The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1902-10-23
STRANGE RUSSIAN Colony.
Lower Animals and Perform All
the Labor Thems elves.

| strangest of all is probably the dis
! tressing mania that has enthralled
5000 Russian Doulhoborsti, who have
| located in western Manitoba, says d
| special to the New York Times from
Yorktown, Manitoba. In the Swan
river district the government is appre-
hensiye for the remarkable craze that
| has taken possession of those colon
| lists. a visit to the community showed
that the sights, scenes and the horror
| depicted were almost beyond concep-
| tion.
1t is well known that the Doulhobor-
sti are adverse to shedding blood. This
is the reason why they emigrated
/ from Russia, and it is also the reason
why the Canadian government exempt
ed them from military duty as induce
ment for their location on the prairie
LANDS of the west. AS to what they
| should eat, this was purely personal
matter. but, as it appears, it was one
| of the features that was overlooked by
! the government that will cause i'm
/ mense trouble
In this country man may eat what
| he chouses, and if Lis religion dictates
! that he shall conform to a vegetable
diet, such beliefs are respected. All
might have been well had this state
| of affairs been confined to vegetarian
! ism, but the Doukhoborsti religion
! does not appear t. be finished prod
net. 1t has been constantly undergo
I i1.n oh From Ia la1iaf that
was sin to eat meat, it seems long
! jump to reach the conclusion that it is
1 wrong to eat animal products. but
/ these people have now given up drink
| ing milk. eating butter, cheese, eggs.
etc, and the cows, oxen, goats and fowl
are increasing and multiplying, and
waxing fat, while the people are on
the verge of starvation.
Having reached this absurd posi-
ton it was but step to another and
more ridiculous one. If it were wrong
| to eat the flesh Of animals the same
| line of reasoning made it compare tive
! ly easy to condemn the use of leather
| harness made from the hides of Gods
creatures, and then followed the con-
demnation of wooden clothing, because
wool grown on the bodies of sheep,
which also belonged to the Lord The
next step was still more sweeping in
its effect on their economic condition.
1t was to make servants of any OF
! the lower animals, to use them for
beasts of burden or for any other pur-
pose.
They had the courage of their con-
victions, and at once turned out their
| horses, cattle and sheep, driving them
to Goods HILL" to forage for them
selves, placing all the burdens of farm
| life on their own shoulders. For all
drawing purposes, such as hauling
heavy loads on wagons, men take the
place of horses and oxen. Twelve or
IA men hitched to a pillow suffice for
this purpose, and it is the only method
employed by them in the cultivation of
the soil. Women, even, are employed
in this manner, though when coming
into town men only are seen hauling
the wagons and buggies. Every day
in the streets of Yorktown dozens Of
men may be seen drawing wagons,
hauling what little produce they may
have for sale. and carrying back t.
their farms -four and other neces-
stiles.
The Doukhoborsti are clad exclu-
sively in cotton clothes and wear rub
Der boots or shoes knit or wover with
binder Irvine, which they buy for the
purpose. Their food consists of bread
and water, and such vegetables as they
grow, and wild berries and herbs which
they gather. Their farms are neglect
ed and their stock, of which they have
much. is running wild in the hills,
where it will all die during the winter,
or be appropriated by those who are
not of their religious faith, and who
will at least give the stock shelter.
With the advent of cold weather
starvation and disease must certainly
follow, and they appear to know this.
for they have been in correspondents
with authorities in southern Cali
fornia. Nevada. Arizona and Australia,
with view to emigration to warmer
climate where the conditions would
enable them to subsist on the soil
without trespassing on the possessions
of the animal kingdom. 1t is needless
to say that no one wants them, as they
are still in Manitoba, an elephant on
the hands of the government that
brought them from Russia few years
ago to develop the prairie land of the
west.
inf ~
ssI+s. ooI,r n mo tier nf time ~ re-