Polk County news. [volume] (Benton, Tenn.) 191?-1983, 1920-03-18

I interest Is Capital
II the Leaue Of Nations fails thi,
suspicion viii be confirmed. The
movement toward am iurvrnationalisn
Of the workers viii be given great
impetus. The League Of Nations fall
ing. they argue there is only one Other
means Of preventing war. It is foI
the men who make up the rank anS
file Of the armies in time of war, the
millions recruited from shops, fac
tories and fields. TO get together anS
organize au international labor au
thority ta save the working men from
war. Such a movement would take
away from governments IN lmpOrtan'
and necessary function and give {,
to 42 acres. Therefore the peasants
were compelled to rent land from the
| landlords at fabulous prices. The
aggregate value of the redemption and
land taxes often reached 1Sj to $50
per cent of the normal value of the
allotment, not to speak of the taxes
for recruiting, the churches, roads and
local administration. chiefly levied
from the peasants. The peasants have
sunk deeper into debt every year. The
scheme was quickSand-the harder
they worked and struggled the deeper
into debt they fell. Increasing arrears
have driven One-fifth of the inhabit-
ants from their houses. Every year
more than half the adult males Tin
q ,.f, -, Of
men and oue-third of the women) are
forced to quit their homes and wan
der throughout Russia in search OF
work. In the governments of the
black earth region the state of mat
ters is hardly better.
The phrase "class distinction" was
more than rhetoric in Russa-it was
part of the chains, it handcuffed deS-
tiny, bolted the door of opportunity.
The great mass of the people, 61.6
per cent peasants; 10 per cent made
up the nobility; 9 per cent the
,lergy; 93 per cent the burghers
and merchants; 81 per cent the milf
AIRY; thus 1470O0 600 of the Russians
we're peasants.
The slavery in Russia oonsecrated
Dy law in 1909 was partly abolished
n 1861. The Act only pretended to
iberate the serfs. Even under the
,est landlords conditions continued to
,es terrible. Household servants or de-
,endenfs ittathed L the pei scIai seFy
ce of their masters were re-
eased. They joined the town pro-
etariat The peasants were given al
otments of arabic land. These al
otments were not given to the indi-
iduals, they were given over to the
ural commune called the Mir, which
7as made responsible as a whole for
he payment Of allotments. 1t was q
Ort of land communism, except that
he title did not pass even to the Mrs.
he enormous charge against The land
lade them tenant serfs. The Mir
as a mortgaged community. The re-
olGption charge was not calculated
\ the value of the land, but was con-
dered as payment for the loss of the
labor of the serfs. The
of the peasant was rec
gniZed in the Act which pretended
Peasants systematically Cheated.
Many proprietors of land saw to 1t
at the allotments did not give the
,asants the needed pasture lands
ound their homes. This craftily cal
llated scheme compelled the peasants
rent pasture land from the land
rds at any price. The landlords
Id them up.
1t was only as late as 1904 that the
ndlord was forbidden by law to in
ct corporal punishment on the peas
T. Even this law was winked at
a the practice of treating human
ives as blutes treat tired domestic
imals, continued. The peasant was
Chattel and the cheapest farm fix
re. There were plenty Of peasants.
Notwithstanding the barbarlc life In
ISsia, the population continued to
NV.
The peasants only participation in
vernment was in the assembly
led the Mir With its quaint GUS
ms, II Is OF lllllnellloTldl antiquity
e assembly Of the Mir consisted Of
the peasant householders of the vii
,e. These elected a head man and
lector of local taxes. 1t was the near
Russian peasants ever got to free
H. 1t was the clearing house for
troubles socialism of SORROWS,
ouch of local self government which
,e no rights; it simply provided
ans of cooperating in burdc.J
ring.
pyrlght, 1920, Western Newspaper Unionl