The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-10
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pstfgpss The oFsss afs Htasi- ~ ne banEs
sesi ~ AZ iha demansls lor lansh taft they
eaH eafi Only ~ peaaahs c~urHnunltlsA and
thay ~ not alsaya aet win Tho fupsvtlaitsy
whlch tsAta theif very lmpog,ant amt ~
stphathis oAlcc, n 10 their dNttv ~ stand
for far prizes, bt they sho'ibi not 10
mean ihrm~Ivesto tts ppft ~ dealers who
takr advantage ~ p~cph''s dis'wsa Vet "
appeNs- Ina, auus n them, IN their zeal
for tireir PEASANT cllaTfa' interests, ~ ~
far 30 10 s,ivlSf them 10 delay AMI sham
fndiferpncr, IN orIer ~ foru- down prlo~s
hsiuw ryan the luSeat fair avetsge
N we cannot pifs svmpathlga wlfh ths
crowd n panic stricken s%sllefa. there u Tor
then tho escuas ~ necesai,y of natural
tlmldty. lat there u q feeling ~ faf mote
p%ronounced di-approval against th0se
memiera ~ tho wealthy afiasocracy tby
no means all, thank heavenD, who DESERT
their post and their country and flock
abroad with their families and capital
Foreign passports. since December. have
been taken out by thousands, ~ that the
STAFF ~ employees has been Insufficient
for the work, and foreign papers have sud-
denly been crowded with offere ~ villas, cas-
ties aud mansions for sale or rent To take
200 600, O0D rnblea out Of the country now
IL nothing less than criminal, This rush
for self-expatriation. this shirking Of all
duty In search after personal ease shows too
clearly the utter e~strangement Of his class
from the nation at large, their lack OF
patriotism, the total absence Of anything
like a feeling Of responsibility In The DUN
try's destiniee or in the work Of renovation,
TO which they have been called from tlS
throne itself.
At tho same time. the 'agrarian ques-
ton, as II IL called, II by no means to lie
disposed of by the mere transfer OF lands
into the peasants possession. To them,
with their primitive ideas and necessarily
limited horizon. II IL exceedingly simple.
All their troubles and increasing impover-
ishment come from not having enough
land. Give them more me and they will
be all right. In reality, however, nett her
the question nor the solution OF Il is as
simple as that. For the trouble does not
all come from the ins,ifliciency Of land, and
above all the cause il not uniform all over
the country, but presents a thousand local
| aspects and shadings-oonsequently an.
not be removed by a uniform measure,
especially not by one conoocted out of
ink and paper and red tape In big stone
houses thousands OF miles away.
In the first place the peasant has not
really 30 very little land. In some locali-
ties he has four OF five acres to the male
soul, in others again up TO fifteen. twenty,
sven thirty. Again, there Ia no such thing
az an average value Of land. Five acres
in one locality Is worth as much as fifteen
in another. Lastly and chiefly, the real
| difference lies in the method Of cultiva-
ton and the personal skill and know ledge
Of the oultivator. IN the same fifteen acres
where tho Russian peasant will starve,
the Pole, the Finn. the Esthonian will do
well and the German c~olonist will prosper.
But then their land 10 their own personal
| property, not subject to communal inter-
terence and paroelling. They improve 1t,
cultivate every foot OF 1t, and then they
do not drink and celebrate every few days,
adding numberless holidays OF their own
invention to the twelve enj oined by the
Church.
There Ia no Use In mincing matters: the
average peasants agricultural methods
are piratical; certainly not from Unborn
perversity, but from general and special
ignorance and conservative attachment
to the way his fathers did things. No mat
ter how much land you give him, he will
not go beyond the triennial rotation system,
will raise no grass crops on the meadows,
will exhaust the soil for lack OF manuring-
In other words. for want Of sufficient live
stock. There are many exceptions and bril-
liant ones, men whom II la the country's
hope to zee In the Duma, IL only the others
know enough to send them there: but these
are OF course among the weather. class
OF peasants and are usually noted for tenn
peranoe, 1t takes both character and money
TO get out OF the routine which has turned
30 many once blooming provinces into an
image OF desolation. Government help
on an enormous scale Is urgently needed;
but II that help would first Of all take the
form Of cattle, horses and active practical
instruction on the spot there would be no
need for such q wholesale transfer OF land
as Is contemplated.
This land panic has taken hold Of the
Government spheres themselves, 40 that
the most extravaRant projects have been
framed-in the Ministerial offices, too
and fortunately rejected, some OF them
proposing no less than the compulsory
appropriation Of all private holdingsof land,
at a valuation in which the owners wera to
have no voice. Not to speak Of the crying
injustice OF such a downright spoliatory
measure, let us see what the results would
be for the country and for the peasants
themselves.
One project demands the transfer Of
600, 600 900 dessiatinas lone dessiatiua equals
about three aores), which means all the land
Except that covered by forests) at presont
belonging to the Grown, the Imperial
Demesnes, the churches and monasteries
andprivate holders, These last would come
in for 30. 200, 900 dessiatinas. Well. the area
Of each individual male SOULS holding
would be increased by less than two acres.