Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1920-06-05
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction
m Europe Follow the Great
World War?
LAND QUESTION IN RUSSIA
Natural Desire Of Peasants TO partI-
clpate in Ownership Of Soil
They Till Is Root Of the
Revolution.
Article XVII
BY FRANK cOMERFoRD.

III taking with people about Russia,
l nave discovered that most people in
America have only a faint. uncertain.
vague idea of the country. Car Mich
"iaS, The last of the Sclf-proclaimed nu-
tocratS, was monarch of 8 $3.50 600
square miles, onr-Nixth of the entire
Iahu surface of the earth. The arput
Russian empire is spread over part Of
NV" continents. Europe and Asia. II is
almost entirely confined to the cold
ana temperate zones.
Three seas bound il on the north
White. Ear"ntS and Kara of the arctic.
IN" seas of Ecring Okhotsh and japan
OF me northern Pacific bound II on the
east. The Baltic sea, the cuffs on
f"thula and Finland limit it ON the
northwest; two sinuouS lines Of land
front separate ii respectively from
sweden and Norway on the northwest.
ana from Prussia, Austria and Rou-
mania on the west. ON the south and
east the frontier has changed frequent
~ according 10 the expansion and con-
traction OF the empire under the pres
sure OF political cxIgency and expedi-
"hcE. The Black sea is the princi-
PAL demarcating feature on the south
OF European Russia. ON the west side
OF that sea the south frontier touches
'he Danube for some 100 miles; on the
east side Of the same sea ii zigzags
from the Black sea to the Caspian.
utlIlZlng the river AraS for part OF
the distance. AS the Caspian is viz
'uaIiy "a Russian sea, Persia may be
SAID 10 form the next link in the south
ern boundary of the Russian empire.
followed by Afghanistan. On the Pa
Mrs, Russia has since 1885 been CO.
termlnouS with British India, but the
boundary then swings away north
round Chinese Turkestan, and the
north side Of Mongolia. and since 1905
II has skirted the north of Manchuria.
being separated from it by the river
Amur.
The total length of the frontier line
Of the Russian empire by land is
$500 miles in Europe and nearly TO-
600 miles in Asia, and by sea, over
1000 miles in Europe and between
10000 and 10000 miles in Asia-a
frontier of $4,000 miles.
Empires Vast Population.
The population Of the empire, ac-
cOrding TO the 1915 census, was esti-
mated at 1s2, 1921 900. according to the
same census this population was dis
tributed as follows: In European Rus
STA, 131, 796. 800; in Poland, 12125,OOO;
in Caucasus, 13,125,0OO; in Siberia, 12,-
337,9OO; in the central Asian provinces.
1,125,0O0; Finland, 3,125OOO.
Over so per cent of the people Of
Russia are peasants. The land is their
problem. 1t means home to them
work, life. Their one dream has been
to own the land. Land ownership is
their definition of freedom. their idea
of happiness.
The Russian peasant has been a
stranger in his own country. The
man who tills the soil and lives on the !
land and yet never owns an acre Of |
It is a foreigner, even though his |
forbears may have been native to the |
country for centuries. The Russians |
have felt this; they are simple, home
loving people. From the conversations |
! have had with Russians Of the peas |
ant class believe that they have suf- /
fered more because they never had a |
chance to own their own homes, their
own farms, than from the denial to
them Of political freedom. The land |
question is a heart question, hearth
question TO them.
Crime in Land Distribution.
Some idea of the land crime In Rus
sia is told In the startling figures show
ing the actual distribution of arabic
land, forests and meadows In Euro
pean Russia. The following table Is
only one count In the Indictment:
European Russia
Percent
Acres age
Arabic land ............ 3G1,435.ooO 2s