The morning call., 1892-08-14

more than $50, nor can ii imprison for more
than seven days. 1n addition to these two
petty courts there are trials by jury, and
there are courts made uD partly by judges
appointed by the Gar and partly by those
elected by the people. and an appeal can be
taken from this to the higher courts at st.
Petersburg and Moscow. The village as
sembly is called the mir. the assembly
made up of enough villages to comprise
1000 population is "the volost," and above
this there is in each district third assem-
bly, of delegates elected by the nobility,
the towns and the villages of the district
and this assembly is called the ZemStOo and
Its business is to take care of the roads OF
the district, to see that proper provisions
are made against famine, to attend to edu-
cational matters and to look after matters
in which all the people of the district are
Interested. These Russian districts are a
good deal like our counties and there are a
number of them in each province, which
last is presided over By Governor and his
council appointed by the Gar. 1t will be
thus seen that the people of Russia have
home rule system of their own like ours, only
more 50, in that the most minor matters
are managed by it. A Russian peasant
can buy land if he has the money,
but the most of them have NO property
outside Of that they own in common with
their village, and the only estate the aver
age peasant has is the little thatched hut
which covers an area about 20 feet square.
They STICK, however, very closely TO the
common property, and will do anything
rather than lose their interest in the village
to which they belong. Strange TO say, they
are by no means anxious to hold office, and
they consider an election as village police
man or elder rather a curse than blessing.
Their village Assem- blies and elections take
place in the open air in one long street of
the village, and they discuss matters relat-
Ing to their crops and their government
among themselves. They do not realize,
however. that they might 60 any further
than they have now gotten in the way Of
government, and they look upon the de-
crees OF the Car something as they do on
the laws of nature or those OF God which
could not possibly be changed.
The Russians resent the insinuations that
their serfs were slaves, but the truth is
they were little more than that and il is
not long since they were bought and sold
They were perhars in little better condi-
ton than our negroes at the time of the be-
ginning OF the war, but not very much so,
and in looking at the Russia of to-day it
must be remembered modern Russia has
not yet lived quite one generation. 1t was
born during our late civil war, when the
Car, OF his own free will took the bondage
on 100000 people. We think We did a
big thing in freeing cur 100000, but Russia
at the same time freed nearly 100000
and organized system by which
they could pay for their lands and
themselves. They we're given part of
the lands of their masters, and this not
III lne SHAPE Oh lDuiVIuualS, OUT as villages.
making the villages and not the individuals
responsible for them. The time Of payment
Tor these lands was to be 40 years and they
have already redeemed about $3.50 900. 600
worth oil lands, or more than S5, ,000, 000 acres.
In addition to holding on to and gradually
paving for the lands they got from the gov
ernment many of the villages have bought
more land. aud some of the peasants have
bought land and hold it in addition to the
village land. Such cases are. however, COM
paratively very few.
The Russian, peasant Is naturally improvi-
dent and unambiti0us. He has but few
wants, and he lives as far as he can from
hand to mouth. He has not yet reached the
stage OF aspiring to independence and 20
the ordinary comforts OF life and his de-
pendence as a serf with all the shiftlessness
that comes with such a condition cIings
to him more than it does to our negroes |
In the worst part Of the South. Naturally, |
however, he Is physically and inte llectually |
the equal OF any man on the face of the |
earth. aud when he is once reused up to his !
possibilities and shown how he can realize |
them he Will Develop into one of the strong
est men of the future. No one can 60 |
among the Russian peasants without being |
struck by the wonderful strength of feat |
ures of both men and women. L see every |
day scores OF peasants whose faces would |
attract attention in any American crowd |
and the women l meet are motherly, |
womaniy looking women. There are very |
men who look as though they were men |
of authority and force are to DE seen |
on every side. l visited Russian |
bath In Moscow, where l saw a |
hundred odd men stark naked, steaming, |
soapiug and scrubbing their milky white |
skins and | vas struck by the splendid |
physique which every one of them pos |
sessed. There was of the whole hundred |
not one who had not broad shoulders and |
big bones. All were tall and stout, and |
when / thought that these men were not |
picked athletes, but merely an average |
crowd at a public bathhouse felt the stay |
ing power of these hundred odd millions as |
never had before During the past few |
days l have been visiting these peasants in |
their fields and In their villages. | have |
gone into their houses and have talked with |
all classes OF them. They seem to me like
vast nation of grown-up men who, with
the strength of giant, have all the sim
plicity and ignorance OF a semi-savage child. |
In another letter l will take you into one of
their villages and show you as we'll as l can
just how they look. act and live.
FRANK g. CARPENTER.
Tamboff Russia, July 23.