Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1892-03-25
The Real Cause of the Russian Famine.

the kehl cause OF the huSstan anime.
The Russian famine, perhaps the most
terrible scourge that the Caucasian race
has known in modern times, is apparently,
the slow but sure outgrowth Of the social
condition of that country. John McFeth-
ries, who for II years lived in the very
provinces where peasants are now starving
10y thousands, is of the opinion that the
trouble which has been so long in coming,
can only be rcmedicd and real prosperity
brought to the country after the lapse of
years, OF slow growth, it will be slowly
wiped out. Mr.. McFcthres's statement
that the famine is not due TO failure of the
crops will surprise many but the trouble
is that no seed was planted To under
stand the real portent of the situation that
cOnfronts the ear one must 60 back II
years to the day his father emancipated
2S,OOO,OOO serfs amid the plaudits of the
Christian world. America. with her ). .O00,-
600 of emanCipated blacks, can understand
something of the problem which Russia
had before her to solve, with five times as
many peasants. helpless, sluggish and docile,
to educate and uplift. In the early years
of the Russian scheme. the government al
lotted To each head of family among those
2S,OO0,OOO serfs, eight acres of land and
honestly tried to start the peasant on a
career of independence and industrial free
dom. But the land that was given to the
peasants had to be taken from the landed
proprictorS, who had been the masters of
the emancipatrd class. Thus an antago-
nism arose at the start The freed Scrfs
were not fitted to battle i'm such a contest
Even in our own country the Southern
blacks have had a dscOuraging experience.
although supported 10y the moral sentiment
of the nation strongest part. In Russia,
how much more unfavorable have been the
conditions. Primitive methods of agricul-
ture involving enormous waste; a social
system barbaric and utterly obsolete in the
civilized world OF today and prodgious
standing army that is nothing but cancer
perpetually gnawing at the vtals of the
common people.
OF course the landed proprietors were
the best fitted Of all to cultivate the land,
and before many years they had practically
regained possession or control of all acres
the czar had taken from them Then came
the rent system. The peasants hired land
but even then they were not able to cult
vate it. As an instance: \ few years ago,
early in the spring, a certain landed pro-
prietor of Tombotf induced 100 peasants
who rented his land, to sign contracts to
work ont their arrears of rent on his private
estate. The ignorant laborers readily sign
ed, and with what result? All that spring
and summer and fall until the winter 5
snow had come those 100 peasants were
| forced to work on their landlords private
estate. They got no time to cultivate their
own land or to plant the seed in the au-
| tumn for the next years wheat. They
were paying the rent for land they We're
unable to cultivate. Their wives, mean
| while, were hired as agricultural laborers
also, and with what little they and the
| children could earn the families were kept
| alive In the winter men left their homes
and sought the towns to beg and whole
/ villages became deserted and dead. For 20
! years the Russian peasants have faced
| famine in form more or less severe, but
ever growing in intensity. Not only here
and there were the peasants too poor to
plant seed, but last year finally the time to
quicken the earth for the coming harvest
was passed by in quiet by hundreds of thou,
sands, inhabiting whole provinces. OF
slow growth, the matter has now reached
a crisis and no one can predict what may
be the outcome. Were the masses of Rus
sian people as intelligent and quick-wtted
would before this have swept the country
annihilating the present form and substance
of society, and preparing the czar's domin-