The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1905-09-01
HOW THE RUSSIAN PEASANT
LIVES

CBy Professor Peter KOrOtzky in the
Rocky Mountain News-)
The poverty Of the Russian peas
ants is pitable. their lack Of cleanli-
ness is indescribsble, their ignorance Is
astonishing and their sanitary condi-
ton is deplOrable. In many districts
the official statistics prove nearly all
the inhabitants are professional beg
CARS and even the owners Of land are
in years when the crops fail forced to
beg
The ordinary food Of the peasant
/ is bread made from rye meal mixed
with coarse bran, grain, straw and
very often with sand To this comes
at rare occasions potatoes, onions and
cabbage in places where there is no
market where he can dispose Of these
vegetables. In the summer he eats
watermelOns if he has any.
As for meat, he knows only salt
meat, and that he tastes only twice
year, at Easter and Christmas. He
drinks only kvas in which he soaks
his indigestible bread
And even the bread he has not in
sufficient quantity. Statistics show
that while labOring people Of Ger
many, for instance, eat both meat and
1 eggs, besides consuming on an aver
1 age go Kilograms a year, the Rus
sian peasant who gets no other food,
! consumes only about 200 Kilograms
a year.
The taxes in Russia ruin the peas
ant. not only because they are too
high, but also because Of the manner
in which they are levied
As a rule the taxes under which the
| peasants are grOaning suprass their
income, and their decreasing resOur-
/ ces make the deficit grow larger ev-
| cry year and produce chronic famine.
On the revenue Of the amount Of
ground possessed by the ordinary
peasant, which averages about As
| rOubIes (S22-5O) a year. he pays p
roubles and so kOpeks in direct taxes,
while the indirect taxes on vodka,
/ tea, sugar, matches and kerosene
/ amount 10 a roubles.
The lack Of sufficient land, with en-
ormity Of the taxes, forces the min
Ority Of the young people to leave the
villages Many emigrate to Siberia,
/ suffering all kinds Of privations. Pro-
/ fessOr Isaleff, who has studied the
conditions OF the people who go to
i Siberia to take up land, says that
1,499 families at TOmsk. possessing
| less than 10 rOubIes. 500 families had
II between 10 and IS roubles, rs fami-
| lies owned between 500 and 100
rOubles. seventy families had between
100 and 800 roubles, and eight fami-
] lies had more than 800 rOubles.
Only the smallest part Of these peO-
pie succeed in Siberia, the others re-
turn to Russia as beggars- Many 90
to the cities. where there is no more
work for them than in the villages,
and where they live in the deepest
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-
tons of peasant Iife-sleeping from
two to half a dozen in one bed and
eating from the same dish-these dis
eases spread with alarming rapidly.
There are Villages where every man,
woman and child are suffering from
these uncomfortable diseases.
To this disease comes eczema and
other skin diseases, scurvy, scrofula
and many others and the economic
conditions make it impossible TO do
anything to fight them The district
which the average county physician
in Russia has to visit has radius Of
$50 to 200 miles and there is only one
physician for every 10000 inhabit-
ants
Add to all this the evil Of drink and
it is easy TO perceive the reasons Of
the degeneration Of the Russian peo-
pie It is the government itself which
encourages the peasants to drink. The
government revenues from alcoholic
beverages figure in the budget with
S4OO,OOO,OOO.
The majority Of the population can
neither read nor write and il is there
fore difficult for them 70 make any
progress. The government also en-
deavOrs TO keep the people IN ignor-
ance-
Of an annual budget which aver
ages under normal conditions about
81, 600. 100000, only about 100000
are spent for education-far less than
is spent on the maintenance OF the
secret service Besides this the great
er part OF the schools are in the hands
Of the popes to the extent OF about
seven to one. And most Of the schools
in facts, exist. only on paper. may
later give some examples Of the igno-
rance Of the pOpes, which surpasses
all imagination
In his recent book on modern Rus
sia, Prince WOIkouski 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
Us deplOring their ignorance NJ
PObiedOnOsteff, however said This
Is impossible II the priests were less
ignorant they would teach the peO-
pie. and that would mean our down
fail. Even without this we are slid
ing toward an abyss
Good books are not within the
reach OF the people The government
does everything in its power to isolate
the intellectuals- Every time an in
Iellectual tries 10 get into touch with
tie peasants he Is Tut down by the
police as a suspicious person and
laced IN a situation which is not
without danger-
HOW'S THIS?
We offer One Hundred Dollars Re