The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-16
STORY OF The DOUKHOBORS,
IT rs ONE FULL or Suffering
AND TRAGEDY.
Victims for $50 Year, Of Persecution and
Of bad Men Who Became Their Lead
ers-BrIght Promise Of Their Early
Days In Canada-New SuperstitiOns
That Have Ruined Their Future

That Have RUINED Their Future.
~ 1900. 1000 Doukhobors went to Canada
to make new homes They left behind
them on the high plateau in Trans-Cau-
casia 1900 Of their bre, hren. Their friends
live there at a height OF 5000 to 5000 fee,
above the sea in climate 80 raw tina,
in many places rye and wheat will moi
mature.
The greatest natural advantage there
is that the meadows are widespread and
rich, and cattle raising is a prosperous in
dustry. Observe the cont rast that was pre-
sent ed two years ago be, ween the mmigranis
to Canada and their bret hren in Trans
Caucasia.
The immigrants were suddenly seized
with the crazy notion that It was wrong
for them to take animal life or to eat ami
NAL food. They had been accust omei
to cattle raising all their lives; but now they
turned their oxen and mich cows loose on
the praries and began themselves to drag
the plows through the fields and to haul
the wagons.
All their lives they had eaie n beef but
now they rest riot ed themselves TO vege
table diet, Meanwhile their friends in the
Cars domain still ind cattle their chief
riches. live largely on beef and are break
ing many hundreds Of steers every year
TO service in the yoke. One Of their chief
sources of money making is carrying freight
with their OK teams over the rough roads
Of Trans-C aucasia.
Unfortunately new light has dawned
upon the Canadian Doukhobors They
are convinced that it is wicked to own cattle
and so they have made It very difficult
TO carry on farming.
The word Doukhobor is a compound of
two Russian words "Doukh' meaning
spirit" and Dor" an abbrevistion Of the
Russian verb "boratsia,' meaning TO
"wrestle." The name Doukhobors, or Spirit
Wrestlers. was applied 10 them by one Of
their leaders long after the sect was formed.
Their story for two centuries has been
crowded with tragical incidents The SOC
iety was founded in south central Russia in
the beginning Of the eighteenth century
The remarkable fanaticsm tha, marked
the first century and half Of its existence
and the terrible persecution its members
endured, not only from the hos, li,y of the
Government and Of the populace that des-
pissed these people. bu, also from the evil
lnHutUtt anu tyranny VI 'ui niVtl WIN
became absolute masters of the society
make a chapter in the history of religions
that Is full Of pathetic and horrible
incidents.
The Doukhobors do not even know the
name Of the man who first organized their
society He was once a noncommissioned
officer in the Prussan Government, who re-
moved to Russia after his term Of service
and won the esteem of the people Of the
village in which he lived nv his laboriou'
and upright life.
He had his own reli gious ideas, sort al
compound Of the dogmas oi the Calvinisis
Ansbaptists and Quaker-, and he began tc
spread his doctrine in the villages around
him. His faith was based upon the idea that
God dwells in the human soul and that q Z
divine essence implanted in every human
being il the guide 10 life and light,
We have just seen in the march Of the
Doukhobors an illustration Of the perversor
Of this beautiful idea In their view il wa'
no teaching of the Bible or Of men that lee
them 10 set out on their long and difficult
Journey to Winnipeg II was the divine
essence in them that was guiding them e
light: il was a sacred inspiration which tolc
them they were TO go forth to seek light; ant
so they set out on their weary pilgrimage.
The Doukhobors were also laugh, tina
Christ was merely sinless man. who's
purity gave full force to the divinity within
him. and tina, their leaders are also sin
less men. qualified by their superior on
cellence 10 show forth all good principle
and to guide the people Such il the fail
of these poor people in their leaders
The crazy conduc, OF the Doukhobor
in Canada with relation to their domesti
animals and to the march now forcibl,
stopped, il undoubtedly due 10 their sublim
faith in one or two half-cracked men, who
In the solitude OF the Canadian prairies
conceived the remarkable notions whicl
were accepted by their followers as in
fallible truth and have nearly worked tn
ruin Of the people,
The founders Of the sect was succeeded
by A Russian named Kole-nikof, who sprea,
the faith in many villages and won a crow
Of proselytes He taught that il was
sin TO learn TO read and write that tn
Bible WAS not inspired and tina, the art Il
printing was a device Of Satan to lure soul
to destruction. more ingenious schem
was never devised to keep a simple an
credulous people In the power, body an
soul of their self-constituted leaders.
The tyranny OF these leaders grew a
one succeeded another. kolesnkof wa
'ollowed by a man named Poborichin, VIII
was no longer merely an expounder Of tn
new faith. but was the absolute ruler q
the people.
He declared that he felt In him the powe
Of Christ and that therefore he was Christ
representative on earth He surrounde
himself with twelve apostles and lively
archangels, who were his agents to do hi
bidding.
The next head Of the sect named kapus
tin, a very shrewd person, taught that Go
in man dwelt in His fullest power in III
most godike men, in other words. in tn
leaders. This power was in him and there
fore he was God,
Il am In truth your Christ, your God
he said, fall down before me and worshi
me-" And all the Doukhobors bent III
knee before him and worshipped him,
These proceedings greatly scandalize
the Russian Government, Church and pee
pie. The severest prosecutions, FOLLOWED
but they served merely to fan the flame G
fanaticism,
Many Of the Doukhobors were cast int
prison, but their numbers grew more an
more What to do with them was a -