The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-08-14

they have been getting large proportion
of their rye from Russia and rye Is the
staple bread food of the Germans.
ROW RUSSIAN LANDS ARE DIVIDED.
The land laws of Russia are far different
from those of the United States, aud the
land is divided UP in a way that is not
known elsewhere. The car owns more
than half of all the lands Of the empire and
a great part OF the vast forests OF Russia
belong TO the crown. These forests are
managed by the officers of the crown and
the wood from them is cut by the peasants
either for wages or on speculation. Inc
crown has something like 100000 acres
of forests and it has vast area OF land
which is leased out and which brings reg
ular yearly revenue. The most of its lands
lie in the northern part Of the country and
a large per cent. of them are unproductlve.
Next to the car come the peasants, VINO
own about % per cent. or only little
more than a fourth of European Russia,
and the great bulk of this land is mort
gagged to the state and is being paid for on
the installment plan This peasant land Is
owned not by individuals but by villages in
common, and these villages have assumed
the debt for the land which was assessed
upon them at the time that the serfs were
freed by Alexander Ii, and they work the
lands in common, dividing them up among
themselves every few years, but never
giving any one fee simple title TO his
portion, but only allowing him the use OF
1t for limited period. There are more
than 800, 00O0, 0O0 acres of land held In this
way in different parts OF Russia. or enough
land to make eight states the size OF Onlo
or Kentucky. This land is held by about
%, UO0. 600 owners and the average amount
OF land held by each of these Russian
peasants is less than thirteen acres. In
the rich LANDS the average is much smaller
than this and about Tula the Countess Toll
stoi told me that it was not more than
three acres per person.
POOR MOBILES.
The Russian nobility, who used to own
nearly all of this pleasant land and VINO I'LL
a generation ago had the peasants as their
serfs or half slaves, are growing poorer
and poorer. They receive pay for their
lands which were given TO the peasants on
basis of q per cent. revenue value OF
them. But they have not made money out
of their sales. and they are gradually sell
ing what they have lett. and in the future
Russia may some time become d lana OF
small proprietors. Still as 1t is they have
q vast deal of real estate, and l have tray
eled through the farms of mobiles where you
could ride all day on horseback at good
! Russian speed, which is about the fastest
] In the WORTH. anu uOb kSb W luO Slu VI Ju6ll
estates Almost all of the the mobiles are
extravagant. Some OF them are as poor as
church mice, and TO be a noble in Russia
is no sign of long pedigree, great wealth
or a great amount of culture. There
are something like a million mobiles in the
empire, and of these only little over one
hundred thousand are land holders, and Of
these the average holding is less than two
thousand acres. Since the serfs were
freed the merchant class has been rising il
Russia. and though / hear the mobiles now
and then speak of them rather sneeringly
they are rapidly acquiring land. This elias.
already owns areas which aggregate ter
ritory equal TO the state of Indiana, ant
other lands are held by private companies
and by the churches and monasteries. Tn,
monasteries are very rich and they OWL
not only great tracts OF leased land, bu
also town property and business blocks
One of the best streets In Moscow is owned
almost altogether by the monasteries. VIII
hold on TO their investments as the Cathcli
church does to that which it owns in som
of our cities and who understand how t
get good rents and good profits from thei
estates.
A NATION OF PEASANTS.
Russia, however, is nation of peasants
We hear OF this country only as the land Q