The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1876-01-13
TIE LAND OF THE CXAR.


4 writer in the Cologne Gazette gives
an account Of the results Of the cmanci-
patton Of the scrfs in Russia, so far as
they have manifested themselves after
fourteen years experience of the new re-
Iations established between the pcasantry
and their former masters " If one
travels" " he says " through the govern
mcnts of Russia proper, from the Nolga
| districts to the extreme South, visiting
the villages and observing the family life
of the peasants, one is driven to the sad
conclusion that the condition Of the
Russian pcasantry has not only not I'M
proved, but has in several respects, both
moral and material, become unqucstion-
ably worse II is sufficient to
visit any village to become convinced
that the prospricty of tine peasants has
diminished TO such Il degree that great
number of them have been reduced to
absolute poverty. Their moral condition
is even more lamcntablc, and drunken
ness has become far more prevalent than
it was before the emancipation. The re-
suits are listlcss Indifference, unwilling
ness to work, and an increasing discon-
tent which manifests itself in brutal acts
of destruction and inccndiarism, In the
southwestern governments, and especially
in those of Pcnsa, kurss, and NOronCj, II
day rarely passes but the sky is Redeemed
bv the flames of burned village, The
reason of this state Of things proceeds
the writer, "is not to bo found in any
.,. = al II nt =
character though it frequently prompts
him to misuse his liberty; but chiefly in
the uniavorable position in which he has
been placed by the new system Of admin
istration, which makes him dependent on
the commune and on a number Of off
cials whom he is obliged to pay out OF
his own pocket. The rural commune has
unlimited power over both the person
and the property of the peasant, 50 that
he has in reality only changed his mas
ter, and his present dependence on the
commune is not much better than his
former state of sertage. lie Is
bound to pay Il fixed sum to his former
master as redemption money for the
house in which he lives and the land on
which it stands. This, to certain cX-
tent, restricts his freedom of action, but
it is rendered quite ilIusory by the cir
cumstancc that the land which he cult
Yates for himself and family, and for
which he must pay, is not his own, but
the property Of the commune which may
dispose of it at pleasure. Thus Ivan,
after dcyoting all his care to the cuItlya-
tion of piece of land allotted to him,
may find it in the following year trans
fcrrcd by the commune to another peas
ant, while he himself gets in exchange Il
field which is perhaps not so we'll situated
or neglgcntly cultivated. Nor is this all.
The commune is responsible for the
payments due from the peasants, and if
any of these fall into arrcar through the
lmsuilicicncy of the means of the poorer
members, those who are better off have
to make up the deficiency, failing which
the commune scizcs their horses and
cows. Another restriction on the per-
sonal liberty Of the peasant in Russia is
the right of the commune to refuse him
pass when he wishes to seek service
away from his village. The grant of
these passes often depends on the arbi-
trary will of clerk, who refuses it from
motives of personal hostility or requires
a bribe before he will give it, 1t very
frequently happens that peasants who
have obtained passes for St. Petersburg
or Moscow are called back for some
trining reason, and if they refuse to re-
turn they are taken back by the police
like common criminals without even be
ing given the opportunity of winding up
their business in the town. Such are the
circumstances without the slightest Sc
curity for the produce of ones labor, and
in constant fear Of what the next day
will bring forth-in which not hundreds
of thousands but millions Of people live
in Russia"