Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1861-04-20


'he serf cannot be sold he belongs TO the estate,
not to his masteri to the soil, not to the man; be
goes where the estate goes, not where bis master
wishes him to 90; he cannot be separated from his
wife and children, and whom hired out his family
goes with him. Though forbidden to own real
estate, be looks upon the soil on which he lives
his immediate property; and he feels himself deep
| ly Rrieved when, in the distribution made by the
landlord or the commune, another man gets more
| land than he does. .. -..s t
| This feeling springs from the idea which the
Russian peasant has formed Of the right of prop
erty in land. In his view, the soil belongs to all
men, and not to any set Of men or to any ndivid-
ual possessor. Thus, whilst in the United States
for instance, the land is the exclusive property o
| individuals, in Russia it 10 looked upon by the
people their collective properly, represented by
territorial districts or communes. Ia other worda
there is but class Of serfs in Russia the peas
an!ry. la free countries individual exertion has
divided men into classes, distinguished one from
the other by the titles Of merchants, mechanics
and farmers. Such division does rot exist in
Russia. The peasant fills all these Offices him self;
he is at once merchant, mechanic and farmer. lie
ranaacts nearly the whole commercial, industrial
and agricultural business of the country, pays
swo-thirds Of the government expenses, and con.
t-ibutes an annual income to his owner
-aa POLITICAL EooNoMY OF RUSSIA
There never was a country claiming to possess
great prosperity and enjoying superior state Of
civilization which has not pointed with pride to
the size Of its cities and it's population as an eyi.
denee of the justice Of its claim Russia alone
form0 an exception to this rule. The SIX hundred
and sixty cities she holds are small and very thin
ly populated. Ofa population Of 6lty-sight mil
lions only five millions of inhabitants live in cit
les; whilst in Great Britain, for instance, eleven
millions. than has Of the population, inhabi,
towns. Besides, the Russian eitits have no rsve-
nuo, aud the city of Paris alonO pays, four times
the tax of tho six hundred and sixty cities of Rus
uia. In reality Russiais but an immense village
of $1,000 square miles, with very little trade and
very lille industry, and consequently without
great commercial centres. Nearly all her resour-
ces lie in the produce Of the soil. and the ogrcul-
tural interest occupies ten elegenhs OF ali her la
borers
ltisieleGr that il her cities are empty, the class
which m axes their greatness and their prosperity
must beyery limited. Russia possesses only ffty-
;hree thousand merchants subject to license, 6fry-
ono thousand OF which belong to the third guild
or class, and are mostly recruited among manu-
mitted serfs.s This number would be quite insult
eiant TO carry on the trado Of the country were
nat one hundred thousand peasants filing up the
deficiency and adding their activity and industry
10 taat of the merchants. These peasants are reg
ular peddlers. They buy the goods at twelve
months credit, and scatter the produces of indus
try all over the surface of their immense country,
taking sometimes year TO perform a single jour
hey. .-a taf
Need we say that the absence of large cities and
of merchants to gil them NJ, precludes there those
large manufacturing establishments which are the
fortune and pride of certain other countries, and
around and inside of which circulate and thrive
whole generations Of men, women and children?
Owing to her fettered system of labor, Russia still
fingers in the fret stage Of civilization. She is
almost exclusively an agricultural country; and
her factories, thoUgh numerous, are go deficient
and 80 small, that they hardly dessrVe that name
The largest part Of their produces is made By
hand, and the division of labor is scarcely known
Steam engines are scarce and manufactured goods
both coarse aud high priced. Collective labor
which has added SO much to the eheapness and
quality of manufactures, has not yet been applied
with efficiency. Consequently there are no art-
sane, mechanics. or workngmen proper. The
peasanEry or serfs do all the labor themselves, oc
cupy all the trade. and attend to all the manual
employmen. Of the country.
..v TAXES UPON TUE sERP.
Saint Simon the French reformer, says: "Man
is capital, the interest of which ought to be
proportional to his capacity and wants II he is
worth so much he must receive 60 much" The
Russian proprietor observes but the first part of
this axiom. He says to his serf "You are young,
healthy laborious; you have intelligence, honesty
and skill these qualities, summed up. represent
a capital worth so much" But instead Of leav-
ing him the enjoyment of his value he hires him
out and keeps the proceeds Of his labor to him
self. This is, in general, the method adopted by
the Russian serf-oWner towards his human MON
erty, which, in most Of the cases, he uses with
view to his own gain, pretty much as the slave
owner uses his ''nigger." In fact the condition
OF the peasant belonging to the nobility depends
entirely on the proprietor's will. He can sell.
hire, exchange him for another provided he does
not separate him from the land to which he be-
longs. When the ssrf wishes to work outside of
bis estate or village he is obliged to pay a very
high price for this privilege to the crown, if be
belongs to IL, or to his master. if he 10 owned by
a nobleman. 81 t
The condition Of the peasanIry dependent on
The nobility is in the main worse than those de.
pending on the crown. The tool of the caprice Of
guorant and exacting overssers. no is crushed
inder the weight Of forced labor, submitted to ex-
ra duties, interfered with 10 bis family affairs,
'ormcntod BY local officers, severely punished for
.he least infracIion, and sometimes aogged to
ieath, The serf cannot make complaint or
lerve as a witness against his owner. He is COM
pelled to keep silent on his suffsrings /; when
hey become iusufferabIe, he either foments a
rebellion, sets the village on FIRE add kills his
master, or else hc cmigratss with his companions