New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-07-01

o,anred into n,ison or sent to Siberia the Trans
cancasus. that the press has been prohibited from
publishing the facts when in spite
Of precautions some abnoImally dagrant swindlc
on the part of officials came to light vi course
the moujiS has no chance aginst these DIS oP
pressors and despoilcrs. There is no freedom Oh
speech or publication there is no justice 10 De ''
in the courts and since the advent OF Nimiis'
the Government has imposed upon the peasants /"
new burden in the shape OF rural ponce wino'
almost drives the people mad. This rural police is
composed of black sheep almost wholly. Inc men
chosen for it are disgraced small officials, drunk
ards peculators declassees generally 1t would
not do TO have peasants-they would shield tnelr
class: or educated men-they would conspire. DO
the rifraff of Russian society has been organized
and LET loose upon the country. The UradnIs,
as the rural police are called corrupt. brutal
tvrannica!, and being armed with great powers
they make themselves very offensive StephlaK
cites instances Of the abuses perpetratcd py tnesc
rufians which would be hardly credible were 'hey
not strongly verified. In any other country thhh
Russia either lynch law would be resorted TO ior
the purpose of getting rid of such wretches or pri
vate vengeance would remove them.
Until quite recently the moujik seemed capaoie
Of enduring anything but Stepniak says a chahse
is coming and has already begun to show ITSELF
OF late there have been many assassinatlons Oh
PARTICULARLY obnoxious officials. The uriadnk no
longer feels so safe in his governmental posluoh
The red cock crows" oftener than ever friVate
vengeance is frequently INDUCED In snort inc
naturally sweet and even temper OF the mouJik Is
being spoiled by overwork. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. III
iustice and outrage This is what was to be OK
pected and the observer must ask himself now
long it will take to bring the Russian peasant TO
l.. f.o1 nppu
French peasant hundred years ago. Undoubt-
edy the advance toward that condition Deeh
checked and retarded by the influences which the
mir exhales. That venerable institution has de-
vcloped so strong social feeling in the Russian
pcasant that even now after centuries OF suffering,
he is only at last beginning to break away from
his cornmunistc system and TO tend toward the
indivIdualistc system, under which the rest OF
Europe lives The mir has kept him from caring
for land as the French peasant cares for It, In
like manner the family scheme has famillarzed
him with community of property IN other dlrec-
tons He is now rcbclling against the family
system. and to less extent against the communism
of the mir. The reflection Of the notwithstanding
money-cult is falling upon the mouiik, in fact, ana
he is restless and unsatisied and becoming acquSl-
tive and individual.
PERJURY and wrong have brought him to this
pass however, and not natural development
Given enough land to subsist him and pay his
taxes the probability is that he would recement his
Old ties attach himself once more to the mir. and
if the heavy hand of the Government were llfted
from his village affairs, he might resume his Ola
life TRANQUILITY. But there is no reason to expect
that he will have the opportunity to retrace MS
steps The Government has shown itself plnd
obstinate systematically pervcrse. as StepniaK
no mr.
ont state of things confines the peasantry must
60 from bad to worse. Debt and debility will more
and more rapidly degrade, pauperze and demoral
ize them They will die more quickly They will
live less resolutely. They will take to drink with
greater avidity as the future grows darker. The
birthrate will decline as the death-rate increases
The ever-growing Indebtedness of the Empire Will
compel more onerOuS taxes, which will impose new
burdens upon a population already too weak to
carry the old ones; rotten oiiciald0m Will be-
come more oppressive as the difficulty Of collecting
the revenue increases; the peasants Will become
reckless and rancorous at the same time: and
when their latest hope has fed their rulers
will taste Of their despair" and the old awful
experiences Of France be repeated
/ The latter part Of Stepniak's book is occupied
with careful survey of Russian popular religious
questions vivid sketch is given Of the Rascol
/ that strange and until recently incomprehensible
seventeenth century schism, during which great
/ body Of the pcasantry withsood the cruelest PEP
sccution and courted martyrdom, for opinions
which at first appear as unimpOrant and frivolous
as the dispute between Swift's Lttleendians and
Bigendians; opinions concerning rituailSuc de-
tails seemingly of the least possible consequence.
/ The Rascolniks however, were really excited by
change in the veneratcd ritual of their ancestors,
/ .l,o cinO hp Il
tism in their obstinate dissent This schism, car
ried Oh with indomitable resolution the one
hand and pitilcss coercion and persecution on the
/ other continued for two centuries and engendered
many other sectarian movements often involving
the stIangest and most fantastic doctrines The
most interesting and significant fact in this history
Of religious development is the persistence OF that
tendency 10 primitive Christianity, which is the
chief characteristic of Count Tolstoi's recent
periments The peasants read the gospel for them
selves, and interpreted it in their own way, and
when they became convinced that a new sect had
the truth they accepted the teaching regardless
of the certain penalties TO be inflicted by the Gov
eminent The possibility Of escape from persccu-
ton by eight TO the frontier settlements, which
were too remote and sparsely populated to be con-
trollable from St Petersburg, gave respite to the
new creeds from time to time which powerfully re-
nforced them and thus many young sects were
enabled TO attain vigor.
The moujills are full Of superstition and pagan
tendencies even now, but they possess strong
reverential feeling for the Bible and especially for
the New Testament, and the State Church. rep
resented by the Popes, has hold upon Them
chiefly because the Popes are ignorant sensual
and grossly avaricious, they are easily influenced
by any one who holds by gospel doctrine, seems in
nd
Christian communism. This disposition is one of
Stepnialts reasons for believing that if the Gov
eminent were enlightened enough to grant the
popular demand for land naturalization, Russia
would eventually show the whole world how to
solve the most important social problems. Land
naturalization as understood by the moujilSs, does
not mean or involve appropriation of the land