Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-10
CALLING FOR BREAD
Russian Peasants Not Clamor-
ing for Political Rights.
PILLAGING THE ESTATES
Agrarian Disorders Throughout the
Country.
LANDLORDS ARE POWERLESS
Only the Arrival of Troops Quells the
MISUNDERSTANDING of the
People.

agrarian movement in Russia shows that
the disorders have been, and are, practical
~ the same all over the country. With the
continued turmoils in the empire, the zig
zaggish policy or the czar. and indeeison
OF Premier Witte. the revolutionary acts
committed day after day. and once more
the centorship, everybody is Interested III
knowing the exact conditions of the peas
ants and their actions.
They usually inform the landlord in adj
vance as TO their proposed visit to his
estate said diplomat, discussing the
conditions today. I'm some cases COM
mlttee OF peasants goes and inspects the
place and then announces that the peasants
VIII come on certain day. At the ap-
pointed time a stack of straw Is set on
nre. a bonfire built, or merely a Large
bundle of straw tied - long pole Is
ignited. and at the gnal a crowd of
peasants gathers with their wagons In
some cases there are from five to seven
hundred OF the latter. In one case, not long
ago. at Romanorke, the signal was q ven BY
sounding the fire alarm. The assembled
peasants advanced on the estate discharg-
ca guns at their approach, broke the locks
OF the granarles, loaded the grain on their
wagons and departed. The presence of the
owner OF the estate and of the overseer did
not at all embarrass the peasants. They
were permitted to witness the proceedings.
ana made no attempt to drive the men or
the place, At the same time no expIana-
lions were offered. They pillaged-as hap
pens IN the majority of cases-the grain
stores alone; other farm products were
taken nv them only In rare instances
Hence they seldom disturbed any of the
other farm buildings.
No Violence Against Persons.
IN PriIyepy the peasants carried off the
grain. but did not modest the sugar re-
hEery. In Petrovsk they did likewise with
out disturbing a whisky dlstillery in the
Immediate neighborhood. They made no
attempt. as rule. to enter the dwellings.
Ihey demanded no money, with perhaps
one exception. No violence was attempted
although In Witch the local constable re-
ceived a slight wound. The peasants al
ways behaved with moderation. The same
attitude was observed toward the govern
ment liquor stores. The peasants came
there at night, previous TO the descent on
some estate and demanded that the store
De opened After drinking whisky at times
In great quantities. they paid for 1t and de-
parted. No violence was attempted during
me last three years against schools and
hospitals. so that in a number of cases the
estate owners sought refuge in the school
houses.
The pillage was participated in by en-
TIRE Vulages-men, women and youths
Among those ed for robbery and con-
fined in the prison al Syevsk there Is a
blind beggar- His fellow villagers had sup
piled him with a horse and wagon and |
helped him to load 1t with grain. In some
cases only part of the peasants In the
village engaged in the pillaging of some
estate, but later the remaining peasants
tempted by the example of their fellow
villagers made a similar descent on some
other estate There was no systematic APP
portionment OF estates among the different
villages, the pillaging being done by peas
ants of various villages. who at times came
from distant places. 1t has been said that
single peasants were compelled TO join these
pllaging expeditions under threat of vio-
1ence yet 1t is difficult to determine whether
this was really So
Endeavored to Be Moderate
The peasants. therefore" said the dip
lomat. "endeavored. on the whole not to
exceed certain limits, though they were not
always successful In this. At times, I'M
der the stress of excitement or under the
Influence Of liquor. moderation was thrown
20 the winds and riot ran its course I'M
checked. In Glamazdiu the peasants not
only pnlaged the granarles. but set fire
Il the dwellings, outbuildings and distiilery.
The same fate overlook the distillery at
khiHel and the sugar refinery at Mikhaf-
lOVsk The riot at khlnel assumed terri
flying character. The mob, mad with drink.
destroyed everything in their reach
The effect of these disorders on the es-
tate owners may te easily imagined No
one dreamed OF resistance With the ar
rival or large bodies OF troops the disorders
ceased, but many d.squ citing rumors still
exist. The peasants are said to have open
~ declared that they would not permit any
spring operations on estate lands, and IL Is
money in advance on work 10 be performed
later in the season. boasting meanwhile
thar they would make no attempt TO do
that work
These disorders. both general and local,
are quite complex. and their causes are +
ficut TO determine in all cases One of
them. Indirectly, has been the war The
mobilization in the district of Dnutriev
caused GiscOntent among the peasants
Moreover. those soldiers who have returned
from the far east are MANNED in mis-
cradle condition and desperate over their
fate. Finally, something should be attrib-
uted to the belief prevailing among the
peasantry that but few soldiers now re-
main In European Russia
Character of the Peasant.
The Russian peasant is pious. patriotic.
ana devoted 10 the czar. When the fall
comes and the harvest has been gathered
In the functionaries OF the government ar
rive and rob him OF the tolIsome profit or
his work During the winter he suffers
consequently, great need Yet the peasant
Is patient and hungers through the winter
with his cattle. In the spring. weakened
by long fasting. IL often happens that the
cattle fail 20 the ground and die on the
green meadow. The peasant suffers thus
because he does not know anything else.
and because he is by no means able to see
the connection.
The peasant reasons that the guilty
party Is the landlord; the landlord is re-
land, he reasons. ii would be different But
why hasn't he II? Why does the landlord
own his land. which Gar Alexander took
from him to give 90 the peasants? The
PEASANTS Held. does II belong to him? No
II belongs % the county. Why? Wherein
lies the causeP
when the peasant Is hungry, or when
the military commission levies all men able
TO work and nobody Is LEFT to cultivate the
land. he does not raise the cry of intel
hgent labOrers for constitution but calls
for bread The peasant goes now to the
property OF the landlord and demands corn
II IL happens 10 be no holiday and he is
sober he is satisfied IL he gets II and re-
turns home. Furthermore, much will de-
pend on how the new military commission
viii go to work II they only take a few
out OF every village everything will remain
quiet. If they take many the peasant says:
IF the government takes our men we will
take corn from the landlords. for how shall
our families live?
Key to the Problem.
Here is lnded the key to the great Rus
sian problem" remarked the diplomat $50
long the government has nothing to fear