The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-06-22

| omy. The Russians never passed through al
| age OF chivalry, which has left such indeibl
| impressions in Western Europe. They neye
had feudal castles, with donions, keeps. ant
moats; and they have no local "Reminiscences
to eherish-no local traditions to influence thei
feelings They have, indeed country houses
but rarely visit them. The distances of thea
from each other is SO very great, that, when o,
their estates, they are isolated from all society
They take no family pride in their domains
but look upon them as q fundholder looks on
consols-as mere source OF income o
course the serf5 detest their presence, and tn,
landlords naturally shun those who hate them
They sell their property for q slight gain anC
both lard and serfs are handed over to new
masters with Indifference 1t is said that il
Russia large fortunes never reach the thirt
generation. Peter the Great, by an ukase
dated 18th March, 1713, wished to impose OF
fh. nobility the law of primogeniture and en-
tan, bet it WAS too radically opposed to trsai
tion and popular customs to meet with NOR,
than the most limited success There are YER,
few, and those only among the highest nobili
ty, who still enjoy their ancient patrimonies
All this class reside at Moscow or ST. Peters
burgb, or in the chief towns of the severa
Governments; they have always and united,y
resisted every effort made by the Cars to i'm
prove the condition of the serf, and looked with
Jealousy and suspicion on every scheme de-
signed to elevate the status of the Crown peas
ants.
Peter the Great contemplated the establish
ment of a college to teach the science of agri
culture. Catherine the Second meditated
comprehensive plan for the better organization
of the peasants. Paul the First instituted
cantonal administrations and in 1911, Alex
ander urged the necessity Of carrying out the
views Of Catharine, and they were investigated
by Count Gourieff; but every effort has proved
vain nor is this surprising, as the whole sys
tenn is based on slavery. Under the present
regime, the forests are wantonly fired, and 9th
erwise devastated. Many proprietary lands are
drained by turning the waters among the trees
on the Crown domains, and marshes and
swamps are formed. For instance, in the Gov
eminent Of Archangel there is only one man tc
superintend and preserve from injury thirty.
five square miles of timber, and, in the Govern
inert Of WolgOda, ten foresters have the charge
of 900, 600 square miles. The culture Of arti-
fetal grasses is neglected; there are no rich
meadows; consequently few cattle, and a want
of animal manures Till within the last ten
years, the potato was only grown in the West
ern and Baltic provinces Even the funda-
mental law of Russia has been violated by the
working of this horrible system. The spirit OF
that law is embodied in the following tradition
al expression owe serfs belong to our lords
and masters, but the land of the country be-
longs to us. The land is there to feed US; it
belongs to the people and the Gar, who has
only given the mobiles the usufruct" Now, it
was proved, in 1897 that a vast number of
peasants were absolutely destitute, plundered
of the share to which they were entitled by
Il Il
rate of tax was uniform on all of them, without
any regard to their means of paying it, for it
was poll tax, not o property tax. Many
were crushed by this fscal injustice. They
were compelled to construct roads; and soldiers
were billetod upon them. These two last
obligations were not regulated by the STARosTs
of the villages, but by the lsPRAsNIK, tunc.
tionary elected by the mobiles in the respective
Governments; and that officer took care TO put
the heaviest burden on the peasants of the
crown, so as to ease or wholly exempt the
peasants belonging to the mobiles to whose
votes he owed his position.
The recruiting system for the army was also
fatal to agriculture. A rule was framed that
the military CONSUMPTION should first take place
among the most numerous families which
profoundly shocked the patriarchal manners
of the people for it had been the immemOrial
usage In Russia for all the members of a family
to live together under the same roof GRANDPA
theirs and grandchildren. The recruiting law
led to the dispersion of families and some
times only one male remained fit to bear arms I;
and when he was drafted, the household were
deprived of their natural supporter In the
western provinces formerly belonging to Po-
land, it was officially escertained that, out of
600, 900 peasants, $50 900 possessed only sin
gle head of cattle for each family, and 1850
did not own single horned beast. To reme-
dy these and other evils, the Emperor Nicho-
les nominated special ministerial board, on
the lst Of January, 1888, at the head of which
he placed Count Kisseef who was directed TO
sound the whole question to its lowest depths,
not only in the interests of the peasants but
in the interests of agriculture. In this inquiry
was involved the interests of % 600, 900 of men.
Extensive innovations were to be avoided the
national and patrarchal organization Ct the
village municipalities was to be preserved, bat
ell abuses were to be corrected.
The new minister says Hsxthausen, eek
pressed himself in favor Of these principles;
increase of revenue was only to be sought for
in those crown lands not yet appropriated; the
management of the forests was to be improved,
and articles of farming were to be revised. He
wished to avoid all coercive measures, and only
W ibIONoOC % DO w pIOeSSe ehC pOoooheSi ~
cording to their state of civilization and their
capacity for progress, desiring to improve their
condition by education, encouragement, and
pecuniary aid. 1t was necessary to guaranty
them against abuses and inspire them with
the confidence OF effectual protection to stimu
late their activity, to remove obstacles, and iOs
ter their desire for civilization, which is gener-
ally felt among the Russian peasants. Whilst
they were exhorted vigorously to discharge their
egal obligations, on the other hand the nvio-
ability of their rights was frankly acknowl-
edged Before all other considerations, the
religious instruction of the peasants was the
chief object of solcitude With a view to limit
the number of Government officials as much as
possible the village municipalities received
stronger powers of selfgovernment"
The learned Prussisn from whose "Ssudies
Of Russia " this extract is taken, is a warm
partisan Of Russia, and Of the reigniDg Empe-
ror. He is the apologist Of serfdom, and does
not hesitate to express his conviction that
everything practicable is done or doing for the
slaves, knowing that they can be sold as cattle;
and, knowing this, he declares that the " in
volatility of their rights was frankly acknowl-
edged" He is delighted that the new meas
ures guaranteed them protection and restrained
abuses, as though the denial of personal free
dom was not the most atrocious of crimes. AS
to their religious education, it teaches them to
worship the Car; and, lest they should learn
the common origin of our race, they are not
permitted to read the Bible. However, re-
form was effected, and certainly its object was
to mitigate the horrors of slavery. We shall
sketch the main features of the principal pro-
visions of the new code.
No commune or village municipality was TO
consist of less than 900 inhabitants. All be-
low that rate of population were to be iucor-
porated till the minimum was reached.
A canton or bailiwick called WoLosTI) was
fixed at 5000 souls. The local administration
was divided into cantonal and communal.