davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1918-04-21

ana gardens, and many a peasant
family with eight and ten grown-up
members had five acres of land and
less, scarcely enough for three to
work on; SO the Russian peasant
counted his family not in persons.
but IN mouths and every mouth"
which could not feed himself by his
own labor was a curse to the family.
Of the 1903 ,3o8, 900 acres of land
fit for cultivation only 3s per cent
belonged to the peasants, the re-
mainder being the property of the
former Gar and his princes, the no.
billty and the churches. The ma
jority of the peasant population had
to work as "Batraks" (half-serfs)
on the soil of rich landlords, hardly
getting enough pay to keep them
from starvation the whole year
round. Many millions of acres of
land were left uncultivated on pur
pose by rich landlords who controlled
the grain trade, to keep up the prices
OF their products and to keep the
peasant population half starved and
thereby keep their work on a low
paying basis.
For the last decades the many
peasant societies, the cooperative
unions, the zemstvos, enlightened
the peasants as to their interests,
and in Russia the social revolution
ary party was that Of the peasantry.
Land for the peasants is the first
principle of its platform, and the
kerensky government on the very
first day of its formation pledged
itself to the naturalization of the
land
But the land problem in Russia is
very complicated one. Even the
land of the former Car and his
royal princes, which was confiscated
in the early days of the revolution,
could not be disposed Of without
thorough study of local conditions in
each district. In many localities of
the Cars land the peasants owned
all the land they could possibly cul-
tivate; in other districts where land
is scarce the peasants are so poor
that they do not possess even the
means of transportation to the newly
confiscated land, not to say of any
cattle or agricultural implements.
Bolsheviki Had
Another Plan
The Provisional Government. con.
sidered all these problems, set up
special department with representa-
tives of the peasant committees and
agricultural experts to study the
question of land in all it's aspects
and prepare a full report with rec
concentrations to the Constituent AS
sembly.
But the Bolsheviki planned better.
New-York tribune., 1918-04-21
Reserve Supplies
+ or Great Army

At the port, which | can describe
only in part, the work under way pro-
vldes for only part of the army, and
the rest will be cared for at and from
many other ports, at each of which
there are already improvements in har-
bors, docks, wharves and terminals. In
TINS one anonymous port the ware
houses alone will hold several weeks
reserve supply for the army.
The colonel of a certain regiment
stationed here introduced me to a c.n-
tam whose most famous work in the
United States was the building of the
railroad along the Florida KEYS. He
took me to see the work here. not as a
spectacle to impress strangers. hut in
the course of his daily round of super
VISION. First we went where were the
DOCKS OF the city, with huge ships un-
loading their cargoes from America.
with negro stevedores in the old T..
5. A. uniforms, singing as they worked.
and the cranes creaking and the loads
falling uninterruptedly and with heavy
y
sounds into the freight cars or on the
dock.
he dock was an American dock. The
cars ran on American rails, laid by
American engineers, for one of the first
jobs was to revolutionize the old peace
time French rail system. The French
used little turntables, which were good
enough for small cars and plenty of
time. The Americans knew they had
to get the loads out of the ships
quickly. for tonnage depends largely
on speed in loading and unloading
ships and getting them ready for re-
turn trip. So loop system was built
for big cars and arranged so that many
ships continually are supplied with
freight cars, which roll away imme-
dlately as soon as burdened, to be at
once replaced by empties.
New-York tribune., 1918-04-21
Battle Cry Has
Always Been Land

Land was the battle cry of the
Aussian peasantry since the first day
u the revolution, and this was al
most their only grievance against
sHe regime of the Czar.
II may sound strange to the Amer
fsan reader that the Russian muiik
shasr the Old regime enjoyed
'arger measure of freedom than uni
'eIsiey professors in Russia. Ninety
'ot OF every hundred peasants could
ao1 read or write their names, and
Aek of freedom for the press meant
"otning 10 them; they could always
summon a peagants' meeting outside
we village hall, discuas village af-
'aars without outside interference
NC the lack of freedom of specct
Russia was no grievance they
sou'd appreciate, but land was their
~ In Russia the peasant women
Nofk with their men in the fields
New-York tribune., 1918-04-21

exception to the rule. In addition, he
has the advantage Of his indepen-
dence by taking his food from the soil.
ami not by order of the Bolsheyiki.
If the worst happens he could clothe
hinself and his family from the wool
OF his sheep, spun by his own women
folk, and put his feet into "lapti"
(sandals), in the making Of which
the Russian peasants are skilful.
So the peasants at present keen
aloof from politics, waiting for the
return of their sons from the front.
They have not given up their claim
fer land, but they have lost every
hope of getting it from the Bolshe.
Wiki. Thcy are convinced that the
:end problem, can be solved ether By
common consent OF ali Russia
through the Constituent Assembly,
CT by an agrarian revolution of the
peasants, which will have greater
chances Of success when the army
from the front returns home.
That the peasants revolution may
become the turning point in the Rus
sian situation is more than probable.
The peasants are by nature orderly
and law abiding; after the expert
ence they had with the Bolsheviki
/ they may even clamor for new
Czar, as the peasant cannot consider
a country without "boss." Deep in
bis mind the peasant is even now
convinced that former Gar Nicholas
fell a victim to an intrigue contrived
by his dishonest advisers, and some
If them still pray for their "little
father.'
The present Generalization may
even prove an asset at later stage.
The Bolsheviki forced the peasantry
out Of the attitude of "non-resist-
ance" which was characteristic of the
Russian peasant. Now he has
learned to raise his voice and de-
mand things which he used previous
ly to beg at the door of every subor-
dinate chinovnik, standing with his
cap in his hand
How the Peasant
Views the Situation
To illustrate the difference be-
tween the Russian peasant of the
herensky regime and the same peas
ant now, under the Bolsheviki, I
will relate two peasant conyersa-
tions in the train on my way from
Petrograd to Moscow.
1t was in the first days of the rev.
olutlon. We were preparing a new
offensive against Germany-alas the
last one of the Russian army. Our
train was full of soldiers and peas
ants. Some were sitting, many were
standing, and all talking.
"a soldiers life is not worth
kopeck-half a cent" said soldier.
"True, BROTHER" said peasant,
poking his head out of the top shelf
which held the baggage, and which
he used as sleeping place for the
night.
And how do you know" l asked
him.
II will soon tell you, officer" the
peasant began. ~ had one son and
they took him to the army.
"'All right I said to myself. If
New-York tribune., 1918-04-21
Acres Of ools
And All American

AGAIN we passed dumps with ma
terlais. There was structural steel
that must have kept the mills at Pitts
burgh busy for many a week. piled
neatly on the ground or lying on fat
cars There were all sorts of tools and
machinery with the names of COM
panles in Cleveland, Chicago, Ohio and
little, but famous, Industrial towns M
throughout America. Parts Of cranes
and railroad hand cars, boilers. wheels.
cnalns, framework, were here-a he
wliderlng array of metal covering the
countryside.
All through the trip we were stopped
by ileutenants and sergeants, each
bosslng his affiliated job. and each time
the conversation was brief and Ameri
can.
Iney have built dam forty feet
high and 500 feet long so that the hos
pital has supply Of 100 ,000. 900 pal
IONS OF water, which is to be filtered
and chiorinated for the benefit of the
SICK and also the wine drinking popu-
.a1lon 81 OF the town. The hospital is one
though its original plan was for 5000
peas wnen completed it will probably
nave double that capacity With it are
oelng constructed soap and splint fac
tories. and the sewerage system for
the hospital will be extended so that
the town will have advantage of it, thus
becoming one of the fortunate n,aces
in France.
The bakery and the laundry have
been completed here, and the planinr
mil built, SO that the hospital Is be-
coming city in itself, of masonry
and wood, the hospital being of
masonry.
Later in the day I met other cap
tains and lieutenants. and eaeh ws.
engaged on some important work. Some
were constructing locomotives. Others
were compiling" small automobiles or
big trucks. One was in charge of a
remount station. Another was build
ing barracks for so many thousand
men.
New-York tribune., 1918-04-21
By Lieutenant Boris Schumansk;

Nut of one hundred and eighty
million population in Russia,
one hundred and forty mill
New-York tribune., 1918-04-21

~ L,
one hundred and forty mill
ion are peasants.
The peasants were the most peace
ful element in Russia before the
neutrality-suspicious., industrious,
hard working. The Bolsheviki have
turned them into brutal hordes Of
mean profteers, eager for plunder,
ready to attack every land Or prop
erty owner who comes across their
path.
In many instances peasants leave
their villages and go to the nearby
cities, where they combine with the
soldier mob in orgies of rape and
plunder; in one instance a whole
village attacked a land owner, a for
mer army officer, and dragged him
out of his farmhouse to the railway
station, where gang of soldiers
beat him to death with the heels
Of their boots. The name OF the
officer was Prince Viasemsky, and
the peasants were from the village
Of Lotarevo, not far from the
princes farm. Not one of them
was punished or even taken to court,
In the government of Ekaterino-
slov, in the district of Novomoscovsk,
peasants from different villages
came to hard fighting over the con-
fscated land of the nobility, each
peasant refusing to admit the claim
Of the other. In the government of
Rjasan the peasants refused to sup
ply the city of Rjasan with fuel
from the nearby forest even fer the
city hospitals and schools.
Agrarian Riots
Spread Everywhere
In Dankov, a town in the govern
ment of Rjasan, the peasants plum
dered the farm of the land owner,
Drjasdow. In Zwenigorod they
pundered the farm of Count Po-
tozky. In both cases the peasants
fought among themselves and two
Of them were killed and many
wounded.
In Hollow the peasants not only
plundered all the grain of Land
owner Gessen, but tore down all his
brick buildings and transported the
bricks to their villages.
Serious agrarian riots were re-
ported from the government of
Aherson and Tambov.
In the government Of Mini Nov
gorod the peasants were as brutal to
their own kin. The peasants of the
village of Pirgali were starving be-
cause their neighboring villages re-
fused to sell them grain The whole
Village went in arms against some Of
their weaker neighbors and took
away their bread.
In the government of Nijegorod
not day passes without agrarian
riots, and not one night without in
cendiary fires. Peasants attack rich
And owners and take away with
hcm all the grain and much other
property on which they can lay
their hands. In one day the peasants
succeeded IN destroying the farm of
husinow, Kudriavzew, Korsakov,
schlemel and Of Kursikow brothers.
In the government of Samara they
pandered the sacred land Of the
monastery Serafn Pochitawsky and
carried away their booty on fourteen
carts.
New-York tribune., 1918-04-21
By George II. Seldes

A PORT IN FRANCE, April IL
~ To-day it is impossible to tell
the people of the United States
New-York tribune., 1918-04-21

lhey knew that nothing can win the
support of the peasants like the i'm
mediate grant of land so the very
flrst act of the Bolsheviki was to
issue a decree confiscating all the
land Of the nobility, land owners
churches and monasteries, and Civ
ing it in trust Of the peasant COM
mittees.
vi course, the peasants were over
whelmed with JOY at this decree and
many of their village churches rang
their bells in commemoration of the
freedom of the land, but, as in many
other of their DEGREES, the Bolshe
Wiki were masters in theory and
amateurs in practice. The peasants
could not lay hands On a single acre
of land except by force; in manv
villages civil war broke out among
the peasants themselves as soon as
poor peasant came to claim land
from one who had too much. When
the peasants sent delegates to the
Bolshevik commissaries in Petro-
grad they were told "the land is
free-go and take it,"
The delegates returned with the
message to the villages, and during
the months of November and De-
cember of last year not less than 600
agrarian riots and disorders broke
out among the peasants, and hun
dreds OF farms were burned or
otherwise destroyed. The once honest,
simple minded, hospitable Russian
peasant is now a desperate brute;
the property owning peasant family
is armed with axes and knives to
defend itself against any onslaught
from the poorer peasants or brodja
gas tramps. No peasants house is
now opened to a stranger or way
farer even for a drink of cold water.
He Buries His
Grain Crops
The peasant feels the pinch of the
war and Bolshevik anarchy by not
having his candle to light in the
evening, and by lack of clothes, iron
and many other necessary things. 1t
is hard for him even to get seed for
the coming year, and he is afraid to
part with his grain, rye and pota-
toes, which he buries in his barn
yards or nearby forests and sells
them to the townspeople only when
he can get very high prices.
The Bolsheviki, in order to combat
the high cost of bread and flour, is
sued decree fixing prices on the
peasants products.
This worked only one day and af.
fected only the products which were
actually in the market. On the fol-
lowing day not single peasants
cart came into the market place of
Petrograd or nearby towns, and
when citizen ventured to go to the
peasants village home and offer
money in advance the peasant re-
fused to take it.
What use to me is this paper
money? I have nearly box full of
it. Why, l could print
thousands of this money myself if I
had the paper. You give me
nails for my house, give me boots,
candles, cloth, and 1 will give YOU
grain in abundance"
And the peasants compelled the
Bolsheviki to withdraw their fixed I
prices in order to get some grain at
any price.
In Russia nowadays every one lives
for himself. No one knows what will
happen tomorrow and to whom he
will have to be thankful for his life. |
Patriotism, national considerations
are out of the Russian vocabulary. at
least openly, and the peasant is no |
New-York tribune., 1918-04-21

Copyright. 1913. by Edward Marshalll
New-York tribune., 1918-04-21

the country needs him let him go,
and he was killed in the first month
OF the war. l had three horses, but
am an old man, as you see, and
neglected them and two of them
died"
Poor horses" a soldier remarked,
amidst the laughter of all of us.
"Listen to me-" continued the peas
ant. Zone day an army officer came
to our village and said that the
army needed horses. He took mine
away. All right said. IF Rus
sla needs him, take him But the
officer took paper from his pocket,
wrote something and gave it to me.
"'What is that?' 1 asked him. not
being able to read it myself.
eco to the nearest Treasury
Office with this paper. and YOU will!
get forty rubles in cash for YOUR
horse
This | couid stand no longer"
said the peasant.
Baron thus addressed the Off
Ger, you took my only son and gave
me nothing, and forty rubles for
my horse. Is my horse worth to
Russia more than my son? Why
insult a poor MANI"
The peasant wiped his eyes with
the tail Of his sheopskin coat and
added:
Nov, brothers, is soldiers life
worth more than a kopeck?"
Brothers, yes, this was the right
word. / and a few more fellow Off
GERS were one with the peasant in
his sorrow, and so were our subor-
dinate soldiers. We were all sons Of
one great Russia. We cherished
something; we hoped for something.
The peasant of the Bolsheviki will
give neither his horse nor his son
for Russia.
An Example Of the
Bolsheviki Peasant
Here is a fair example of Boil
shevik peasant
In the government of Tamboy, in
the townlet Of Lipezk, lived the
land owner Golovnin.
He was a quiet, honest land own
er, fair-minded, charitable, and up
to the Bolshevik revolt lived in
peace with all the peasants Of the
nearby villages.
One day he heard sad news from
the city. Peasants and soldiers were
burning farms, plundering stores
and houses. Soon he noticed SOL
dier on his fields.
"Anything I can do for you?"
asked the land owner Golovnin.
Give me a horse" said the SOL
dier. The soldier took the horse,
rode away on him, and told the story
to the villagers.
Soon peasants came with their
grain and asked the land owner to
grind it for them into flour, which
he did free of charge.
This lasted some days. When
their grain was at an end they
asked him to grind for them his own
grain, and in fear he did it. They
took away all they could and then
came back and ransacked his house,
damaged all his agricultural ma
chinery, and broke his furniture out
of sheer Bolshevikism, the cult of
destruction.
Happily, the Russian Empire is so
large that even decentralization cam
not embrace the whole country, and
while some districts are utterly de-
moralized from the influx of Boil
shevik agitators and soldiers from
the front, the majority of the peas
ants in Central Russia and in the
outer provinces of Northern, South
western and Southern Russia are
busy on their farms and lead almost
a normal life.
New-York tribune., 1918-04-21

a PORT IN FRANCE, April IL
~ To-day it is impossible to tell
the people of the United States
specifically what the American engi-
neers are doing in France, but gen.
orally the work may be summed up in
one line-they are guaranteeing vic
tory for the American army in the
fighting months ahead.
This is a big thing to say, but these
are the days of great deeds and great
works also, with the hope of the world
set on the accomplishment of the
American army. Its job is just be-
ginning. The job their brothers of the
pick and hammer and shovel and riv-
eter began few months ago has be-
come so extensive, so gigantic in plan
and realization, that it is not the heat
OF patriotic fire, but the cold facts of
steel and concrete and wood and stone
which inform the astonished eye that
the men Of the rear arc winning their
half of the war.
And yet the generals and the colonels
and the captains, who with a sweep of
the hand and nod of direction order
the making of cities and the destruc-
tion of villages in their way, and who
have seen hills torn down and docks
spring up and locomotives arrive which
were ordered by mail, say merely "The
work is going on as if to blanket the
enthusiasm Of the visitor.
And the boys fresh from home, young
lads whose hearts still beat in the
States, all those thousands who along
with their officers want America to
know what is going on in France. be-
cause they are proud Of their work, re-
allze that for the present the facts
must remain behind the curtain of mil
itary secrecy.
For several days have been visiting
all the camps and works in this French
port, and of the things which I have
seen and of the operations the engi-
heers are engaged upon little can be
told, for the greater they are the less
must be said. This is thunderinq
city. 1t is an American city. roaring
win work and with traffic, and inland
Tor many miles in line that leads
eventually straight across the heart If
france to its battlefront the Americans
are at work.
railroads, wharvcs, docks. terminals
iocomotives-some have been hui1+
some are under way, some are vet on
blueprint paper, and it is because the
JOB is still unfinished, and will be for
several months, that the men whose
duty 1t Is to build characteristicallv
ffown upon enthusiastic reports and
say: "Wait until we are through and
nave moved out of here to the front"
The work is ain progress" thew saw
ana just what part is completed cannot
De told here, but perhaps this state
ment made by an officer will illustrate
Its magnitude.
II we were in America he said
with all the facilities which Amer;ca
oHers-~sure supply men, everything at
the end of our fingers or a telenbono
wlre-we would require $4,000 men for
2oo days to do this work"
New-York tribune., 1918-04-21
| 90 Busy Now
For Enthusiasm

Needless to say, there arc not "a ooo
men at this one port doing this one
Joo, but, on the other hand records
Tor time have been and are being made
such as the United States never knew
at home. But it will not be until the
last of the large plans still on naner
arc realized, after months of still hard
er work, that the American engineers
VIII share the enthusiasm and onti-
mlsm of the civilian observer.
All energies are concentrated on nre-
pairing supplies for the American army
Tonnage. Army tonnage includes al
most everything in the world of peace
and war: "Of shoes-and ships-and
sealing wax-of cabbages and kings"
modernized into something like "of
tanks and trains and toothpaste tins
or cheWlng gum and guns"
Provide for tonnage for 10000 600
men-that is the problem of the engi-
neers. Twelve million, because thev
figure that if the nation puts two mill
ION men into France it will require
The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-12-21
Phone SO
From 2 p. m. to
/ q. m.
WILHELM CASH
Is s5,000,00Q

Berlin. Dec. 20.-The private for
tune OF the former kaiser is estimated
at So,ooo,00o, In cash, mostly deposited
in various banks. His income from
this source is $225,00O.
The government has declared that
the private lands of the Hohenzollerns
viii not be seized, but crown domains
will pass to the national treasury.
There are 90 forests, farms, parks
and castles and other estates which the
Hohenzollerns have held, and only
seven of these are crown lands.
OF the cash holdings of the ex-
kaiser, s1.125,0o0 was paid to William
in 1871, and came from the indem-
nifty paid for the French. This sum,
the allies will demand, must be re-
turned by the estates of William Ho-
henzollern.