New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-07-01
THE RUSSIAN PEASANTRY.
A wErGnTY BOOK BY sTEPNIAK'

THE RUSSIAN PEAsANTRy. Their Agraran ccndi-
ton. Social Life and Religion. By srEPSiAh l2mo'
Up. <ol. Harper & Brothers.
This is deeply interesting study Of a subject
full Of strange elements and briStling win
difficulties. The author seems to think that Rus
STA may be destined to solve those social problems
which have so long been agitating the Old World,
though he is compelled to recognize Fundamental
and radical differences between the Russian peas
ant and the agricultural classes Of all other coun-
tries differences of character and temperament
great that the of no social experiment IN
Russia would argue oven probability OF similar
success elsewhere. AT present the condition OF
the Russian peasantry is very bad The attempts
of the Carbon to reform abuses and improve the
state OF the people have signaly failed. EInanci-
patton has proved disastrous to the former ser's,
and for the reason that in decreeng 1t the Gar
did not dare to carry out the principle logically,
but sought TO placate the noble landlord class,
and liz SO doing deprived the moujlls of the means
of proper subsistence.
Naturalization Of land was the primitive state
of Russia. Even after scrfdom was established
the nobility shrank from claiming possession Of the
soil titled by the serfs on their own account. The
serfs. while freely admitting that they themselves
belonged to the mobiles, always maintained that
the land was common possession, and through the
institution called the mir-thc Russian commune
preserved the sociastc system of tenure and till
age. When the Government resolved to enamel
pate the serfs il committed the blunder Of assum-
ing that all the land occupied by the peasants
belonged originally TO the MOBILES and in conveying
land TO the freed scrfs for subsistence it stntcd
them SO that they have ever since been struggling
desperately to make both ends meet. AS frecmcn
the moujIs taxpayers. and the taxes are so
heavy, owing TO the waste and corruption and
enormous Indebtedness Of the Government, that
usually more than half the earnings of the peasant
are thus absorbed.
Under scrfdom the peasant gave four days TO
his lord and had three for himself. This enabled
him to grow enough for his subsistence. Now he
has more time than land to employ it upon. lie is
so restricted in land that he cannot raise enough
to pay his taxes and provide subsistence for his
family. The result is that he is falling into the
hands of the usurers or kouaks who
are class engcndered by the situation:
not Jews foreigners, but Russians and
peasants themselves but Their fore all the greedier
craftier and harder The lloulalSs grind the faces
of the poor, and besides the koulaks there are
the landlords and the tax gatherers. Usury
flourishes unchecked. The familiar processes are
repeated. The borrower at ruinOus interest seldom
or never is able to release himself from his
bondage A new form of slavery has thus es-
tablished itself. When the peasant has no longer
anything TO pledge, he pledges his labor in adj
vance. This again is suicidal for him. as when
q good season comes and the price of labor is
high, he cannot take advantage Of it, but must
work in tie fields of his creditor often for half
the wages paid his freer neghbor. 1t is true that
one result of this bondage is wretched work. The
peasant cannot be made to do his work well, and,
as a matter of fact he does it as i'll as possible.
nv IL - 1.l.nu tn
landlord. When the koulak, himself peasant,
is the creditor he works in the field side by side
with his bond-slave, and takes care that the
latter does not idle.
OF course, the practice of usury is necessarily
fatal to any community given over TO it. The
peasant of Russia, once entangled in debt, is, as
rule, ruined. The koualls are the most con-
scienceless and rapacious on the Garth and
their victims rarely escape They end by falling
into the hopeless state of batrals proetarians,
landless propertyless, driven TO earn precarious
living by hiring out their labor, without pros
poets, degraded alike in their own eyes and in
these of their neighbors. And Stepniak shows
that the steady impOvershment OF the peasants
is producing its natural results, in causing the
race to deteriorate The rate Of mortality has
been rising omnousy during the past fifteen years
The average Of effectiveness for military service
of the stock is declining and it would be miracle
if this did not happen in the circumstances. For
the labors of the Russian peasant incredibly
severe and continuous proud and honorable
PEOPLE, who cannot endure failure TO meet their
taxes, even if such failure did not involve OPP
preston and persecution, they work themselves
TO death in their efforts TO pay their dues. Step
MAX describes the dreadful life led by scores or
hundreds of thousands who spend the winter in
manufacturing and the summer in the fields. The
winter work is so severe that it could not be
endured but for the change TO outdoor life IN
summer. Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, even up to
twenty and twenty-one hours day, are spent IN
close. overcrowded factory rooms all through the
cold weather Often three hours in the twenty
four is all the time for sleep which can be
snatched. and that not all together, but one hour
at a time.
In the spring the poor creatures who have gone
through this experience return TO their farms, but
not 10 rest. The free fresh air no doubt does
much to restore them, but neither then nor at any
other time, save just after harvest, do they have
enough TO cat, and whether IN country or TOWN.
they must toll continuously. The harvest work IS
SO severe that they get visibly thin BEFORE IL Is
over and when the last of the crop has been
carried they are utterly exhausted The diet upon
which their terrible tasks are performed Is IN
credibly meagre. Bread made OF coalSe hour' nlAeu
with bran and hay, aud meal Cruel with cabbage
soup occasionally, constitute the main nourlSh-
ment Of as many people as inhabt these United
States Meat is rarely tasted by them. Ihey
drink weak tea when they can get it, and vodka
often when they cannot afford it. But If ever
fntemperance was venial it is in country the
vast majority of whose people are doomed TO this
hideous, crushing, hopeless existence, and Tor
whom length Of years can only bring increase OF
misery. OF course, it is easy to say that vodka
does not help them. But the question Is, does any
thing help them? With Government standing
over them and exacting more than 80 per cent
of all they can earn; frequently taking IN taxes
half as much again their land can produce;
with ruin lurking at every turn, and dozen traps
set to catch them, no matter how circumspectiy