THE RUSSIAN PEASANTRY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 178, 30 July 1877, Page 4

THE RUSSIAN PEASANTRY.

The, following brief aocount has b^QQ kindly handed to us (& M.I{ei[ett(tj~\6v publication : — "l,t is im-; pos'aibleio understand the conditions of, tse~ present' European convict without bearing in mind %Uq gr^ftfi soasal change' t^afi' -hss ipasaed over the Russian Bppice siooe the Crimean was, la 1854 one-third ortha whole population were serfs. By tha legislation of 1861 tb^. : Jhaife_. t beoomd nofc s oalx^.freemeo, bat freeholders of farms-large enough to keep them from want. This enfranchisement of a cppgnlation of twenty millions ia the most notable act of legislation in any country duriog the r present century. Ia the United StaTeV S'wV militon Vegroea were eiifranohieed at thelcfose of the war, and were suddenly entrusted with political pC?wer,"oiiti9in'g a social and political d^6rgtsaisatioG from whicli the Stales are aiowly reeo^aricg 1 . The much faster >vOfk of BussH)n ecfraacfaiseme^i6 has btaea accoenpauied by no soeial'cdQvolaion, but has been far"more ei||it^l. It h"aa ■ created ' the most naffiterous free peasaijtry in Europe, thereby (adding, immensely to the power aWi Fesoarces of the State. Pa'ftid&EKSal ets i% '-'■ tß'ay'a'e^i^ it Is pei> feytly'tt^e tttat in she inferior' parts of her political organisatioa, Russia is now th,© most; democratic of European oojintries. The Rueaian peasantry, bel9e€t^h6.y fellinto^&stateof serfdom still retained communism in the use of laalf which hiatory rß^als^aßihe cuTs-, torn of our own forefathers in the earliest , times; and in Russia the vestigeß_of this-communiam have never been wholly loai. Imperial legislation has now firmly established it alongside the Western custom of individual property* Aa the aerf had always the right to a-certain~amouat of land from which £o i&iee his subsistence,' it was. felt that to. give him his freedom with*' out the means of livelihood would only oreate. an immense pauper claaa. He would have considered freedom from personal chastisement dearly purchased b/ liability to dismissal by his master, with little opportunity of obtaining other work.' The plan adopted was thisV - Ev'erjr landholder waff compelled to hand over to his former serfs their cottagea and an amount of land sufficient to support them, to be held by them in freehold, subjecfe to a rent either in labor or money. The labor rent was about one-fourth of the amount he was entitled to obtain from them wtfdn in aervitttde} bat as the equivalent in money was fixed at 5d a day— a rate very mnoh below the real wages current in Russia — the peasants have almost universally adopted that form of payment. Further, the landholder was compelled to accept seventeen years' purchase aa full release from all rent, and' to facilitate this; Che Government advanced fdar-fiftha of the amount on the .security of the rent. The land thus handed over by the landlords, in most cades, though not aniversßlly, became the property of the village in\ common, and the produce is divided acoording to the number of the family. Thus a large family is an unmixed blessing, and the children who hsve beat? supported By the general labor of the village become in their turn the breadwinners, and thus repay what has been advanced to them. When the population of a village becomes greater than the land will comfortably support, a colony is formed and a fresh village settled. The Russian Empire has been formed by this process of village colonisation. From its island homes our race has crossed pathless oceans and.^founded settlements on every, shore; but the Russian has ever had abundance of room for expansion, and from the dawn of history to' the present time, he has'beeb colonising northward and eastward. Each village manages its awn affairs, add so long as it pays Imperial taxes, ; add furnishes its quota of recruits ii is a little republic. Thus behind the Imperial despotism, there are'gteat popular forces Which np popular 'Government can neglect. 86 long as the Imperial policy is truly in accordance with the national mind and heart, ao long may the Caar retain, his irresponsible p6 weir. Meanwhile the political growth of the people is preparing the way for a higher form of national existence. It -will remain for a lasting honor to the present Czar and his advisers Jthat they have wisely guided the popular forces, and in the great change in the condition of the people tney have resisted the olj aristocratic party, and, by securing the well-being; and contentment of the peasantry, have laid the foundations of their power deep and strong."