New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-01-25

2 r . u.
ne TIE agreement has been afeaiy ratIhed b-tH cen
~ , nv tere be added. that according to the St.
pc,.,s,> re- correspon1cn, Of Il hord, The province
| - N,t,,cd J. expected very siorY 10 be brought
| viii a., operation Of thc Imperia! rescripts.
| r.,- IT, o7Go7 Ti-r. 'fa-.e
| ,-.,,3 certainly fcem a. though the Russian Fm
| ,o in csynes IN fSs expressed desire TO abolish
l.,dorn throughout the e1tSn OF his vast dominion
RI s.rs upon Iii. s,bec have been addressed TO the
| Pyo,in3es Of wilma, Grodno and Eovno-that is to
-sy a cert,sn eastern provinces n The Emplre--as
We'll az of those which 10 the old day. constituted the
Duchy of Ithuania. b. Intelligence M more receut
we ara informed that crevlaI OF Inv ator had been
addressed ly NJ Iansko the Minister of the Interior.
10 nil the Governments throughout the Empire, desir
ing that they would give tbs important affair their
beet CONSIDERATION This circEar has elected on all
sides an expression Of hearty good viii TO give due et
feet to tie Emperos wishe.. The nobility OF the TOW
| errneut Of St. Petersburg have taken the lead by
| handing in their formal adhesion to the PROJECT.
| In consequence Of this the emperor Las ad.
| dressed reseript to the Governvr-Cenera of
| that province establishing Special Committee.
which is to proceed immediately to the elaboration
OF the project for the improvement of the condition Of
the peasants. Two members are to De elected from
every district in the province by and from the nObes
possessing property in those Districts and two TO
be pamedby the aforementioned of the povince-in
other words, by the Government. Ccsld we alto
gether believe that in Russia promise AID perform.
ance would 60 hGnd-in-hand We should not be with
cut hopes that the institution of sertdom the
wane throughout the limits Of the empire. But even
in civilized countries a result does not always follow
from inquiry. How much must this be the
in Russia, where the sovereign is nOminally ON
nipOeLt, but in reality upon such subject as this OF
seifdom very much in the power of his nObi.y-that
il, Of the landed proprietors throughout the empire
There be little doubt that the Emperor himself II
well enough inclined to promote the cause Of Aboh-
ticp; he is not the first Russian Sovereign who has
taken up the matter warmly enough upon bis liz q ad-
vent to power. He, however, may find in the end, az
lis predecessors have found before him, that the
steady opposition Of the larded propIietors is more
thnn match even for his strength. This opposition
would not probably be frank and direct The mobiles,
even those who most opposed 20 the abolition of
seridOm, would not resist; they would hamper In
quiry. They would not even AVOID conclusions, but
they would fake care to neutralize any reco nmenda
tons Which in their opinion would be calculated TO di
ninish their incomes modest their Interest," The
peculiar institu OH has lasted for upward Of two
centuries and half In Russia Me have been brought
up for m0ny gener .tioDs III the iiea that It is the
right thing All transactions with regard TO real
property have procet ded upon the assumption that
seridom had been, was, and should be- In word the
position Of the Russian mobiles with reference to this
question is pretty nearly that Of the West Indian pro-
pr,t, with reference to Negro Slavery, when that
questit under discussion among oanelvts. Inc
power o! the Car is the substitute for the public
opinion Of the Western world.
The population Of the Russian Empire Is set down
at seventy millions The number of persons who
held actually IN serfdOm Is estimated at twelve mill
ions There are, besides, twelve millions other peas
ants-of whom nine millions are located on the Crown
| domans-who, although not noTnnaly serfs, are
pretty much so in reality. About ten days ago
published very interesting account Of Russian serf
! dom, which had been prepared by our Berlin
spOndent i'll complete manner a. the nature of
information admits upon such subject. The general
survey of the empire which ordered by the late
Emperor Nicholas, and which alone honestly pre-
pared would have enabled us to arrive at accurate
conclusions, was never completed. 1t may be that
| at the last moment the sovereign who has tam.
| pered with the subject, and toyed with con.
| illusions as long Is those conclusions seemed
| remote has shrunk from their realization. We
must remember that all Russian organization depends
upon this very institution, and that many men would
be glad to see abolished if they did not fear anarchy
az the alternative 1t must be obvious that any hasty
premature action would be most certainly attended
with far greater evils than those it intended to
| cuIe; but still Serfdom must be dealt with There
| has been expectation throughout the empire that
something would be done when the present emperor
succeeded TO power The rising murnIur was repress-
| ed in the days Of Nicholas because men said, "leta
| little longer We must bear the burden for bre
| "wbile; this man will die and then another will Use
this cry has gone, and is supposed that very grave
| consequences may follow, unless something be done
Pushed then, by the necessity of the case as wei As
| by his own private nclnai ions the new Emperor mas
invoked the action Of his nobility and these ukases and
this rescript have been the result The class of Sers
proper-tat is of the first IL, 600 OVof whom We spoke
| above-will be the first whose case VIII be taken
| into consideration Now, their actual position Il
| this: They are divided into two sections; one
section adleres to the soil the other hires itself out
to service on the condition that each serf shall pay an
annual quota to his lord. II appears that the great
hulk Of The serfs who remain odsfrici gJe live in
| communities or villages. Each village community
paws fixed polltax to the lord Of the manor according
| 10 the Lumber Of male pe0sants which II contains
| The entire community makes good the shortcomings
| of any defaung member One of the strangest parts
of the arrangement and one which acts, doubt, ~
a deathbow to anything like real Improvement OF
the land subjected to this cOmmunistc action, that
| each household which forms part of the community s
shifted about from good land 10 indifferent and iron
Indifferent land to that which the wort, so that each
ho,rehoud may have its turn. Ofcourse, under such
| a system the accumulation OF wealth or the improve
| me nj of the land is an impossblllty.
The second section of sers consists OF those who are
not tied to the land but who permitted by Their
lord or owner hire themselves out but upon the con-
dition that they shall pay to hun year by ye1 GER
| tain sum The balance which they may earn beyond
this is nOmnay their own, but one oil the nercest
| struggles which have taken place with reference 10
serdom is to the sum at which the ooT0s or ahhua
tribute should be fixed. Most of the serfs who are
employed in the manufacturing establishments oil kuS
| STA are said to be serfs who are out upon ooTo".
These few brief suggestions may afford an ides oil Tue
| magnitude Of the problem which the Emperor
| Alexander has now taken in hand Setting aside
all considerations such those Of the dangers which
might arise from the sudden liberation of TINS 'ast
mass Of ignorant and superstltous human DelhSs II
| must be remembered that the Russian army Is re-
cruited from the serts rs sers now are ne nanua'
lures Of the country are kept alive by seris. ne
banking system of the country rests upon the seris
at presents banks only lend out deposits upon
the security of the land, and It the SER VINO Eve
| value to the land. Again, the organisation OF ice
serf communities udged and impolitic a. II Isl sti
constitutes the only eecual guarantee for the general
quiet Of the country. We do not, therefore, say that
| serfdom ought not to be dealt with as a matter OF
policy as weh as of right The experiment, however,
il one of the most delicate nature, and the Emperor
Alexander bas well nigh a. much 10 fear from the OBJ,
ects Of his philanthropic policy as from the landed
bonn