The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-07-13
OUR MONTHLY LONDON CORRESPONDS
For the National Era.
SLAVERY IN RUSSIA,
sERFDOM IN RUSSIA.

NO. Ill.
sERFDOM IN RUSSIA.
The division Of labor is very iuperfectIy
established in Russia. Each peasant family
supplies its own wants. It's members make
their own clothes, furniture, and household
utensils, and frequently build their own dwell
ing. Ia early times, the purchases of the peas
ants werc limited to iron and salt; and with
the exception of those districts which are con-
tiguous to the principal cities, the ancient prac
tice is still observed. However, the peasants
must earn money to pay taxes to the crown,
and tho OBRoK duo TO their lords, unless the
OBRoK is converted into so many days labor
Hence it is that the Russian serfs are both mo-
chanics and agriculturists. In England there
is q complete industrial separation between
town and country, and tho urban population
exceeds that of tho rural districts The very
reverse ia witnessed in Russia. Acc 1rding to
tho census of 1888, tho towns Of Russia only
contained one eleventh Of the whole population
In GAG towns it was ascertained that there
were only 4,745, 622 inhabitants while the en-
tire population of Russia, at the same date,
was estimated at 81, 100000 but that figure
did not include tho mountainous of Caucasus
the soldiers and their families, or the peoples of
Poland and Finland. NJ De Koeppen cnumer-
ates the army and navy, the cGntonistS and
all dependent on the administration Of the
united services at one million and half In
the archives of Herman for the year 1915, the
entire population Of oil the towns and burgs of
any Importance is put down at 4 600 $40; and
of these, 246, 900 belong to the mobiles and the
Car, and 78,4S0 to the church.
On the population Of Russia, relatively to the
area of the country, Schnilzier has the follow.
ing instructive remarks:
(" Moscow is in the centyc of the empire, in
the midst of the principal element Of the pop
ulatiOn, the basic Of its nationality. The Mos
kwa, a river that flows at the foot Of the
Kremlin, is made, by the Okla, to communicate
with the Volga. Now, this majestic river,
which passes through great portion of Euro
pean Russia in its course Of nearly one thou
sand leagues, FORMS as is well known, the juno.
ton between the seas of the north and those OF
the south, between the Baltic and the Caspian.
A railroad, moreover, connects Moscow direct
ly with st. Petersburgh, THAT is to say, with
the Baltic,) Independently Of a magnificent
read, constructed By the army and which af.
fords great facility of communication All
the roads of the interior of the country either
end or touch ct Moscow. People pass through
this town in going from the capital Of the
north to the Crimea or to the Caucasus it is
the same in travelling to Kasan and Siberia, or
when they repair to the popuIous fair of Mini
Novogorod, where the east and the west seem
to give each other rendezvous every year in
the month of July. The real power OF Russia
is there, ia the centre. The Government Of
Moscow is the best pcopled of all there each
square verst is computed to contain forty eight
whereas in that Of st. Peters
burgb, tho density Of the population is only
from sixteen to seventeen souls in the same
space. In that of Novogorod, it is less than
nine; in that of Archangel, there is but one
IN three yersts; and at the other
end of the Empire, in the Government Of AS
tracan each verst contains but two at the out
side. The greater number Of the Governments
grouped about that of Moscow, are likewise
among those which are the beat peopled; that
Of Toula reckons forty.six souls to the square
verst; that Of Riasin, nearly thirty sevon that
of KalOnga, thirty-six; that of Vladimir, about
thirty that of Smolensko is reckoned at about
twenty four and that of Iver, ct from twenty
two to twenty three A little further, Koursk
has from forty two to forty three, Orei thirty
six, and Jaroslaf nearly thirty two.
"By adding together tho fourteen Govern
ments of the centre, comprised for the most
part within ancient Russia Major, we find
group of seventeen millions of souls cOncen-
trated in a space Of about 100000 square
versts, or a space equal in extent to France,
Belgium, and the Netherlands, taken together
whereas, all European Russia on a supeIficies
Of nearly five millions Of square yersts--that Is
10 say eight times greater-has scarcely more
than three times this populations
This more deneely peopled region is by far
The most industrious and richest, and it is the
least ignorant. Dat Of about seven thousand
established in Russis, one seventh be-
long to the Government Of Moscow. which en-
ploys 100 900 out of the 400, 600 men devoted
10 the industrious arts throughout the empire.
Of these nearly the whole are serfs, as are
many OF the opulent traders and manufac-
turers.
Throughout Russia, labor ia subjected to
. special organization, and all new enterprises
are protected against competition which might
seranglc them in their cradle. 1t is highly
probable that in the earlier periods of Russian
history, the communal organization of the
owns resembled the communal organization of
The villages, for the municipal and corporation |
Iystems borrowed in many. particulars from |
he trading institutions Of Germany are clear |
y traceable to Catharine the Second and Paul |
he First. The associative principle is q very |
marked characteristic of Russian nationality, |
Ind appears palpably in the combinations Of |
vorkmen of almost every grade. The word |
iRTEL may be rendered into English by CLUE,
o which every member makes moneyed con-
ribution, from which is formed common
'urse, designed to carry out some special enter
rise, under the superintendent ola committee
# management. By the existing laws of
lussia, every one who wishes to carry on trade
q q town must belong to trading corpor alton
r Guild, presided over by an ANCIENT or ell
Ter man, whom we may style Alderman; and
his ofhcer is entitled to seat in the munich
al council. The wardens of the several Guilds
Q town elect in common supreme director
1 the several corporations, who also has seat
q the municipal council By these bodies the
eriods of appTenticeships are fixed, and the
mites of apprentices and journeymon defined.
he law requires that every trader should be
nscribed or enrolled in Guild; but practical
= this is . vain formula, since no corporation
an prevent any working man from gaining his
ally bread by the sweat of his brow; but
one can hire journeymen or have apprentice
mt those who are admitted to the rank OF
masters IN some corporation, and to gain that
ostion they must be examined by tho board.
Merchants are classsd in three Guilds, each
aving different privileges. The principal OBJ
sct aimed at by this classification, or enroll
,ent into the Guilds, ia to make sure that tho
,erchant possesses certain amount of CAPT
. 4
"A Yerst is equal to two thirds Of On English mile.