Evening journal., 1905-04-08
TITS OF RUSSIANS.
td;ties of Views Held by the
Peasantry.
HOW PROPERTY Is REGARDED,

Products of ono'a own Lrbor Are |
Considered Private Property-Fish-
inE, Hunting or the Use of Forests
For Personal Requirements Not
Regarded as n Crime-No Respect
For Cars Government.
In the opinion Of the Russian people
no one has the right to appropriate to
himself anything but the product oe his
own labor says w. Tcherkesoff In the
Chicago News. In a peasants house
hold the woman has the right to dis
pose according % her own wishes Of
all that she has herself produced. Usu-
ally all the products Of the fields and
the cattle belong to the man, while the
products Of the garden, the r9ultry and
the various spinning industries belong
to the housewife. 1t is the same In the
case Of chance profits. If you go to a
peasants house for meal or a drink
or nights lodging and wish to pay
something you must always speak to
the woman. The man will never take
your money.
l attribute to this popular custom the
fact that the Russian code recognizes
the division Of property between the
husband and the wife, and it Is that
which has created for the Russian wo-
man an economic and consequently a
social position far superior in most re
spects to that enjoyed by woman in
western Europe.
owing to this idea that private prop
erty can only exist in those things
which are the product Of ones own la
Dor the Russian people obstinately re-
fuse to consider fishing, hunting or the
use Of forests for personal require
ments as a crime. "The forests and
the water are Gods" they naively say,
"and each has the right to make use
Of them according to his needs" Re
cent reports Of peasants cutting down
forests on private estates indicate the
strength of this sentiment.
But it is a theft to cut down wood
on the estate Of Lord ~" said Yaku-
shin, one Of the best observers Of pop
ular life. to some peasants who were
openly going in carts to private es-
tate to get fuel.
"What do you say. little fatherr an
sw red the peasants. astonished. IF
some one were to take wood that you
had already cut or corn that you had
already sown that certainly would be
a theft but any one has a right TO cut
down a tree that God alone has cared
for. To take what a man has produced
would be to steal. But the forests, the
game, the. fish are created for all-yes
for all
Always the people act in accordance
with similar ideas Of justice. The ma
iOrity of "crlmes" committed by peas
ants are against private or state prop
erty in forests. For the Russian peas
ant there exists only one moral author
ity which possesses the right of tempo
rarlly forbidding the use of such and
such piece of common property-it 1:
Nhis mir, the full assembly of his com
lmune Sometimes in order to preserve
the forests or fish the mir will proclaim
a place sacred" (zapovednia) for 81
many years. 1t knows perfectly vel
that no Russian viii touch the leas
ts7ig in a sacred" forest. The zapoved
MIA a3forests are we'll known in Russia
and il Is also known how the peOpl
respect the decisions Of the mir.
whole series Of popular proverbs exis
which prove to what degree the Rus
slams esteem, revere, their mir. Th
people say, "NO one goes against tn
mir" Even the woods bend before tn
decision Of the mir" 1T is gloriou
thing to die for the mir"
And the mir makes its decisions re
spected only by its practice Of soIidaI
ity and equality, while the all powerful
government Of the car cannot get tn
peasants to obey its laws concernin
private and state property
But there is nothing astonishing il
the fact that the efforts of the govern
ment are truitless. The people hav
long been accustomed to look upon th
administration and the government a
its worst enemies. Moscow is as fu
Of bad government officials as fores
is Of branches" says an old proverl
The people have always tried TO fl
from the central government and il
corrupt and despotic officials.
Thirty years ago, says Gener;
Venukoff. 'the governor Of the PROVING
of Amur, General Pedashenko Will
on a journey of inspection visited a vi
lage recently founded by volmtar
colonists. He was struck by the pro
perity they had attained in so short
time two years., while the governmer
colonies were in a pitiable condition.
"'You live here very comfortabl.
my friends. said he to the peasants
much more so than the Inhabitants {
the banks Of the Amur. Why is IL so
"Ha, little father, it is because heI
we live far from the Administrations
answered the peasants.
.''9h. what cruel irony" conclud'
General Venukoff
''How trueF' we. for our part. add.
Motoring sportsmen.
Americans have invented a new for