telligent people was heard before and
everywhere. On my return to Russia, in February, 1916, after an absence
of a little more than two years, I noticed many changes but none greater
than in the public opinion in regard to the administration. On the
way across Siberia, I met with many Russians, some of whom were army
officers, and one and all bitterly criticized the government for its
mismanagement of the war, for the betrayal of Russia as they called it,
for its incompetency, and general worthlessness. At the capital, it was
the same, everywhere, street, car, and public places, the government was
denounced; there was no attempt at concealment. In the archives where I
worked, which are almost under the very nose of the imperial family,
the criticism was as open as in private homes. In fact there was no
exception. When mention was made of the Court, of Rasputin, and of the
Empress, there was a kind of a painful smile; it was not a subject that
self-respecting patriotic Russians liked to talk about in public or
before strangers; it was like dirty linen that ought not to be hung out
for public view.

There was reason enough and suffering enough to justify the complaining.
Petrograd was overcrowded owing to the thousands of refugees who had
been driven there, rooms and apartments were difficult to find and very
expensive, and the cost of living had gone up so high that it was hard
for the poor to make ends meet. It was almost impossible to get about in
the city, as the war had reduced the number of cabs and the few that did
business asked such exorbitant fares that only the rich could afford to
ride in them. The street car situation was in a hopeless tangle. Even
before the war there were not enough accommodations for the public, but
since the opening of hostilities many of the cars had broken down and
there were no mechanics to repair them and no new cars to replace them.
At a time when the population increased, the transportation facilities
decreased. Passengers poured into the cars like a stream, filled the
seats, blocked the aisles, jammed the entrance, stood on the steps, hung
on behind, and clung to anything that might bear them along. Difficult
as it was to get into the car, it was worse to get out, and it is easier
to imagine than to describe the pushing, swearing, tearing, and fighting
that one witnessed. The railways were in an equally bad condition. One
had to wait weeks for a ticket. Men and women were crowded in