Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1904-12-16
The Russian Peasant.

keA 10 lie. sltGat.tu IN TIE laf East,
such Is about tire tact in tie ease II
,SreSent. Russia depends NJ "a peasant
,rawn aad courage n trht Ler bat
ties abrOad. and her iuiHst-isl progress
Of home Is In the keeping II the ag'i-
cultural peasantry. And. although al
most totally devoid Of vote or voice In
government affairs. the Peasaalry are
force In the politics OF The country.
When Alexander II. proposed over half
a century ago 10 free tie serfs lie ST
lenced the protests OF tile nobility
whose interests were involved by say
Ing. IL there must he a revolution, II
had better come from the top" mean
ing that unless emanclpated the serfs
would rise and rule or ruin Russia.
How 10 handle the peasant. 10 keep
him conIented. Industrious and man
ageable. has been tie problem Of every
car and every ministry from Peter the
Great TO Nicholas H., and the end Is
not yet, for rs the peasant gOcs. 50 goes
the battle. So goes the harvest. 50 goes
Russias gold reserve. Russia's prog
ress. Russ!a's everything.
Ii is a mistake 10 suppose that the
Russian peasant Of today is an evolu-
ton from an aboriginal bOndman. His
forbears were freemen until the six
tenth century. when serfdOm was es-
tablished on all lands not included in
crown domains Peasants on the crown
lands lived in free communes except
where In the course Of centuries grants
OF crown lands were made 10 private
individuals. Then the free peasant
went with the land and became a serf.
The communal lands were divided at
certain periods. IN some cases annually,
In lots 10 heads of families without re-
gard 10 former occupants, and this fea-
ture gave rise TO the communistic views
prevalent among Russian peasants to-
day.
Alexander l. began the work Of re
forming the Russian peasantry and
prohibited their exposure for sale and
only permitted them TO be sold with
the land. Later he emancipated the
serfs in the German Baltic provinces,
but fastened them 10 the soil In a
measure by prohibiting them from mi
grating from one province TO another.
In March. 1861, Alexander II. decreed
gradual emancipation OF all the serfs
in Russia. He endowed every peas
ant family with from five to twenty
five acres Of land, with a dwelling and
orchard attached. the holder TO pay an
annual tax 10 the government for for
ty-nine years. which sum eventually
reached the original landowner for com
/ pensation.
The present peasantry of Russia may
be divided into three classes-namely,
| those whose ancestors were always free
members of the communes. those whose
ancestors enjoyed communal freedom
for one. two or three centuries after
serfdom was introduced and those
whose ancestors were serfs from the
beginning and up to the date Of the
/ emancipation, two generations ago
| Among them are substantial farmers,
men Of small holdings, lsborers, me-
chanics and traders, They constitute
the bulk of Russia's vast population.
and, 10 nse modern phrase. when it
comes 10 supreme test they are the
| people
| The predominant peasant type call
ed the great Russian. has all the good
| qualities which the south finds in the
negro laborer and more besides. He is
vigorous and hardy, cheerful. fond Of
song and play, easily snsered and cas-
lily won back 10 good nature, He will
knock comrade down in a petty dis
pute then shake hands and treat TO a
drink
Drink and superstition are the curses
Of the poor Russian, but in spite Of
the drawbacks Of oppression. ignorance
and want OF government tutelsge be
has made progress and is open for i'm
provement He fondly believes that
all Russia is his very own and that
some day he will come into his inner
itance: hence his patience and his 10y
atty 10 the car.
The problem which staggers the Rus
sian rulers is how TO keep the peasant
eultiyattng the soil, good, bad and In
different The tendency Is. Of course.
to overcrowd the richest districts. Al
e1ander IL. established the Iemstvo
as II exists today 10 act In the name
Of the central government and for local
society as moral suasion committee.
lsboring with the peasantry, to teach.
to protect. TO restrain and TO generally
uplift the mass and so make free land
owners out Of degraded serfs
Rudyard kipling In his latest book.
L ~