The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-26

Even the emigration from the Blackearth
zone is less than from any other district.
The third sign is lack of interest i'm agri-
cultural labor, not laZiness, but a dull,
cherries, unproductive manner of work
ing, toll which may be compared TO "A
draw-wel, out of which water is drawn
not by means of a wheel as was former
ly done, but Simply with the hands by
means of a rope, and where the water is
drawn in a pail that leaks, and from which
third part is lost before It reaches the
top. Such is the character of almost all
the work of the peasants of the Black
earth region-plowing carelessly for six
teen hours with a horse that can scarce
~ drag along, a field which a good horse
on proper nourishment, with a good pillow,
could finish in half a day. Under these
circumstances the craving for forgetfu-
ness is perfectly natural, and accordingly
spirits and tobacco are being consumed
in even greater and greater quantities, 50
that now even quite young boys drink and
smoke
The fourth sign of depression of spirit is
the disobedience of children to their par
ents, of younger brothers to elder ones.
the Withholding from the family of money
earned elsewhere, the tendency of the ris-
ing generations to shun this hard and
hopeless rural life and to settle down any-
of the utter poverty and lack of conf
dence in their own powers TO which the
peasants have now fallen. In one village
a landlady is Offering for SAFE through
the medium of a bank some land to the
peasants She demands of them 10 rubles
per acre, 20 be paid in two instalment s
OF rubles each, and offers to hand over
to them at the same time as the land
the seeds and two measures about six
Of
spring sowing, yet, notwithstanding these
strikingly advantageous conditions. the
peasants undertake nothing
My reply, therefore, TO the second dues-
zion Is that he cause Of the position In
which the peasants find themselves is The
fact Of their having lost energy. confidence
IN their own powers, and all hope Of i'm
proving their position-i. e., their depres-
sion of spirit
My reply to the third question as TO how
to alleviate the miserable condition Of the
peasants, follows from this second answer
In order to help the peasantry one thing
Is necessary-to RAISE their spirit, to re-
move all that is depressing them
This depression Of the people is caused
by those who govern them falling TO rec
ognize their human dignity They regard
the peasant not as a man like others. but
as a rough, stupid creature who must be
undcr guardianship, ana be guided in
everything; consequently. under the pre-
tense Of being taken care Of, his liberty
is completely restrained and his PERSONAL
ity Inundated
Thus in the all-important matter Of re-
ligion, the peasant does not feel himself 20
be a free member of his church, having
freely chosen, or at least freely acknowl-
edging, the faith professed by him, but he
is the slave Of his church, obliged uncon-
ditionally to fuihll all the demands made
upon him by his religious superiors, who
were ordained and set over him quite in
dependently Of his choice or desire. That
this is an important cause OF the depressed
condition of the people is confirmed by the
fact that always and everywhere. as soon
as the peasants free themselves from &C.
clesiastical despotism by falling in, as II is
called. with a sect their spirits al once
rise, and at the same time the foundation
of their material prosperity Is invariably
laid
Another fatal result Of this protection OF
the people is the existence Of special laws
for the peasantry, which in reality
amounts to the absence of all law, and the
arbitrary rule Of he officials set over them
as governors. Nominally there exist for
the peasants special laws with regard 90
the possession and division Of land 10 in
herltance. and TO all the duties connected