Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1902-10-29
STRANGE RUSSIAN COLONY,


the Labor Thens elves. :.
Strange fancies sometimes take pos
session of religious sects, but the
strangest of all is probably the dis
tressing mania that has enthralled
5000 Russian Doukhoborsti, who have
located in western Manitoba, says y
special to the New York Times from
Yorktown, Manitoba. In the Swan
river district the government is appre-
hensive 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-
ton. s
It is well known that the Doukh obor-
sti are adverse to shedding blood. This
is the reason why they emigrated
from Russia, and it is also the reason
why tile Canadian government exempt
ed them from military duty as induce
lnent 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
ct the features that was overlooked by
the government that will cause i'm
mense trouble.
In this country a man may eat what
he chooses, and if lis religion dictates
that he shall conform to a vegetable
diet, such beliefs are respected. All
might have been we'll had this state
of affairs been confined to vegetarian
ism, but the Doukhoborsti religion
does not appear t.. be finished prod
uct. 1t has been constantly undergo
ing changes. From the belief that it
was sin to eat meat, it seems a long
jump to reach the conclusion that it is
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
~ 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.
It 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 alrthe 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
II men hitched to pillow suffice for
this purpose, and it is the only method
employed by them in the cultiva ton 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 flour and other neces-
stiles.
The Doukhoborsti are clad exclu-
sively in cotton clothes and wear rub
Der boots or shoes knit or woven 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 correspondence
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. It 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