New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-10-22

OF OF tue str1r, VINO pesscss
property to greater or less amount, might DO
able 10 pay down at once the sum demanded OF
them, so ss to come immediately into the enjoyment
Of homes of their own; but this could hardly be
expected to be- the with the great body Of the
serfs Again: how are the prcpretors to raise the
capital which will enable them to cultivate by
means of hired labor that portion of their dcmsins
which viii be assigned TO them in exclusive proper
~ and which under the existing system is at least
partially cultivated by means OF the forced labor Of
the serfs The financial project of Messrs. Hon.
berg and Fraenkel proposes to meet these diihcul-
ties and in the accomplishment of that object to
employ the communal system which already exists
among the serf. it being the right and duty oil the
Commune to distribute among individuals the total
amount of the service due from the Commune to
the proprietor Thus it is proposed that III all
cases where the serfs shall not be able or Wiling 10
pay down in money the amount OF indemnit! As
signed to the proprietors. the Commune snail give
its Joint obligation for the total amount, stiPuia'ns
interest at FIVE per cent, and also an annuai pay
ment which at the end of a term OF years woula
not only extiugush the principal bat would create
fund of much larger amount. Suppose the IN
demnty payable to the proprietor by the peasants
Of a certain Commune amounted to ten thousand
roubles. Let the Commune give its obligation sti-
pulating to pay annually for fifty years SIX hun
dred ronbles five hundred by way of interest and
one hundred as q sinking fund TO extinguish the
principal which payment would amount at the END
of that period accommodating at interest not merely
Ia ten. but TO twenty thousand roubcs
The next question is how TO enable the proPrie-
tors 10 realize upon these obligations certain sum
down i,h hich TO discharge debts and mortgages,
and to provide come capital for agricultural opera
tons For this purpose it isproPo'ed to establish
Central Administration to which may Do assigned,
bv scb propretors as shall choose to do so, these
communist obligations, IN exchange for when
they shall receive the obligations OF this Central
Board. bearing interest, to three quarters the
amount of the communal obligations deposited.
Thus the Central Board, upon deposit OF con-
munal obligations on which it would be entitled
TO receive six hundred roubles snnually-fSe hun
dred BY way Of interest, aud one hundred by way
of sinking fund-would give ia exchangeits own OBJ
legations airing an annual interest to the amount OF
three hundred aud seventy-fve roubles, and payable
at the end of fifty years; which obligations, 1t is to be
presumed, might be salable in the market for near
Is or quite their face thus enabling the proprietorsto
realize at once to the extent OF threeq quarters OF
the indemnity assigned TO them. That the Central
Board would be able to meet promptly the interest
on their bonds, especially if the collection of the
| payments due them on the communal bonds was
placed on the same level with the dues of tho State
would seem to be pretty we'll assured. For
| every three hundred aud seyenty-hye roublcs
they were bound to pay, they would be
entitled to receive five hundred ronbles,
not to mention the additional payment Of a hun
dred roubles annually, which, being duly improved
Of interest, would not only pay off the principal Of
their bonds, but would produce additional sum
once aud half as great. At the end of a
few years the accumulatons thus made would con-
stitute large capital, which might be avaied Of
for the improvement of agriculture BY being put
out on mortgages. part OF the annual revenue /
thence accIuiDg might be distributed to the depo-
sitors Of the commoyal obligations in the form Of
dividends, still reservng fund sufficient not only
to discharge the central obligations, but to pay
over to the proprietors at the end of the htty
years sun equivalent to the principal OF the org
iual indemnity. Thus the proprietors might not
oply be enabled to realize at once aud without any
ruinous sacrifice large part of their indemnity,
they would have besides, the prospect of receiy
ing dividends on the remainder, and In the end of
the ptire reconstruction of their original capital
and more. Even suppose that their debts should
absorb at once the amount Of the central Obllga-
tions they might receive, there would still remain
secured to them resource p,ced, as 1t were, in u
sort of savings bank, beyond the reach OF
their own imprudences. The serfs, 10 their tura,
might ut once obtain the benefit Of an immediate
liberation, in place of lansuishing for many long
years in a dubious position between freedom
and seIvitude. 1t is one Of the recon-
mendatioDs Of this system, that it would
not impose upon the Government any new Pc
cunsry burden, thus releasing the State from the
disagreeable necessity of imposing new taxes and
contracting new loans. And the merit of this
scheme is that it is not proposed to make it OBJ
ligatory upon anybody. The interested parties,
the serfs and the proprieors, to be left at full
liberty to make any special or private arrange
ments on which they can agree. Even the ndi-
yidual members of Commune, who have the
means and the inclination to pay up at once their
assessed share of the communal obligation, are to
be at liberty to do SO. The present scheme is only
proposed for the voluntary adoption of those serfs
who, net having the means Of payment down, are
tha,r 18Th all s.