Polynesian., 1862-11-01
Ghe polpnesian.
From the - " estminster Review for july lS62.I
The Situation in Rnssia.

We have met with no account of the enormous
difficulties which surround the attempt to emancl-
pate the sers of Russia which approaches the clear
ness of that OF NJ. Ogareff* Whatever may be
thought of the plans of the party to which he be-
longs the acuteness of their criticisms of the status
quo cannot be denied. In a rapid review OF the
formation of the Russian social system, the author
points out how in the transition from a nOmadic
to settled state those notions OF IndlVldual pro-
perty in land which in modern Europe acquired
such firm foundation in the feudal system, never
took root in Russia The first organization which
took place called forth by the necessity OF re-
peIling the incursions of the Tartars, and rested
upon the village communities. The centralized
authority of the Cars called for by the exigencles
of the time, could not be supported except by a
delegated body of functionaries, who would collect
the requisite taxes and administer justice In the
country districts This body came to be composed
either of the old military chiefs of the various
wandering tribes, who received at the hands OF the
central authority patrimonial estates; or OF Dody
Of saried servants, more directly controlled oy the
Car This inroad on the freedom of nomadlc llie
was not submitted to without frequent insurrec-
ton the part OF the peasants. but was ultimate
y carried out the greater part OF the plain OF
Russia. The communities once permanently local
lied retained, as matter OF course those notions
OF common property in the land they cultivated
which natural to their wandering state. These
ideas have resisted every increase of the governing
class, and find expression in the popular phrase In
the mouths of the peasants when addressing their
lords g We are your property, we are your men,
but the land is ours" This land they distribute
among the members of the community, giving an
equal share to every couple, and making iresh
distribution every three years This Is done ny the
unanimous vote of the whole community, and, ac-
cording to NJ Ogaref, with much justice, that
litigation, reference to the judicial authorities,
T IL 90 hof, IN
memorial use and the legal possession of the land
lies the great difficulty of their emancipation from
personal service. 1t is not to be expected the pea
SAINTS should welcome a liberty which oeprlVes
them of their means of life as might be supposed,
thev prefer a service which they render as per-
functOry possible. to a freedom that would rem
der them the tenants-at-w of their late masters
They also maintain that, by submitting TO pay
rent. they relinqush what they consider their in
alienable light to the use of the land on which
they live. Thus the projects of emancipation are
hung up between the opposite impractcabIlItles OF
cessiOn by the lords and purchase by the serts.
The plan advocated by NJ. Ogareff has many fea-
lures of the Freehold Land Societies which have
become discredited among ourselves, encum-
bered, too, with system of banking founded on
land as security, which. in the most settled coun-
tries, has long been repudiated by the best eco
nOmical authorities, and which, we are afraid,
would hardly weather the storm of so revolution
airy transition.
We are only able to indicate, in a very upper
feet manner. the chief interest of this volume hut
the fullest particulars will be found in it of the
different races which nhahit the vast empire of the
Cars, of the town populations of the bureauerat-
ic system by which the country has hitherto been
governed, of the constitution of the Russian
Church, and of the present attitude of the differ
ent classes which compose Russian society.
So Essai la Situation Russo Par N Ogare LOndres
Trubner & co. 1862.