The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-07-05
VOdES TO |CRANT' FURTHER ! |PEASANT|RIGHTS
Millions in Russia to Rene fit By New Legisla-
 tion.s

tion.s
 4 Petrograd, July 5-Ehe Duma has ! passed a bill according to. peasants the {, 6ame civil rights as areigiven to other classes of people.
 < M The passing of this ,bill by the Du- t Hna following the,passipg of.a bill pre- ( kihfting the sale of strong drink re- Y teeis that this representative assem- { bly, of the Russian people is in ses- H6ion. It/- was prorogued May 28. There was no official announcement , or explanation. Letters smuggied into X this country by Russian Jews stated A nat it was prorogued because the Government was unwilling to> grant feforms relating ito internal affairs until after the war.
 'lSA Reforms Demanded.
 T One of the primary reforms de- handed in the Duma was for political lights to Jews. Another related 70 { the political .emAncipation of the Sbeasants. The reason advanced for this last reform was that the greater < majority of enGanchised citizens was { Gnrolled in the army. therefore, de- brtved of any share in government The nobility were in position, grow tInR constantly stronger, of usdrping {! III the dearly, bought privileges the :; 6sopfe, had been able to get.
 ! The present Duma, prorogued May 1hk8 and rec6nvened at some quite re- \ kent date-the news not having been I zasaAds by the censor-was opened f ksb. 2z by the Czar An arbitrary \ j1rorosration ended the life ot the ' 7recedink Duma, conyehed in August, ' }o15. in the midst of the terrible disS 4 uterk to Russian arms in Poland. This N umk announced immediately pro- sl franime of drastic reforms. and con-
 euuently<its sessfons,were cut short. % r. The Duma has obtained during its N 3Sxistence. from the ukase of June 22' '{1507. the right to- control the fpapces 56f the gover1lment. In withholding s; rfants Of money and sanction for new w " xatfon necessary to.carry or the war, TIE Da1ma has. apparently been in a bobition more cordial toward re- 1ormk
 In no other European country IS fhe censorship so strictly maintained lsasin Russia It is seldom that any 4hink lunfavorable to the position of Sho bureaucracy is allowed to get Through, except occasionally the bare rfafement of a fact like the present X a,,nouncement The issue Is. howev! !. sr. so clear cut that it is not difficult Hto trace the movement for reform e1onx the fine Of logical deduction
 xem the caS sxtb teizsct
 H Possarts slEnfrancldsed.
 yshe neasanfs h ave been enfrahchised ,,fnce Oct. 80. 1908, when the Car is- ,16ed sf manifesto conferring political V TT4khts upon aiI the people. following !. tks empire-wide strike after the Rus, .oo- -Japanese war, which thrsatened to 1lunre the country. into revolution. It 5eopardized the Czar's life as well as 6fs throne. and the manifesto was of s(f<xSd aa< an inducement for the revo- f,,fdonary agitators stpszceases melting 'A1he people against the government. T >x,he manifesto resulted in the forming % of fie firSt Duma, it's members being aY,cfed by the people. But universal A$kfranchlsement has been problem ljft. in the hands of successive Du- mas.
 The bill just passed by the Duma Win not be law until it passes the { council of the Empire and is signed bv the Car. The Council of the Elm :d 1,ire consists of 196 members, 9S. of z them being nominatec by the Czar md 98 being elective. These latter s arc the elected representatives of the reliefous organizatfons. the corpora lions of nobles, the universities, the | .ehambers of commerce. the industrial ;councils and the municipal organiza- &tfions known as Zemstvose The mem &1ers voicing the personal sentiments z Of the Czar and the autocracy com Dine with the 25 members of the clerey and the nobility to blOck-4ny taxislatfon of the Duma which the xoyernment and the bureaucracy do not desire to become law.
 The right of the, peasants to enjoy full political Acknowledgement may not come at once. althoughsit is prob- 2 able that the Council. of the Empire will delay killing the bill until after th( Duma has sanctioned the finan- cial measures which the government Wants, passed. The new taxation would fall heaviest upon the peas- ants. They will. accordingly. be led \ to believe that they will after while receive full political rights.
 Emancipation of Serfs.
 The peasants of Russia were. fin 1881. freed from ssrfdom, or slavery to the land of the afistocracy, by Alexander IL, known in history as the Liberator.
 Tt is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait until 1t will be abolished by movement from be-
 low" he told representatives of the
 nobility who petitioned him not te
 disturb their ancient rights over the X 1aborers upon their estates. Serfdom
 had existed in Russia sincef1eO9. Be. ginning with Catherine the Great suo-
 ceeding rulers of the empire had at 1 tempted to free the serfs, only ts
 meet with such strong 0pp0sitior < from the nobility that the projec
 had to be abandoned.
 Alexander II. discovered that h' had not materially benefited tho! serfl
 by formally cutting them loose from < Che soil. ( There were numerous { methods of which the nobility coult
 still oppress the people when 1t came
 to questions of land. Tie peasan N farmers could not obtain pasture land
 or proper>land for their crops excep,
 by paying exorbitant rents. The state
 allowed the peasants to buy their owr