in the near future, somewhat concern ourselves. The Canadian Government is now urging Great Britain to erect defences on the Pacific Coast, for the reason that Russia, in pursuance of her peculiar policy, is enlarging her works and arsenal at Vladivostock, opposite British[Pg 4] Columbia; and the initiative has already been taken by Great Britain in the erection of batteries in the neighborhood of Esquimault. As early as last May the St. Petersburgh correspondent of the New York Tribune contributed the following report of the progress of the Grand Trunk Railway through Central Southern Siberia to the Pacific Ocean and China: ?SIGNS OF RUSSIAN PROGRESS. ?The completion of the Trans-Caspian Railway to Samarcand marks another stage in the Russian occupation of Asia. That city was the objective point of the earlier campaigns from Orenburg and the sea of Aral, which ended in the conquest of Khiva and Kokan and the establishment of Tashkend as the military headquarters, with railway connections northward. Bokhara was reduced to the condition of a protected province and Samarcand was virtually converted into a Russian centre of trade on the border of China. An interval of twelve years has elapsed, during which Samarcand, already within easy reach from Tashkend, has been gradually approached from the Caspian Sea. The Trans-Caspian Railway is now in operation from Michailovsk to Samarcand, a distance of 885 miles, by way of Askabad, Merv and Bokhara. This narrow-gauge system, built at a cost of $21,000,000, gives Russia control of the commerce of Turkestan and completes the circuit of conquest on the borders of China, Afghanistan and Persia. In future military operations in Central Asia this railway, with the northern line running from Tashkend, will be a most useful base of transportation and supplies. Meanwhile, it binds together a straggling series of conquests separated by broad reaches of desert. It is already rumored in St. Petersburg that the Czar intends to visit during the summer the great Empire in Central Asia which the valor of his soldiers and the skill of his engineers have created. An imperial journey to Merv, Bokhara and Samarcand will illustrate the wonderful progress made by the Russians during the last twenty years in overrunning Asia. ?The Russian engineer who has completed the Trans-Caspian system is now to undertake a new and colossal undertaking. This is the trunk line through Central and Southern Siberia to the Pacific Ocean. Surveys have already been made for a railway from Tomsk to Irkutsk, and this line when [Pg 5]finished is to be extended to Vladivostock, on the coast. As the Trans-Caspian now makes a close approach to Western China, the Siberian will complete the circuit of the Celestial Empire on its northern border. If the consent of the Chinese Government can be obtained, branches will be built from Irkutsk to Pekin, Shanghai, and other centres of population. Within five years it is expected that this gigantic enterprise will be accomplished and St. Petersburgh brought into direct communication with Vladivostock. The journey from the capital to the Pacific can then be made in a fortnight; and if Chinese markets can be opened to Russian traders, a marvelous change in the conditions of Asian commerce and intercourse will be effected.?