Polk County news. [volume] (Benton, Tenn.) 191?-1983, 1920-07-08


of their labor belonged to themselves,
Both classes were individualists.
Neither group were communists In
practice, particularly when the opera
tion of communism came home to
them.
For a time those peasants who had
a surplus sold their product to the
government. For it they received
questionable paper money with
doubtful value. Then began the hoard
ing of farm products. The peasants de-
manded manufactured things which
they needed. In exchange for their
farm products. The government did
not have the manufactured articles
the peasants needed and wanted. The
proletariat of the cities was hungry.
1t was up to the bOlshevik government
to feed them, or fall Raidlng par
ties were sent out. The RED army
was used. The peasants stood together
to protect their property. The sociali-
zation of hand failed. Production On
the farms fell. General poverty re-
suited. The problem of the bOlsheyik
government to provide food for the
cities still remained. With the failure
of communism of the land. the govern
ment set to work to cultivate the great
proprietary estates on cooperative
plan. Graft, inefficiency of administra-
,tion, and the unwillingness of the
peasants to work, caused this plan to
fail. y
Kerzhenstey in the "Izvestia" Of the |
provincial executive committees of |
January %, 1919, gives a picture of |
the situation: "The facts describing /
the village soviet of the Uran borough
present shocking picture which is
no doubt typical of all other corners
of our provincial soviet life. The chair
man of this village soviet, Rekhalev,
and his nearest co-wOrkers, have done
all in their power to antagonize the
population against the soviet rule.
Rekhaley, himself has often been
found in an intoxicated condition and
he has frequently assaulted the local
The beating up of visit
Ors to the soviet office was an ordinary
occurrence In the village of Biere-
zoyka the peasants have been thrash
ed, not only with fists, but have been |
assaulted with sticks, robbed of their |
footwear and cast into damp cellars
on bare earthen floors. The members
If the executive committee, Glakhov,
hax 1
even further They have organized {
parties" which were moth
ng else but organized pillagings, In
he course of which they have used |
wrapped sticks on the recalci- {
rants. The abundant testimony, veri- =
led by the soviet commission, por-
rays very striking picture Of vio-
ence. When these members of the ex-
.cutive committee arrived at the town :
hip of Sadomovo they commenced to
ssault the population and to rob them
f foodstuffs and of their household | q
such as quilts, clothing, ]
arness, etc. No receipts for the re-
uisitloned goods were given and no
money paid. They even resold to 9th
rs on the spot some of the bread.
tufts which they had requisitione&
his Is the testimony of'a well-knnvA
)yal boshevik leader. 1T
Reports Flogging Of Peasants. Id
The bolshevlk, Latzis, reported In 0
he Tzvestia" OF January Is, 1919
nat ain the Velizsh county OF the
rovince of Vitebsk they are flogging s.
he peasants by the authority of the c.
zeal soviet committee" =,
The bolshevlk, Krivoshayev, re- .,
arlls In the "Severnaya Communa" '
! Muy 10, 1919; "The soviet workers
re taking from the peasants chickens, a,
,ese, bread and butter, without pay =,
g for IT, In some households of these /,
folk they are confis- u
lting even the pillows and the samo-
lrs, and everything they can lay q,
elr hands on. The peasants natural
feel very bitterly against the soviet q
lie" /