Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1920-07-31

For time those peasants who had
a surplus sold their product 20 The
/ government For il they received
Questionable paper money with
! doubtful value. Then began the hoard
/ ing or farm products. Tie peasants de-
! manded manufactured things which
! sHey needed, in exchange for their
farm products The government do
not have the manufactured articles
! lhe peasants needed and wanted The
! pf"trtdrlat Of the cities was hungry.
II Wa up to the bol>heyik government
/ 10 iced them. or fall Raiding par
/ ties were sent out The Red" army
! was used. The peasants stood together
| &" protect their property The sociaii-
! zailon Of land failed. Production on
! the farms fell. General poverty re-
| suited. The problem Of the b0lSheyik
! 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 ineftc1ency Of admiuiStra-
! ton, and the unwilliugneSS Of the
peasants to work, caused this plan to
fail
kerzhenstey in the "I2vestia" of the
| provincial executive committees of
! January 80. 1919, gives 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, Rekha(ev,
! and his nearest cO-workerS. have done
/ all In their power to antagonize the
! population against the soviet rule.
/ kekhatcv, himself. has often been
! found in an intoxicated condition and
/ he has frequently assaulted the local
/ Inhabitants The heating up Of visit
] OrS to the soviet office was an ordinary
/ occurrence. III the village Of Biere-
! ZoyEa the peasants have been thrash
/ cd, not only with fists, hut have been
/ assaulted with sticks. robbed Of their
/ footwear and cast into damp cellars.
/ on bare e3rtheH floors. The members
/ If the executive committee. GIakhov.
/ Morey, Makhov, and others. have gone
! even further They have organized
/ "rcGuiSition 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 very striking picture Of vio-
/ lpace. When these members of the eX-
! ecuriVe committee arrived at the town
/ ship of Sadomovo they commenced 10
assault the population and to rob them
| of fOOdStuffS 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 well-known
| loyal bolshevik leader.
Reports FIoeuinq of Peasants.
The boishevik, 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 holShevik. Kriv0shayev, re-
| marks in the "Severnaya Commune"
of May 10. 1919: The soviet workers
are taking from the peasants chickens,
geese. bread and butter, without pay
ing for It. In some households Of these
| noverty-stricken folk they are cOntiS-
eating even the pillows and the SamO-
vars. and everything they can lay
their hands on. The peasants natural
Iy feel very bitterly against the soviet
rule"
The peasants borough meetings Of
the province of KOStrOma forwarded
resolution to LeRjne published in
! the "Izvestia," in which they say:
The members of the s0yiets are rul-
ing US: they are violating our will and
are tantalizing us as If we were dumb
cattle"
The neasants are hiding their
ruhleS, 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 safety-depOsit boxes
are empty bottles into which the peas
ants stuff the paper rubles and then
bury the bottles. They look for day
when stable government will re
deem these paper promises called
money, which today are of little value.
It shows their lack Of trust in the
government and its banking system.
It also points TO the interest they have
in the passing of the bolshevik gov
eminent. and the hope they hold for
the coming of 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 title to their land. Several hun
bred million rubleS were sent TO the
government treasury of 0msk by peas
ants asking that they be given honest
title to their land.
Copyright. 1920. Western Newspaper Union)
Allies to Drive Turks Into Asia.
Observation-Disclosures of Constanti-
- n To- H.