The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-02-22
Petersburg Cor New York Sun.

Both IN IagaD anuln OnrlSLlau huSSla,
nm old Russian nolleman said to me, eve
haye had remarkable and original types of
humanity, real Russian heroes. Our am
cient epics portray giant princes, like Svia-
toslay and Vladimir Monomach; valiant
knights, like Dobrinia Nikitch, the peasant
Syiatogor of hesculean mold; popular he
roes, like Alesha Popovitch; lila Murometz
and his wife who could dispense the Tartar
hordes; Sadko and Vastly Duslavitch, the
powerful merchants of the great Republic
of Novgorod at the time of the
glorious Hanseatic Union. Our history
tells Of resplen7ent princes of
Moscow, terrible Cars of all the
glorious and powerful Boyards, chlvalrous
nebles, and great patriarchs, who either
FELL martyrs or made the very czsrs kiss.
their feet. 1t tells of the indomitable Cos
sacks, who whipped Che knightly Poland,
robbed Turkey 10 their hearts content, and
shook the very cz lrdom at their pleasure.
Ay, there have been heroes in Russia. but
now there are none. Nowadays Russia is
populated by dwarfs. What has becomeof
our old time czars, mobiles. clergy and peas
anfry2 All are ~degenerated. See wnnthe-
roes we have now, here the terrorists, there
the koolaki."
The koolaki, or village insurers, were un-
known in Russia before the emancipation
Of the serfs. when the serfholderS had to
pay all the taxes and to supply al the needs
Of their serfs. Since the peasants were
freed and bee lnle personally responsible
for their duties, the kuiaki have arisen.
aud now occupy the old shoes Of the no.
bles. During these past TWENTY years they
have become full masters Of the freed
The reason is that 10 the majority of cases
the land allotted to the liberated serfs can
mel her support them nor enable them TO
pay their multifarious taxes. Tne Cars
tx collectors are iaeserable, and their
ways of reaching the delinquent tax pay
ers are very c~ruel-fogging the poor peas
antE, selling their cattle and unroofing their
houses. The usurers, or ko llaki. he p the
villagers on their own conditions. Ii the
peasants suffer from short crops, need
money for marriage or a funeral, want
oxen or horses to pillow their fields. they
have buCthe koolaki TO resort to, who are
always ready to accommodate. They don't
extort exorbitant usury, for the rate is reg
ulated by The law; but they usually dem md
taat the debtor shall work for them a GER
tim number Of weeks or months at first
notice. Harvest time comes, and, behold!
hundreds of debtors are peremptorily sum
noued 10 work on their creditors crops,
regardless Of their " fields. Again, if
the peasant cannot pay his debt in cash he
is forced to mortgage his crops of this year
or of tie next; and thus there are many
villagers who have mortgaged their crops
for five years aheadl Even the government
admus that the pesantry, the Zeal founda-
ton of the Cars country, arc al the mercy
of the heartIesg usurer.
The great majority of usurers are
moneyed peasants. Hlving some hoR got
hold of a few hundred roubles, they start
in the profitable business Of village usury.
Some of them double their capital by usnry
every year. Others are s ,tlsfied with doub-
ling it every two years. Their ways of CON-
Quoting business differ. Here, for exam
pie, is Ivan Iyanovitch, a warlike kodiak,
stout, loud talking and imperative in all his
actions. a veritable Boynrd on a small scale.
The whole village humbly bows before him
priest, teacher and the local authorities in
cluded. He abuses his debtors any way he
likes. Those who need his help kneei
down or even PROSTATE themselves before
him. While scolding a tardy debtor be viii
cry out: "Ill eat you up alive, or I'll roast
you, if / choose and then follows q die.
tionary of curses. That is the man 10
whom nobody can bring evil, and who
brings evil to everybody. Here, arain, is
Feodel I~vanovitch, q woful kodak, who
| oks miserable, is fimid in his ways, q
t kes off his shabby cap to everybody. f,
nours and hours he will argue with the vii
layers applsin to him for money, that he
is the poorest of the peasants,
al Xyha, anIIaatsnr lsc .;ab&c ho ui1l uuaav,
and ~blaspheme, SO as to persuade his debt
ors that he is on the verge of ruin. The vii
layers call his bank notes @Foedel's tears. =
AT times even the holy fathers" resort to
usury. and woe betide the village whose
priest turns a KODIAK. AS a rule the RUS
sian clergy do not receive any salary, but
are paid by the parishioners for each SER
vice. The village priests cannot subsist II
they do not extort. Now. imagine the stu
alton of the peasant debtor who cannot
avoid applying for some service to tho
priestly usurer. -Pay your debt FIRST, "
and then 1 will marry your son, : or, then
/ viii bury your dead. says the priest to
his debtor. And there are cases In which a
couple begin married life without the sa-
cred benedictiou. and in which the dead
lIe unpurleu for 3 weeks on this account
But the reverend koolaki dare not pusi,
their greed too far, as they dread the red
rooster (fre) which is the customary and
traditional means Of reven o among the
peasants.
The jews Of Russia are the most abhored
of the kulaki, and are charged with being
utterly heartsess in the treatment Of theil
victims. Above all, they drag their debtors
before the courts, which the Russian peas
ants hate as much as they do the Jews.
The 0rthod3x Insurers realize that the peas
ants property is of too small account to he
divided with the authorities and lawyers,
and, therefore, try their own way Of getting
their money back. Even if there is no
hope OF success, they are 10th to infringe
thel liberty OF their debtors.
The Russian NihiIists Of to-day differ
greatly Ia many ways from those Of ten
years ago., who we're conspicuous by their