The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-06-22
For the National Era.
SLAVERY IN RUSSIA.
No. II.

For the National Era
SLAVERY IN RUSSIA.
No. II.
LANDED TENURE AND SERFDOM IN RUSS "a
Peter the Great completed what BOWS 10
dounof had left unfinished, by making esti tes
hereditary, as well as by reducing the peasa ats
to serfdom. He thus armed the propries 0rs
with the most formidable powers, and left he
bondsmen no hope of redress, except in ic-
cessful insurrection. This social refoTmer,' no
professed 8 desire to improve his country, w.
eted the chains of slavery on the bulk of :he
population, and on their posterity he b! led
the country people, because they opposed IA
tonal traditions to his Germanic innovatic as
and he punished their resistance by lower ing
them to the condition Of hewers of wood nd
drawers of water. Surely, it was not for his
atrocious crime, which far Outweighs any err
vices he may have rendered to civilization, aat
he has received the title Of the Great J" Z ON
his time to the reign OF Catharine'II, tho en-
shaved peasants constantly meditated yenges ice
against their oppressors; but the favorable op-
portunity did not arrive till the rebelliot of
Pugatscheff, the celebrated Cossaek of the J on.
After his first victories, he caused media to
be struck, with the inscription, " Peter iii, I'M
"Redivivus ct Utor" Under him the { srfs
rallied, to make desperate effort for libe .ty.
Whether they believed, or not, that the .ur-
dered Peter was miraculously restored to life,
or had escaped from his assassins and rem lin
ed in conceaimens till he could strike blo' to
recover his throne, there can be no doubt hat
circumstances were highly favorable to the re-
volt; and, had Pugatscheff been more prud mt,
and less addicted to debauchery, tho ssrfs
might have wen their emancipation.
Catharine had bestowed immense estate on
her depraved lovers if men can be called 10 ,ers
who crafty the lust of a MEssAIINA is sal late
their avarice or ambition. These wretc hes,
gorged with tho plumber of the national ptop-
erty, treated the serfS worse than they tire tod
their dogs. They were az devoid of feelip as
of honor The Russians have ever been ous
people, even to fanaticisni, and looked With
horror at the orgies of the German GA, ina,
exulting that she was not of their race OF b. bod
She had even seized and secularized the Lnds
of the Church, and handed them over to the
companions of her guilt. As soon as PJ gat-
scbeff raised his banner the indignant peas ants
focked to him, and the populations Of four
provinces of tho Empire rallied under the bold
Cossack. Then it was, that the Ratchet o the
serf sought to sever the crown from tho land
and establish democracy bas d On the sntient
communistio organization. The chief wepon
of the serfs was fire. They burned the he uses
of the mobiles, and, for while, the conhsgrs-
ton threatened to illumine the Krernlil at
Moscow, and melt the frozen waters Of the
Neva The rebellion spread from Tuer t. the
Oural 1t was the combined armed protest of
the Cossack and the serf against despotism-
the last unsuccessful effort to break the letters
of the enslaved cultivators of the soil.
1t has already been stated that, according to
the primitive constitution or traditions of Rus
sia, the whole SOIL one and indivisible, belonged
to the Russian people, excluding all private
property except as to the usufruct; and hat
up to the time of Peter the Great, none enjoyed
more than the usufruct of the land. Thu su-
preme power of allotting portions for Ii e. or
for terms of years, belonged to the Cars by
virtue Of their ducal prerogatiVe AID the Gar.
delegated this power, by allotment, 20 tn vii
lage municipalities ard to the Boyars, as well
as to conyentual and monastic establishments
So long rs this primitive system was in force,
there was no occasion for any territorial regis
ter; but when Peter the Great introduced pri-
vate and hereditary property, it became Deces-
sary to have a record of what had been surreD-
dered and of what had been retained. The
mobiles were continually trespassing on the
crown lands adding field after field to their
patrimonies and, in 1865, the abuse had be-
come 30 serious, and the imperial revenues had
become so greatly deprecated by these en-.
croachments that survey was appointed in
that year IL was gigantic undertaking,
when the immense regions of Russia are con-
sidered, and it is not surprising that it required
sixty years to settle disputed claims in fifty
Governments Another attempt was msde in
1884, but it led to no accurate results. SIBERIA
was not included in either survey.
cd ornrp lands had haar ouad
to the villages at an early period and as these
villages increased in size and population, they
received q portion of the uncnltivated, crown
lands, for which they paid rent. The village
communities had also ellotments Of forssts, but
these were subject to imperial administration.
Peter the Great was the first Gar who appre-
ciated the Importance of timber, as he was the
first to construct vessels of war. He placed
the forests under the Admiralty. Slice then,
they have alternately been confded to the
financial and naval departments of each Of the
separate Governments; but, in 1926, the gen.
eral administration was intrusted to tie inan-
cial departments of each of the separate Gov
ernments into which the empire is divided, bat
the forests which are reserved for nsva and
mining purposes are ruled by special b ards
According to survey made in lS45, the total
area of the crown forests, without including
those allotted to the Cossacks, the towns and
the mines measures about %, 400 squsre miles.
From this estimate Siberia is excluded.
According to report submitted to the min
lister of the crown lands in 1889, the follow
ing was at that date the numerical peasant
population on the crown lands
Male peasants 5.431, 1877
Enfranchised .I26 1893
Foreign Colonists 167,626
Nomadic 700, 600
Exiled Colonists 7499
Jewish Agriculturists 13 900
Excess of births over deaths shown .
By the subsequent census of ls45 a.O76 S97
-
Males l95s3,63
Females Is64l, 437
-
Total 2.}225,o75
One of the greatest evils in Russia, 90 far as
A. ;,,taraata of agriculture are involved ia the