Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-09-07
HOW RUSSIAN PEASANTS LIVE
AND THE CAUSES or eAM9
lBy Prof. Peter Korotzky.)

ness is indescribable, their ignorance
is astonishing and their sanitary con.
dition is deplorable, In many dis
ly all the inhabitants are professional
beggars and even the owners Of land
are, in years when the crops fail,
forced to beg.
The ordinary food OF the peasant -
bread made from rye meal mixed with
coarse bran, straw and very often
with sand. To this comes at rare oc-
casions potatoes, onions and cabbage
In places where there Is no market
where he can dispose of these vegs-
tables In the summer he eats water.
melons. II he has any.
As for meat, ne knows only salt
meat and that he tastes only twice .
year at Easter and Christmas. He
drinks only kvass, In which he soaks
his indigcstible bread
And even the bread he has not In
sufficient quantity. Statistics show
that while laboring people OF Germany
for instance eat both meat and eggs,
besides consuming on an average 280
kilograms Of bread, the Russian peas
ant, who gets no other food. consumes
only about 200 Kilograms year.
| The taxes in RUSSIA ruin the peas
ant, not because they are too high,
but because of the manner in which
| hey are levied.
| As n rule the taxes under which the
peasants are groaning surpass their
| Income, and their decreasing resourc-
p8 make the deficit grow larger every
year and produce chronic famine.
| OF the revenue from the amount OF
ground possessed by the ordinary
peasant. which averages about 45 rOu-
bles ts22.5o) a year, he pays 22 rou.
bles and 80 kopeks In direct taxes,
while the indirect taxes on vodka, tea,
| sugar. matches and kerosene amount
to a roubles.
The lack Of sufficient land, with
enormity Of the taxes forces the MI
nority OF the young people TO leave tho
villages. Many emigrate to Siberia,
suffering all kinds of prtvations. Pro-
fcssor Isaleff VINO has studied the
conditions of the people who go to
| Siberia to take up land, says that
| .i99 families arrived at Tomsk. pos
sessing less than ten roubles, 500 fam
| illos had between 10 and so roubles.
| 80 families owned between so and
| 100 roubles. seventy families had be-
tween 100 and 800 roubles. and eight
fnmialies had more than 900 roubles.
| Only the smallest part OF these
people succeed In Siberia, the others
return to Russia as beggars. Many
go to the cities. where there is no
more work for them than In the vii
ages. and where they live In the deep
est misery.
The young women Join the ranks OF
prostitution. The majority OF prosti-
tutes under police surveillance In st.
Petersburg are peasant girls.
| Often men and women returning TO
the villages are suffering from con
tagious diseases, and under the condi-
lions of peasant life-sleeping from
two to half a dozen In one bed and
eating from the same dish-these dis
eases spread with alarming rapidity.
There are villages where every man.
woman and child is suffering from
these uncomfortable diseases.
To this disease come eczema and
other skin diseases. scurvy. scrOfiila
and many other. and the economic
conditions make It impossible to do
Ianything to fight them. The district
which the average country physician
| In Russia has to visit has radius OF
$50 TO 200 miles and there is only one
physician for every 10000 Inhabitants.
| 4 III. 81 -.
It Is easy to perceive the reasons OF
the degeneration OF the Russian peO-
pie. II Is the government Itself which
encourages the peasants to drink. The
government revenues from alcoholic
beverages figure In the budget at $780,
900 900
| The majority of the population can
neither read nor write t79 per cent.
according to the latest statIstics) and
It Is therefore difficult for them to
make any progress. The government
also endeavors to keep the people
In ignorance.
| On an annual budget which aver
ages under normal conditions about
| 81 .000, 900 900. only about $4,000 900
are spent for education-far less than
Is spent IN the maintenance Of the Sc
cret service Besides this the greater
part Of the schools are in the hands
of the clergy to tae extent OF about
seven to one. And most OF the schools
In fact exist only on paper. may
later give some examples OF the ig-
norance of the clergy which surpasses
Ian Imagination.
In his recent book on modern Rus
sia Prince Wolouski says:
"In the house OF one OF the grand
dukes one day after dinner we were
discussing the necessity OF improving
the education of the priests. many OF
MS deploring their Ignorance. NJ. Po-
hiedonostsen. however, said: This In
impossible. II the priests were less
ignorant they would teach the people.
and that would mean our downfall.
Even without this we are sliding to-
ward an abyss
Good books are not within the reach
I