New-York tribune., 1868-06-13

IInpOITaIIU
be made until there was no more serfs And Alexan'
der l. was about to put it into effect when ne was
frightened back by the liberal movements III 9er-
many. His grandson determined TO hght the master
out on that line. The peasantry was arbitrarily
split into halves, both having the same blood,
the, same religion, the same traditions
rs 1901 exactly the same rights both having
the same manners and customs, both geographically
ntermlxed with each other and yet separated by an
insurmomtablc bar One half enjoyed the right to
work for themselves and the State, and the other
half was compelled TO work for set of men, whose
ancestors had received their feOw-citZens as prop
erty, not for any services rendered to the State but
to check the harm they did TO the commonwealth.
And now serfOwneTs not only robbed the State OF ali
the millions earned by the hard-toiling serfs. but
they also made every reform I'D the condition OF the
free peaSantry nay of the whole empire, impossible
That was, indeed, the principal curse of serfdom.
Without primary-schoOls Russia could never become
European power and it impossible to establish
them a large scale before the enfranchisement.
Some time before the great act was issued we were
told by a serf-Owner: "As long as there Is no
striking inequality between the free peasantry
and the serfs, neither we nor the State
have anything to fear, because most of
the sers treated well enough To keep them salts
fled with their position But give the free peasants
schools and revolution in way or other Is IN
eytabe for then the serfs will begin to shake their
chains, and the whole people will make common
cause with them, for there Is 10 difference between
them And to give the serfs schools 0O--ST, VIC are
not foolish enough to do such thing"
As soon as sertdom was abolished schools began TO
be established During more than two years scarce
a week passed that the papers did not tell of COM
munty where the establishment of school had been
voted, to which the peasants themselves spOntane-
Ously contributed most literally out of their own
pockets, And with the schools, so 1T was with the
rest OF the reforms. AS long a5 the seris contested
ali minor cases under the arbitrary judicial power OF
their masters, IL was impossible TO Introduce the
jury or any reasonable courts IN which the law
should be the only rule. Pushldn, the greatest
Russian poet has tied the courts and judges To the
pory and scourgcd them to the very bones with his
cutting satire Sneaking i'm the dust before the
| ~ a
the humble and the unprotected: never refusing "A
bube nay, asking and fixing the amount OF 10 with
most shameless planneSs; swearing Ike drunken
sailor from dawn Ia sunset; idle, and always behind
time like a yaWning laZzarOni on an August day
such was the common Russian Judge lana junction.
ary, every living Russian over 20 years old TeHen-
only too well. How could IL be otherwise where
the law constitutes arbtrarnessas the only law with
respect 10 several millions, who were IN no respect
worse than, even different from the rest OF the
people If the poet ont of the grave to-day, he
would more recognize his country and he himself
would mark his ' keyisor," and the Dead Souls"
strange tales of bygOne times since we nave no
more serfs, have jury, always chosen nom
among the best men, and Judges OF the Peace whodo
the country high honor To-day, we may be poor
and without high connections, and yet We
may hope. at least IN those cases where
compete under a jury or the Judges OF
the Peace, to be treated politely and Judged accord
ing To the law. About year-and -a-hali
ago the Director of the Police at st. Petersburg tone
OF the highest Oiilclalsl gave a common Waterman
blow le was sued before Justice OF the Peace;
~
the Emperor Ia interfere personally Tor MIN To spare
him such an ignOmny.
A. long as we had serfs the serfs were driven TO
and fro quite at the pleasure Ot their masters; ana
the free peasants only IA 80 lar III better con-
ditOn ~ they were suffered 10 submit spontaneously
10 the authority ot "A paffiarchal chef + the OLD
in lIgatiOus where they themselves were the par
ties. To-day our communities ENJOY To great eX-
tent scli-goycmment under sei-closen 0iilclais
And TIN, foundation the first story OF the build
ing OF general self government has been erected
iu the form of the "Zemstwo' which might be
called a provisional Parliameut-an institution
not 10 be- Thought of long a representation
of the people impossible, because there did not
exist one people, but only, as has been said, hall
people and half dummy, called serfs" And Of what
vac importance this institution ~ has been suiilcl
emily proved by this one instance that the opposition
| of the st. Petersburg ZemstwO' was 30 energetlca
that the Government cOuld not help dlshOlvlhg H.
and this produced such general discomfort that the
Government was compelled 20 constitute IL anew.
Space does not allow us To prove tho truth 0t our as
sefton by the rest of the important reforms which
Alexander could never have undertaken before the
question Of serfdom bad been brought To final sou-
ton. Only one consequence OF the general enfTan-
chsemen of the scrs must yet be spoken of IN few
words. because It lies just IN the opposite direction
of those mentioned heretofore. remarkable
change has taken place with the nobility Our
principal cities, and especially 81, Peters
burg, formerly thTonged with noble idlers,
assume more and more sober and busy
character The traffic with articles of luxury
has diminished considerably. Long-whlskered foot
men, gorgeous cOurtcsans and all those persons that
used 10 live the dissipation of the nObles have
hard times By lar the greater part OF the prlncty
fortunes. that used Ia be the envy of the continental
nobility and the gossip of mnkeepcrs and sharp
noscd old maidcns have been reduced so cOnsidera-
biy that most of the nOblemcn cannot afford To keep
mp their wontcd style of living; hence they have
made up their minds 10 leave the cities. One part
has gone abroad. where they can still make a show
with the remainder of their riches IL is not To be
regretted that they have taken tins course, be-
cause when they return to Russia the country will
derive a great benefit from the good education
their children have enjoyed IN the foreign schools
Rug~lAu educational
in every respect But the greater part now living
their estates, where, for the first time personal
and close intercourse between the landlords and
their farmers and tenants has been established. 4
nobility has begun to spring up that does not know
only of rights over but also of duties toward its
feriors and the people AT large. II the mobiles pre-
tend to remain the stars surrounding tho sun, they
will have 10 attend the schools aud universities.
Since their pockets have been emptied they
PEELED To supply the loss by filling their brans aud
1t cannot be denied that many understand this truth.