The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1861-03-25
THE EMANCIPATION OFTHE sERFS

The Nord says: ''Our correspondent at St. Pc
tersourg sends US to-day account of the closing
sitting OF the Council of the Empire, held ON the
Zoth ult., upon the question of the serfs II was
decided that the latter should receive their perso
nal liberty, and that all the relations between them
and their proprietors should c2ase at one stroke.
that Tue peasants on each property shall receive the
inciosure, that is the house they inhabit and the
Kitchen garden attached to it, that there shall be
aiotted them at price fixed by the Government
the fourth OF the quantity of ground which was
nxed In the plan elaborated by the commissions,
.at is, from one to two hectares, according to the
provinces This ALLEGATION is obligatory, the other
territorial arrangements are optional The Imnn-
lidl manifesto which will publish these decisions is
ALREADY printed at st. Petersburg but it will not
9Pppear IN the present week, which is that of the
russian carnival. The public tion will take place
III Lent: In about fifteen days perhaps at time of
meultatlOn and SObrietv for the Russian peonle the
oppoFtuneness of which for the proclamation of
emancipation there is no need to point out''
An article in the London Post, based upon the
statements OF its correspondent in St. Petersburg
gives the following stdtistics:-
The number of serfs, or, as they are called in
huSsla, souls, amounts to no less than forty ronr
hlllons OF men. Some of these are crown peasants.
put should be remarked that the peasants on the
Prlnclpal crown lands had already some measure of
freedom bestowed on them by Alexander l. The
owners CT serta in Russia, according to the latest
S'atstlca accounts, hundred and scteen thou
san" IN number, and they hold among them t,centy-
t~o htt'ons Of SertS. Two thousand five hundred
iahueu proprletors possess from one thousand to
TWO thousand serts, while twenty thousand possess
only from hundred to thousand; fifty thousand
small prOprletors hold less than twentv-one serfs
OF SOUS, each; and probably there NAV be more
uLcuity IN settling the social status Of these fifty
'iousahu persons than in any arrangement connect
eu win the actual question of serf emancipation
Inc crown peasants, including both men and wo
men amounted in 1860, in round numbers to fourteen
hiilonS Tour hundred and thirty-sx thousand souls
III ma gross population of sixty-hve millions II
:annoV oV De denied that In country in which there
Is no middle, or at least infinitely small middle
class, and In country in which there is little ac
cumulated capital, the throwing of such mass of
men on their own resources is a hazardous experi
Ieu'' put OF twenty two millions of serfs at least
eieVen millions can work at handicraft or house
hou tradeS and there is scarcely one of these who
mas not saved some money. This capital great or
sman Will assuredly be invested in land or in COM
herce, Tor the Russian is shrewd specuator, and
mas always keen eye to the main chance
MANY men born serfs, resident in Russian cities
or towns, are worth from G5, 900 to f2O, 900 and
1oooo0; and these dealers and spectators will now
enlarge the sphere of their industry by engaging
IN manufactures or by speculating in land This
!dtter course must be very beneficial to country
lmperiectly cultivated, and but half developed
ne russian is doce, laborious and easily manage
aoie, and not likely to abuse his recently ACQUIRED
hoerty. No one is fonder of peaceful pursuits or
mas more aversion to soldiers life Yet habit and
training, more powerful far than nature, have
made the Russians excellent soldiers No doubt the
new system of serf emancipation may work awk-
wardly and operosely for some years. 1t will re-
quire, like everything else, time for its develop-
ment; but, as the Russian peasant is obed lent and
weI'dlsposed there is little danger of rcractori-
ness or riot.