The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1920-07-22
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction
in Europe Follow the Great
World War;
LAND QUESTION IN RUSSIA
Natural Desire Of Peasants to Partl.
cipate in Ownership Of Soil
They Till 10 Root Of the
Revolution.
Article XVII
BY FRANK coMERFoRD.

have discovered that most people In
America have only faint, uncertain
vague idea of the country. Car Mich
olas, the last Of the self-proclaimed au.
tocrats, was monarch of 100000
square miles, one-sixth Of the entire
land surface of the earth. The great
Russian empire is spread over part OF
two continents. Europe and Asia. 1t is
almost entirely confined to the cold
and temperate zones.
Three seas bound 1t on the north
White, Barents and Kara Of the arctic
the seas Of Boring, Okhotsh and japan
of the northern Pacific bound it on the
east. The Baltic sea, the CULTS OF
Bothnia and Finland limit 1t on the
northwest; two sinuous lines Of land
front separate 1t respectively from
Sweden and Norway on the northwest,
aid from Prussia, Austria and Rou-
mania on the west. On the south and
east the frontier has changed frequent
ly, according to the expansion and con-
traction Of the empire under the pres
sure Of political exlgency and expedi-
ency. 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
the Danube for some 120 miles; on the
east side Of the same sea it zigzags
from the Black sea to the Caspian,
utilizing the river Aras for part Of
the distance. AS the Caspian is vir-
tually a Russian sea, Persia may be
said to form the next link in the south
ern boundary Of the Russian empire
followed by Afghanlstan. On the Pa
Mrs, Russia has since 1885 been CO.
terminous with British India, but the
boundary then swings away north
round Chinese Turkestan, and the
north side of Mongolia, and since 1905
it has skirted the north of Manchuria,
being separated from 1t 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, &C
cording to the 1915 census, was esti-
mated at 1S2, 1872 900. According to the
same census this population was dis
tributed as follows: In European Rus
STA, 131. 796, 800; in Poland, 12,125,000;
in Caucasus, 13,125,000; in Siberia, 12,-
337 900; in the central Asian provinces,
11,125,0O0; Finland, 3,125,000.
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 Tor centuries. The Russians |
have felt this; they are simple, home
loving people. From the conversations
have had with Russians of the peas
ant class I believe that they have suf-
tered more because they never had
chance to own their own homes, their
OWN farms, than from the denial to
hem Of political freedom. The land
question is heart question, hearth
question to them.
Crime In Land Distribution.
Some idea of the land crime In Rus
ia is told In tie startling figures show
ng the actual distribution Of arabic
and, forests and meadows In Euro
,ean Russia. The following table is
,nly one count In. the Indictment:
European RuRaIa