official could be expected to conduct business transactions for the State unless he personally gains some advantage.  If an official neglected a private opportunity so obvious, it would justify the suspicion that his scruples would make him unequal to the proper protection of the State.  In other words, the official who is poor at the end of a decent term of office never should have been trusted with the interests of the community.  It is strange to hear them catalogue the proved cases of corruption amongst officials of other countries.  They never forget a case of this kind no matter in which country it occurred.  They argue that they are no worse than others, forgetting that these exceptions only prove the rule, whereas in Russia the honest official is rather the exception.  After all, public opinion decides the standard of conduct adopted by a country.  Morals change with time, also with countries and peoples.  A harem would be a nuisance in London, but stands as a sign of Allah’s blessing in Constantinople.

I returned to Omsk on May 3 to find that the snow and ice had given place to a storm of dust which crept through every crevice of one’s habitation and flavoured everything with dirt and grit.  It was, if anything, worse than a sandstorm in the Sudan.  The Sudan type is fairly clean, but this Omsk variety is a cloud of atomic filth which carries with it every known quality of pollution and several that are quite unknown.  I don’t remember being able to smell a Sudan storm, but this monstrous production stank worse than a by-election missile.  The service of a British soldier on these special trips is not exactly a sinecure.  The people at home who pay can be sure their money is well earned before Tommy gets it.  The south wind sweeps up from Mongolia and Turkestan, and while it brings warmth to our frozen bones its blessing becomes a bit mixed with other things before we get them.  I only mention it, not to complain!  We never do in war-time!

A special dispatch from London arrived on May 5 which delayed my starting for Vladivostok.  If the object at which it aimed could have been secured it would have been a beam of light upon a very sombre subject.  I had a lengthy conference with General Knox upon my tour to the Urals and the facts gathered as to the mineral and productive resources of the districts through which I had passed.  The London dispatch also occupied our attention, and as the Supreme Governor had fixed the next day for my final farewell interview with himself, the possible course of our conversation was also considered.  It was arranged that my journey to “Vlady” should be delayed until the matter referred to in the dispatch had been dealt with in accordance with instructions.