Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-11-18
POLISH PEASANTS LIFE
HARD ONE ALL THE TINE
Work From Sun to Sun, Poor Pay,
Poorer Food and Poor Hous-
ing Are His Lot.

The report from Amst erdam that En-
peror Francis Joseph intends to grant
to Galicia the right to manage its al
fairs independently. at the same time
that Poland is reconstructed indie
pendent kingdom. gives timeliness and
special interest to the following war
geography bulletin issued by the Ma
tionaI Geographic Society, in which
peasant life in Galicia is strikingly de-
scribed. The bulletin. which is based
on communication to the society from
William Joseph Showalter. says:
"In many parts of GaIicia the Polish
peasant lives in log hut covered with
straw: he break fasts. dimes and makes
his supper of porridge, washing it down
with bad brandy, and in general leads
life full of want and empty of pleas
ure. The peasants who farm for the
mobiles receive no money In payment,
but only share of the crop.
The usual division. all over Europe,
ranges between a half and fourth.
and even in Russian Poland 1t never
goes below the latter proportion In
Galicia the peasant now receives no
such proportion. The mobiles estates
are either ow ned outright by absentees,
or are controlled by them through full
value mortgages, and they have com
bined to force down the peasant farm
ers share with the result that it now
is frequently as low as one-twelfth.
wage of slow starvation. which is
largely responsible for a disease known
as ihca af n',.isI,.,..
result oi inSuiiieiehe nooi i'i'
Hard Lot of Peasant Women.
The lot of the Polish peasant is
always hard, whether he lives in Rus
STA, Germany or Austria. His food is
:, .io> -
must toll from the hour lhat the sun
peeps over the eastern horizon to the
hour when twilight falls into dusk.
horse he has bestowed the acme of
praise upon her. Hard work many
cares and much collaborating combine
heart and give to the women of peas
t .he , lid Gecada of their lives is
closed
you may even see them "oL KING Il
seem 500 nd thsv ara renuted to make
good ones. 1t is not exceptional to
see them carrying mortar Tor orick-
nain+ina a" nr panerhanSinx in the cities.
Every peasant wants his daughters
married off as soon as they reach
VIM W. i;;ntai az the door to indi-
cate to the world that there is Il mar
riageable daughter inside the mouse.
And the weddlhg day among me pea
ants is about the one ofishi Spot IN
a glrls me; mere tne iuIeh vi
the United states roll eggs on Easter
Monday nose Oh foiand pour water
over one ,'iii af J,an,,,
poland was a repue'iS oi Iahoo oN n
ers. IN WhiGa III. So "nu ~. wuua.
The man VINO "neu iamu. VI wnose
ancestors ownIu tanu. 80 nooie
he misnt ma eeh Wv :,,,Ia 49, Is
ne nlisht no go IVA .ba sronnd he
tween ms 80, la s1or., ~
miene n tis girdie and onIv a nieh.iJ
TIE 70 ms e ~ ar;v anu md oht ,b,, q hirad
hlno noiS pc st,Ii US a." rohis if 60
one. poe I.nd had ever ser its an
| ers anip, % stamp unon him or his family.
11,;da Gulf Retweep clsssee
y" Aue "AA
"xyitb him the peasants were as but
- ~. a,,st IT.. p,ss;.n o,,o
worms VI III. uu'' e n'''e
is proud of his peasants. the German
noble was proud of his and the Aus
hoa ,ought h,,t ,,,ords of
TRAN hopie i'"o " "'iuS VI
praise for his, out the Folsh noble
was not proud of his.
.No+,,,e illustrates better how tho