Frontier Case of the Railroad Technician Luzhanskiy

Abstract

The article analyzes the situation in Southern Manchuria in the Chinese city of Telin in 1901 as a result of the actions of Luzhansky (Luzhanskiy), a railway technician who served in the CER Society. Luzhansky showed direct violence toward indigenous people and Chinese workers during the laying of the track. The established administrative system of administration in the territory of the CER right‑of-way could not resolve the conflict between the Chinese and Russian subjects. Luzhansky's case could have been regulated by the Tianjin Treaty of 1858 and the 1896 treaty for the construction and operation of the railroad, but the railway technician's actions extended beyond Northern Manchuria. Given that the Luzhansky technician's trial caused a clash of Russian and Chinese jurisdictions, this article examines the formation of the judicial system in the CER right-of-way. Such cases of violations of Chinese rights by Russian railway engineers provoked a discussion between Russian ministers on the issue of organizing a Russian court in Manchuria. The specific case of engineer Luzhansky reflects the colonial behavior and the subject's reaction in frontier territory. This article considers only a local case of the exercise of a special imperial right by a railroad technician and the restriction of his activities as a result of violations of the law, corporate ethics, and the 1898 lease agreement.