Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-12-10

sullices to read the reports Ottho hliia
in the criminal courts TO get inhfnol'sr
upon this point. The number b m6a.
strous crimes, robbories, and mpro r, "a
increasing alarmingly. N
So much for the capital Now lnoor
take a look at the provinces. H6ro rs
some figures: At Kamychine rye hodA
sold last week at rouble and 40 copddlss'
(about S1.O5) pood (about8U podddsl
and even up TO / rouble 80 e0pectq a ~
35). Al Tsaritsin a pood Of re costs
rouble 20 copecks 600 cents). Black
bread at the former place cost / rod h
40 copecks (about Sl.05) the pood in
the country villages 1t costs trouble 80
copecks (about Sl.55) the pood--nohrly
as dear as in the capital. Aud what a
difference in the wages Of the poor
peasants and the workingmen of tho
capital.
might multiply these figures. The
conclusion would be that the most FER
tile districts are the most Impoverished.
The Russian Empire has been attacked
in her abundant granaries. The har-
vests have been terribly bad, and In
some parts of the country the peasants
have had no work for year. What
can they do nowP A family of saFeu
persons, which is the average numborin
the country parts Of Russia, consumes
from l20 to $50 pounds of rye II a year.
That makes from 145 to 185 roubles, al
enormous sum for them. And where is
the money for taxes and clothing %
come fromP Must the peasant die 81
hunger without complainingp
But this calamity is not merely local.
The Messenger 06iciel itself has Just pub
lished figures proving that this state d
affairs extends at the present moment %
the Governments of Samara, Khersone
Ekaterinoslav, and to The greater porl
ton of those of Toural, SarBtof, SIM.
birsk, Tchernigof, Tombof, Roursk,
Penza, and Poltova. The same famine
is reported from several Of the western
Governments, Novgorod, Oskol, Smo-
len'k, and St. Petersburg.
The districts where the larvests have
not been quite so bad are unfortunately
not very productive. They are hardly
able to provide for local wants. There
has been a surplus this year only In
Bessarabia, Volhynia, Esth0nia, and q
few districts of the center and The west
Everywhere else the haFvests have been
below the average. sils aaa. ioi
The districts which have suffered
most have been compelled to have re.
course to the Government for seed for
the fields. Samara received million
roubles. Saratof and Simbirsk million
each, and Astrakhan $4,000 roubles.
But all that is for the future, while the
terrible present must somehow be pros
vided for. .ta isifis tii
Russia has few newspapers OF other
publications, yet, nevertheless the most
alarming reports are Circulated IN re-
gard to this fearful and universal dis
tress. Men, women and children are
dying of hunger every day in the Cow
ernments of Samara and Saratof Sub
scription lists have been opened, but
who is able to giveP The Government
is doing its best. 1t has already given
out more than million Foubles, and
advanced four millions in favor OF the
provisioning fund-a fund which at the
present moment amounts 10 only five
millions, a sum ridiculously small 10
meet the need. put su"E
At Moscow bread costs six copeoks a
pound, and ten copecks for white bread.
In the country it is still worse, and VII
lage pauperism is increasing each year.
The primitive system of agriculture, to-
gether with the weight of taxation and
the results of the overtaxing Of the viii
layers by that class of merchant pro-
prietors known under the name of koula-
XII, is running large proportion Of the
peasants