________________________________________________
_ Stepan Arkadyevitch's affairs were in a very bad way. The money
for two-thirds of the forest had all been spent already, and he
had borrowed from the merchant in advance at ten per cent
discount almost all the remaining third. The merchant would not
give more, especially as Darya Alexandrovna, for the first time
that winter insisting on her right to her own property, had
refused to sign the receipt for the payment of the last third of
the forest. All his salary went on household expenses and
in-payment of petty debts that could not be put off. There was
positively no money.
This was unpleasant and awkward, and in Stepan Arkadyevitch's
opinion things could not go on like this. The explanation of the
position was, in his view, to be found in the fact that his
salary was too small. The post he filled had been unmistakably
very good five years ago, but it was so no longer.
Petrov,the bank director, had twelve thousand; Sventitsky, a
company director, had seventeen thousand; Mitin, who had founded
a bank, received fifty thousand.
"Clearly I've been napping, and they've overlooked me," Stepan
Arkadyevitch thought about himself. And he began keeping his eyes
and ears open, and towards the end of the winter he had
discovered a very good berth and had formed a plan of attack upon
it, at first from Moscow through aunts, uncles, and friends, and
then, when the matter was well advanced, in the spring, he went
himself to Petersburg. It was one of those snug, lucrative berths
of which there are so many more nowadays than there used to be,
with incomes ranging from one thousand to fifty thousand roubles.
It was the post of secretary of the committee of the amalgamated
agency of the southern railways, and of certain banking
companies. This position, like all such appointments, called for
such immense energy and such varied qualifications, that it was
difficult for them to be found united in any one man. And since a
man combining all the qualifications was not to be found, it was
at least better that the post be filled by an honest than by a
dishonest man. And Stepan Arkadyevitch was not merely an honest
man--unemphatically--in the common acceptation of the words, he
was an honest man--emphatically--in that special sense which the
word has in Moscow, when they talk of an "honest" politician, an
"honest" writer, an "honest" newspaper, an "honest" institution,
an "honest" tendency, meaning not simply that the man or the
institution is not dishonest, but that they are capable on
occasion of taking a line of their own in opposition to the
authorities.
Stepan Arkadyevitch moved in those circles in Moscow in which
that expression had come into use, was regarded there as an
honest man, and so had more right to this appointment than
others.
The appointment yielded an income of from seven to ten thousand a
year, and Oblonsky could fill it without giving up his government
position. It was in the hands of two ministers, one lady, and two
Jews, and all these people, though the way had been paved already
with them, Stepan Arkadyevitch had to see in Petersburg. Besides
this business, Stepan Arkadyevitch had promised his sister Anna
to obtain from Karenin a definite answer on the question of
divorce. And begging fifty roubles from Dolly, he set off for
Petersburg.
Stepan Arkadyevitch sat in Karenin's study listening to his
report on the causes of the unsatisfactory position of Russian
finance, and only waiting for the moment when he would finish to
speak about his own business or about Anna.
"Yes, that's very true," he said, when Alexey Alexandrovitch took
off the pince-nez, without which he could not read now, and
looked inquiringly at his former brother-in-law, "that's very
true in particular cases, but still the principle of our day is
freedom."
"Yes, but I lay down another principle, embracing the principle
of freedom," said Alexey Alexandrovitch, with emphasis on the
word "embracing," and he put on his pince-nez again, so as to
read the passage in which this statement was made. And turning
over the beautifully written, wide-margined manuscript, Alexey
Alexandrovitch read aloud over again the conclusive passage.
"I don't advocate protection for the sake of private interests,
but for the public weal, and for the lower and upper classes
equally," he said, looking over his pince-nez at Oblonsky. "But
they cannot grasp that, they are taken up now with personal
interests, and carried away by phrases."
Stepan Arkadyevitch knew that when Karenin began to talk of what
they were doing and thinking, the persons who would not accept
his report and were the cause of everything wrong in Russia, that
it was coming near the end. And so now he eagerly abandoned the
principle of free-trade, and fully agreed. Alexey Alexandrovitch
paused, thoughtfully turning over the pages of his manuscript.
"Oh, by the way," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, "I wanted to ask you,
some time when you see Pomorsky, to drop him a hint that I should
be very glad to get that new appointment of secretary of the
committee of the amalgamated agency of the Southern Railways and
banking companies." Stepan Arkadyevitch was familiar by now with
the title of the post he coveted, and he brought it out rapidly
without mistake.
Alexey Alexandrovitch questioned him as to the duties of this new
committee, and pondered. He was considering whether the new
committee would not be acting in some way contrary to the views
he had been advocating. But as the influence of the new committee
was of a very complex nature, and his views were of very wide
application, he could not decide this straight off, and taking
off his pince-nez, he said:
"Of course, I can mention it to him; but what is your reason
precisely for wishing to obtain the appointment?"
"It's a good salary, rising to nine thousand, and my means . . ."
"Nine thousand!" repeated Alexey Alexandrovitch, and he frowned.
The high figure of the salary made him reflect that on that side
Stepan Arkadyevitch's proposed position ran counter to the main
tendency of his own projects of reform, which always leaned
towards economy.
"I consider, and I have embodied my views in a note on the
subject, that in our day these immense salaries are evidence of
the unsound economic assiette of our finances."
"But what's to be done?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch. "Suppose a
bank director gets ten thousand--well, he's worth it; or an
engineer gets twenty thousand--after all, it's a growing thing,
you know!"
"I assume that a salary is the price paid for a commodity, and it
ought to conform with the law of supply and demand. If the salary
is fixed without any regard for that law, as, for instance, when
I see two engineers leaving college together, both equally well
trained and efficient, and one getting forty thousand while the
other is satisfied with two; or when I see lawyers and hussars,
having no special qualifications, appointed directors of banking
companies with immense salaries, I conclude that the salary is
not fixed in accordance with the law of supply and demand, but
simply through personal interest. And this is an abuse of great
gravity in itself, and one that reacts injuriously on the
government service. I consider . . ."
Stepan Arkadyevitch made haste to interrupt his brother-in-law.
"Yes; but you must agree that it's a new institution of undoubted
utility that's being started. After all, you know, it's a growing
thing! What they lay particular stress on is the thing being
carried on honestly," said Stepan Arkadyevitch with emphasis.
But the Moscow significance of the word "honest" was lost on
Alexey Alexandrovitch.
"Honesty is only a negative qualification," he said.
"Well, you'll do me a great service, anyway," said Stepan
Arkadyevitch, "by putting in a word to Pomorsky--just in the way
of conversation...."
"But I fancy it's more in Volgarinov's hands," said Alexey
Alexandrovitch.
"Volgarinov has fully assented, as far as he's concerned," said
Stepan Arkadyevitch, turning red. Stepan Arkadyevitch reddened at
the mention of that name, because he had been that morning at the
Jew Volgarinov's, and the visit had left an unpleasant
recollection.
Stepan Arkadyevitch believed most positively that the committee
in which he was trying to get an appointment was a new, genuine,
and honest public body, but that morning when Volgarinov had--
intentionally, beyond a doubt--kept him two hours waiting with
other petitioners in his waiting-room, he had suddenly felt
uneasy.
Whether he was uncomfortable that he, a descendant of Rurik,
Prince Oblonsky, had been kept for two hours waiting to see a
Jew, or that for the first time in his life he was not following
the example of his ancestors in serving the government, but was
turning off into a new career, anyway he was very uncomfortable.
During those two hours in Volgarinov's waiting-room Stepan
Arkadyevitch, stepping jauntily about the room, pulling his
whiskers, entering into conversation with the other petitioners,
and inventing an epigram on his position, assiduously concealed
from others, and even from himself, the feeling he was
experiencing.
But all the time he was uncomfortable and angry, he could not
have said why--whether because he could not get his epigram just
right, or from some other reason. When at last Volgarinov had
received him with exaggerated politeness and unmistakable triumph
at his humiliation, and had all but refused the favor asked of
him, Stepan Arkadyevitch had made haste to forget it all as soon
as possible. And now, at the mere recollection, he blushed. _
Read next: Part Seven: Chapter 18
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