The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1920-07-08

N'SaNhNA Sioup NClC NollllluliSlS Al
practice, particularly when the opera
ton of communism came home to
them.
For a time those peasants who had
a surplus sold their product to the
government. For ii they receiver
questionable paper money with a
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 "a up to the bolshevik government
TO feed them, or fall Raiding par
ties were sent out. The Red army
was used. The peasants stood together
to protect their property. The social.
cation of land failed. Production on
the farms fell. General poverty re-
suited. The problem Of the bolshevik
government to provide food for the
cities still remained. With the failure
| VI COlIllillllISll VI Tic iunu, Tic SoNCIh-
ment set to work to cultivate the great
proprietary estates on a cooperative
plan. Graft, inefficiency of administra-
ton, and the unwillingness of the
peasants to work, caused this plan TO
fail.
Kerzhenstey in the "Izvestia" Of the
provincial executive committees of
January 90, 1919, gives a picture of
the situation: "The facts describing
the village soviet of the Uran borough
present a 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 I'm their power to antagoniZe the
population against the soviet rule.
Rekhalev, himself, has often been
found in an intoxicated condition and
he has frequently assaulted the local
inhabitants. The beating up of visit
ors to the seSv,et orr: was an ordinary
occurrence. In the village of Biere-
zovka 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
Of the executive committee, Glakhov,
Morev, Makhov, and others, have zone
even further. They have organized
''requisition parties" which were moth
ing else but organized pillagings, in
the course Of which they have used
wire-wrapped sticks on the recalci-
trants. The abundant testimony, veri-
fed by the soviet commission, pOr-
trays a very striking picture of vio-
lence. When these members of the ex-
ecutive committee arrived at the town
ship of Sadomovo they commenced to
assault the population and to rob them
of fo~odstuffs and of their household
belongings. such as quilts, clothing,
harness, etc. No receipts for the re-
Questioned goods were given and no
money paid. They even resold to 9th
ers on the spot some Of the bread
stuffs which they had requisitioned."
This Is the testimony of a w%ell-known
loyal bolshevik leader.
Reports Flogging Of Peasants.
The b%olsheyik, Latzis, reported in
the 'Izvestia" Of January Is, 1919,
that "in the VeliZsh county of the
province of Vitebsk they are flogging
the peasants by the authority Of the
local soviet committee"
The b%olshevik, Krivoshayev, re-
marks In the "~Severnaya Communal"
of May 10, 1919: 'The soviet workers
are taking from the peasants chickens,
ing for It. In some households Of these
poverty-stricken folk they are confs-
eating even the pillows and the samo-
vars, and everything they can lay
their hands on. The peasants natural
ly feel very bitterly against the soviet
rule"
The peasants borough meetings of
the province Of Kostroma forwarded
a resolution to Lenine published in
the "Izvestia," In which they a v
'The members Of the soviets are rul-
ing us; they are violating our will and
are tdltdiinihS US dS Il we were uuilD
cattle"
The peasants are hiding their
rubles, holding them for a day when
they hope that the blight of com
munism will pass and sane democratic
government will ~reorganize Russia.
bring order out of chaos, establish
freedom. Their sa~fety-deposit boxes
are empty bottles into which the peas
ants stuff the paper rubles and then
bury the bottles. They look for a day
when a stable government will re-
deem these paper promises called
money. which today are of little value.
1t shows their lack of trust In the
government and its banking system.
1t also points to the interest they have
In the passing of the b~olshevik gov
eminent, and the hope they bold for
the coming of a new state.
Many Of the peasants who seized
land are conscious Of the dishonesty
Of their title and Of the insecurity of
their possession. They want good,
honest TILE to their land. Several hun
dred million rubles were sent to the