political experiments. To use the three favourite expressions of the German megalomaniacs, everything in Russia is "Kolossal," "grossartig," "im grossen Stil." There is no parallel in history, to the emancipation of the serfs, or to that expropriation of the Polish landlords, with which the name of Nicholas Milutin is associated. By one stroke of the Imperial pen forty million peasants were liberated, and tens of millions of acres of land changed hands. The recent far-reaching prohibition measure is another bold innovation of the Russian Government. In other countries thousands of enthusiasts have been speaking about temperance reform and denouncing the appalling results of the drink evil. The Russian Government alone has had the courage of grappling with the evil, and that courage is all the more admirable because in suppressing the sale of vodka the Russian Government have deprived themselves of one-fourth of the Imperial revenue. Surely two such far-reaching achievements, either promised or accomplished in the throes of a great war—the charter of Polish freedom and the prohibition of vodka are of good omen for the future liberation of the Russian people.
