The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-12-27
THE RUSSIAN WORk|N6M IN
HIS DEvELOPMEHT FROM THE
PEASANT TO THE ARTIsAx.
AneFicaa Who Worked In . Rus
sasn Factory - Three HanArs0
Years Behind the En9llsh People.

To the student OF Russia.s social and
economic development. there Is 10 more
interesting factor involved than the indus
trial vorkingman- Al present he Is prac-
tlcaIiy at the point where the English
worklrgman Was 80 years age. and, ac-
co.ding to the way things move in Russia,
II Is not at all unlikely that II VIII take
him 30 years to develop into what the En-
Rlish workiagmsa - ROW. He Is In WHAT
may be called the eneTyonie state Of the
Industrial laborer'x evolution. and in study
Ing his class enc gets acquainted in the
fiesh. as 1t were. with waa; oar own work
men ware Centuries ago. HE Is also inter
esting On account Of 6ss recent attachment
TO hA Peasant hoid4ag. But yesterday he
was a simple farmland, and In many In
stances he still returns to the farm III sum
mer. He thus affords the staient an ex-
ceisent opportunity Of observing the meta
morphoss OF child OF the sol Into an in
dustriai specialist. and nowhere else. per-
haps. can ore see more clearly than In
Russia the effects Of city life on peasants
was fortunate In my inquiry into these
matters In being able to make the personal
acquaintance Of the Russian workingman.
A capitalist In St, Petersburg allowed me
to work in his mill, which brought ne
closely in contact with tie other employees.
and for a month toiled ard lived with
very own My experience as a hand
was similar 10 what il would have been In
q thread mill In this country, except that
! had 10 work twelve hours day. and
earned but $50 for my months work.
The main gain in the adventure was the
Information I got aboLt my companions.
and this will doubtless interest the reader
most.
We were $500 employees all told, about
zoo being women and girls. and the rest
men and boys Our superintendents and
head foremen were either EngEsn or Ger
man. Thess men. ! might az well state
Immediately. make very good living In
Russia. and up to date have proved indis-
pensibIe In all weli-regulaied factories.
The Russian has not yet shown himself 10
be q good manager for large industrial
concern and foreign talent has 10 be called
In. The director OF The mill ! worked IN
was 4 Scoichman, Vino "a ss< years before
going to Russia had received but fiso
year. In our min he got tis.oN per anEunt,
besides a large house. two servants and
botnski. came mainly from the country dis
tricts In the neighhcrhood OF st. Peters
burg. and were representative mill hands
They SIN looked and q, dressed IKE g. peas s
STA. but they had developed out Of the
peasant class a. TAR as doing farm work Is
concerned. although they were politically
stlli attached TO their villages. Their vii
iage mir or council. for instance, could at
any moment require Their presence at home
II they had failed 10 meet airy OF the re-
the heads. whoever they might be. OF their
families. and they eoulf also be called 10
account by the mir for any neglect OF their
peasant holding of land.
Serving Two Masters.
In this way they had practically two
masters to serve. the director OF the mill
and the village authorities, and each mas
ter knew how to threaten them with the
other IL II was convenient 10 do so. The
director OF the mill, with the aid Of the
police. was prepared to send them hack to
their villages II they were stubborn and
refuse 10 receive them back and thus bring
about their transportation 10 Siberia as
enforced coion!sk. IL IL had any grudge
against them or considered them ne'er-fo-
wells. The plan OF the government in hold
ing them under control Of their village HAS
tiers IL that In this way IL In relieved or
taking care OF hordes OF unemployed work
men in the towns. and so. theoretically at
least, obviating the necessity Of conges'ed
slum districts such Western countries
are troubled with. As matter OF fact.
s.. Petersburg and Moscow have Just As
bad Sums as we have, bat on paper. so to
speak, and n great deal OF government In
Russia is wholly on paper they are not
supposed 20 exist and II you were. TO talk
with one Of the stsreotyped Russian ON
ciais he would explain pretty much the
same system OF preventing them that
have given. To keep this SYSTEM in order
factory inspectors are employed. and they
are expected 10 look after the welfare OF
the workingman, but they are easily
brihed 10 remain quiet about irregularities.
and no employer need worry much ahou;
their Inspections II ha has creased" their
hands well In his Office before they begin
their rounds. Factory laws In Russia. ac-
cording to the testimony az every factory
owner with whom talked, are OF such a
nature that they have 20 he svadea 20 keep
the factories running. Consequently not
only are the inspections OF factories brjbed.
but the police are also paid 10 protect en-
rioyers against the complaints Of their
workmeB- One man that | knew pays the
chief OF police OK his district s."co year
merely 10 keep en- the risat side Of him.
and there are others who pay great deal
more.
Our work In the min lasted from clock
In the morning I'll o'clock in the evening,
with an hours intermission AT noon, In "A
year. however. thanks to the numerous
state and church holidays. there are only
IA working days. and this makes the lot
OF the workngman much easier than his
long wotkday would Indicate While the
work lasts, however. be has the least time
for anything but mere body qualifications
az any workingman known to sne. and
when the night whistle blew We We're all
glad enough 20 get our nseaeer suppere
and tumble into bed. There two
methods III Russia By which the working
man livea. He can either have his en-
rloyer find him aEd thus tive under the
old pafrarehai system, or he can ind him
self and receive all his wages. The ten
dency nowadays Is for tina TatsotaIas tn md
themselves. bur In our m!a there were
some who were still housed and fed by the
employer. They were divided up into bar
racks according TO trades. carpenters nav
inx ore room. for example nsachinists an
other. and 40 on. Families were allowed
to live together bat there WAS a seDars~
ton Of tire single usen AMI women. The
chiiaren~cver y hundred were employed In
ths m.ll-~ssnsraily returned 20 their par
eats al night. but 3 few belonged 20 fam
Ties living in the barracks
Living ON the Outside s.=.>m.
chssa the outside" system for my bed
and beard Families living ia this way
generally cn1gregaie in cellars. as many IS
ten persons occupying one room. bat iha
unmarried employees SO 20 lodging houses
uf Nnlch s.. Petersburg HIS a great many
The lodging house | lived In was patron
txesa BY nearly 19sst people ard 81 Ey PSF
tieGlar ward I had for companions trek
men, hecksisrs. HssB haaas, professional
and religions EeggaFs sad. have 10 doubt,
thieves We mere al tumnEess M to~etnes
sIssn- w0mea and cAitavea. ard - mere
cherries aud asthy wprkingm1sn's hosiery
I kaSe reyer been in The monthly In
s0eetian of our beaith 81 The mlli by a
government nfsse3ai did ss3f SsvFa - fsse 50
ySa4ssssfzr h4A asasss a Ts3xFfz IN