The record-union., 1894-03-08
THE RUSSIAN JEWS REVENGE.
How He Manages to Absorb All tn,
Peasant Owns.

How lie Manages to Absorb All the
Peasant Owns.
"Why do you hate the Jew ?'' one day
asked my Russian friend.
"Becanse," said he, 1.-The Jew brings
nothing into the country, he takes all he
can out of it, and while he is here he
makes the peasant his slave. and lives
only Tor the sake OF squeezing money out
of everything"
This was Il strong statement, but he
went on to amplify it by variety of illus
tratiouS.
After the Polish instruction of 1862.
the Russian Government set to work
energetlcally to Russi1y that country, and
particularly Lithuania. The principal
means they employed, aside from actively
prosecuting the heterodoX in religion and
politics, was TO colonize large mum bers OF
peasants from the interior OF Russia upon
farms which had been confiscated. Agri-
cultural implements were furnished to
these peasants, and everything was done
to start them we'll, SO as to form nucleus
of Russian life i'll the midst of the dis
loyal provinces. Twenty years have
passed since this great Russifying meas
ure was put into force, and what is the
result?
II, as traveller. you come into a Rus
sian village, it is dirtier, if possible, than
those of the neighboring Lithuanians
and Poles. You ask for horses to con-
tinue your journey, and are quickly sup
piled by these Russians; the price is
liked, and you are about to pay it to the
Russian who brings your carriage to the
door. He, however, refuses TO take it,
and begs that you will pay the moneyslot
TO him, but to the proprietor OF the tav-
ern. You ask why. He answers that he
| is not allowed to take any money, that
| the horses ne has brought belong to the
Jew. You begin to inquire, and you find
| that the Jew not only owns the tavern,
| but trades in all articles which the peas
ants have to buy. You learn also that
| the Jew is creditor to nearly every peasant
| for miles around and has a lien uDon
everything which that peasant may grow
upon his land. You find that the peasant
cultivates his land not for himself, buss for
| the Jew, and that all his reward is the
privilege OF bare existence.
| There are many patriotic and humane
! RiA slams who have given it to me as
! their deliberate opinion that the Russian
| peasant would be better off to-day had
he never been emancipated He is
dreamy, good-natured, impractical and
very ignorant. When he is hard pressed
! for money it is only too easy for him to
/ accept the loan which the accommodating
! tavern-keeper offers him, particularly If
/ he has one or two glasses Of Volka inside
of MIN. Like a child, he thinks little of
! the ultimate consequences and much OF
the present enjoyment. He signs the
paper which is placed before him and be-
| Iieves. Of course, that he will easily pay
off his debt with the next harvest,
particularly as the Jew promises
/ to be most accommodating. and not
| press him for money payment. He
| sends, of course, the produce of his
farm to the Jew, who acts as broker Tor
| him, aud reserves his commission, and
what he is pleased to consider the inter-
| est on his money: and by some mysteri-
Gus method OF calculation the peasant is
always the debtor, and the Jew always
! happy to accommodate him still further
on the same terms.-Poultney Bigelow,
| in Harpar's Magazine.