New-York tribune., 1917-12-16
viii Conhscatc
All Private Land

/ There is no doubt that the Constitu-
ent Assembly will decree the coniisca-
| tion Of all private lands exceeding the
/ labor norm. /. e., the area that can be
| cultivated by the application OF the
porsonal labor Of the owner and his im-
mediate family.
II also appears certain that land will
cease 10 be an exchange cormodity,
/ and that it will become national prop
I er;y. The form Of agrarian nationaliza-
/ tion that is most likely to prevail ls
tho so-ealled specialization of land, the
reform advocated by the Social KeVo-
| lutionists.
The Social Revolutionists and tho
peasants alike expect a great deal from
| the reform. The masses Of peasantry
entertain most exaggerated ideas about
| II. They think there will be enough
| land for everybody, and that after the
reform there will be kind OF heaven
on earth. The Social Revolutionlsts
sneak of uniform incomes from land
tenure. They hope to apporton the
| land so that all peasants will get the
same, or nearly the same. income.
So far neither the Social-Reyolution-
| lists nor the peasants have oeered any
thing like a practical method by which
these blessings can be attained. Iney
"nass the buck" TO the Constituent AS
/ sembly. which is expected TO spend
about a year on the reform; to the
local organs Of self-government. which
will untangle the agrarian relations
and determine the labor norm OF their
districts: TO the central instltutlone,
which will direct the work OF redistri-
button of the population, etc.
The execution of the specialization
plan would encounter another great
difficulty. The black earth provinces
contain considerable numbers Of landed
peasants (variously estimated at one
fourth to one-third of the entire peas
antry OF the section), who would be
the net losers in the new scheme.
peasant owning fifty acres would be
ioath to deposit his land into the ma
tional land fund and get only half
of it as a fef from the government.
II is easier TO coniscate one estate OF
10000 acres than 20 deprive a thou
sand farmers of even a small portion
Of their land Though these petty
landowners will have no large repre-
sentation in the Constituent Assembly,
they will certainly not be a negligible
quantity in the local institutions of
self-government. There is already talk
in agrarian circles about a minimum
and maximum labor norm, |. G., peas
ants should be permitted 10 retain their
lands if they do not exceed the maxi
mum area that can be cultivated with
out hired help. There is no doubt that
some such scheme will be adopted, and
the new agrarian arrangement will
have an inequality Of income to start
with, because the lantless peasants
will get only a minimum labor norm.
The Social-Revolutionist talk about
redistribution of the agricultural popu-
lation. Within a narrow compass this
may be possible, but to base any re-
form upon an arbitrary redistribution
of population would be sheer nonsense.
The peasants of Poltava certa.Sly can
not be shifted at will to the Province
of Vologda or Arkhangelsk. They
could not be made to go there. And If
they went they could not adapt them
selves to the new forms OF farming.
The agrarian radicals hope to de-
velop extensive rural coope ration. IL
is clear that small farms cannot inde-
pendently carry on scientific agrlcult-
ure and make use Of modern agri-
cultural machinery. The peasants
would have to organize into coopera--
tive associations to make rational
farming possible. The commune forms
a ready mould for such associations,
but communal ownership or even COM
munal tenure of land will not fit the
new political conditions. The Social
Revolutionists no longer insist upon
the commune as the cornerstone OF the
new order. Peasant associations will
have to be entirely voluntary. 1t is
expected that the rural cooperation
will greatly increase the productive
forces of the country. The cooperative
rural commonwealth Is the hope and
the dream of the al-Revolutionists,'
There is no doubt that we are
confronting the most gigantic social ex-
pertinent the world has ever seen.
Compared with it the Irish agrarian
reform fades into insignificance. Hun
dreds of millions Of acres are involved.
Old agrsrian relations are completely
to be wrecked. The landed aristocracy
is to disappear entirely. An unprece-
dented scheme of equality OF income
for four-ffths of the population Of the
country is to be put into operation.
At best it will be the grandest object
Lesson tho world has ever beheld,