, 1881-03-20


well posted.
4 GLIMPSE AT RUSSIA.
An interview which Mr.. jeremiah Curtin
Secretary of Legation at St. Petersburg from
1864 to 1870. has courteously accorded Tn
| TRIBUNE, will serve TO throw some ligh
upon the present situation. OF affairs in Rus
sia. and his statements possess unusual in
terest because of the difficulty in acquiring
information. either through newspapers Of
books, of the real condition of that country
Mr.. Curtfh's statements bear directly upor
I the recent troubles. anu also give some indi
cations as to the future. We, therefore
sum up his observation in the form Of 8
brief, connected narrative.
| In the reign Of Nicholas, the father Of
! Alexander IL; the late Car, Russia was
compac1ly, logically, and symmetrcally con-
structed. Nicholas was great landholder
and Russia was his farm. Under him was
an immense number Of smaller landholders.
They were held responsible for good order
! in their districts, and if they were in need
Of help to oentorce it they could call upon the
Government The civil service was filed
| By men ppolnted by the Emperor. The vii
| lage comnunes were under the landholders.
Their structure was very similar to what it
is now,. but the landholders had greater
power, so that the communes obeyed their
wishes, They also had TIRES days in the
week Or one-half of the time Of the serfs,
so that, as each landholder averaged at
least 1000 serfs under him, he had the abso-
lutte control of the labor of 500 serts. When,
during the reign OF Alexander H., serfdom
was abolished and thet OF his reforms was
thus introduced, Russia lost that sy1nmet-
rical form Of construction she had up to that
time possessed. AS the peasants could not
live without land the land was given to them
i'll allot1nents varying from eight to seventy
acres each, the amount varying according to
its excellence, less being given where 1t was
very fertile, and U[cc DcrSu so that the aver
age was from nine to twenty acres each, ex-
cept in Southwestern Russia, where differ
ent conditions prevailed. To recompense the
nobility the Government paid them for 4 part
of the land in per cent Understanding
bonds and the remainder in ready money,
and to recoup itself the Government made
the peasants pay 6 per cent OH the valuation
given to the mobiles, retaining the difference
as sinking fund. It the peasant was dis
satisfied with the land allotted to him under
these arrangements lie could take one-fourth
of it for nothing. What he really holds in
permanency is his garden, the land which lie
tllls being Te-allotted every five or six years.
While the nobility received compensation for
their land they received nothing for their loss
Of control over the labor of the serfs and the
1eE ftf inf nd
They expected to receive political power
as an equivalent, but, instead Of that,
the result OF the abolition of serf-
dom was the increase of bureaucracy.
The mobiles were not only thrown out
Of their previous condition Of influence, but
they found their work done by others. They
have some little influence through the Pro-
vincial Assemblies in the administration of
purely local affairs, but the decisions of
these Assemblies must be submitted to the
Governors Of the Provinces, who have the
right Of veto, and the only appeal lies to the
Minister Of the Interior, whose decision Is
final. They were in reality reduced to
condition of servants. They agitated the
consolidation Of the Provincial Assemblies
into one General Assembly, in which all
classes could be represented, but without
avail. They petitioned that all class
distinctions should be abolished, so that
taxes should be paid equally, for. while
under serfdon the serfs paid the taxes, as
soon as they were enlancipatcd the mer-
chants and mobiles had to meet them. This
petition was, of course, refused, and they
found that there was nothing left for them to
do except to serve the State as officials or
work in Provincial Assemblies, where every
thing they, did could be set aside without !
protest from them or recourse Of any kind, |
The discomfort Of the nobility, therefore,
may be easily understood. So fur as the
Nihilists are concerned, there have always |
been more or less Of them in Russia, for the /
democratic; only the Poles are aristocratic. |
Anon. them are many unemployed |
and dfscoutented men. Their ranks |
have been recruited from these, and students,
clergymen's sons, and iluprovident young
mobiles have joined them. Ali classes are
represented among them except the peasants.
The nobility is not actively identified with
them, and does not sylnpathize with them.
except so far as they reflect the desire for
constitutional Government 1t simply stands
aside and says to the Government: "You
Cannot put Nihiiism down alone, but If YOU
would associate us with you it could be done
quickly. But what can re do without
power?"
Mr. Curtin describes the present Car as
very able man, strong in mind, generous in
his feelings. full of ambition to make Russia
a mighty Power, far ADLER than his father,
and. indeed, promising to be the best
Emperor Russia has had since the
lays Of Peter the Great His wife ha
also regards as woman of mora
han ordinary ability, while she is a great
arorit among the people. While he is of
lie oplnion that his futher went as far as be
:oufd under tile tllel: circumstances, lie be-
leves that Alexander Ill. will 70 still far
her, since there are ln:tl,y quts tions in Rus
II that cannot be settled until further re-
orsns are made, and because he Is not un-
riendly to constitutional for4u Of govern