Salt Lake Telegram | 1937-02-19 | Page 19 | Religious Sect Has No Needy

RELIGIOUS SECT HAS NO NEEDY NELSON, B. C, Feb. JO Found a community that has never heard of the depression that through the lean years since 192t received no government relief, had no unemploy- menrand no destitution. That la the record of the 15,000 members of the Doukhobor communities commu-nities of British Columbia, a strict religious sect, established in several colonies, the largest at Brilliant, near bare. The Doukhobors are best known for spectacular nude parades and clashes with provincial law by a minor mi-nor faction several' years ago, but the colonists live so much apart from the world that their reputation reputa-tion worries them little. The depression hit them individually individ-ually very slightly, owing to their system of life. Every family works at farming, fruit growing, Jam making, mak-ing, logging or in the various sawmills saw-mills owned by the community. Community Supplies Homes la return, the community supplies sup-plies each family with a home, tools, farm implements, clothing, furniture furni-ture and other needs. The name of the sect, translated from Russian, means "Spirit Wrestlers." Wres-tlers." Legally, under Canadian corporation cor-poration laws, it bears the rather paradeaieal me af "Chnetiaa Community of Universal Brotherhood, Brother-hood, Ltd." While profits on various Doukhobor Douk-hobor enterprises declined sharply during the most severe years of the deoression. funds alwavs have .been more than sufficient to meet all needs. This was due to their varied In-terests. In-terests. When the market for farm produce was poor, lumbering was ; good. When lumbering slackened, i there was a better demand for farm produce. Under the Doukhobor system sys-tem of communal living and wholesale whole-sale buying living coats were small. Poller of Self-sufficiency .The policy of each colony Is to be as nearly self-sufficient as pos-1 sible. Women make 'all the cloth used In manufacture of their own, j the men's and children's clothing. 1 As they are strict vegetarians, practically prac-tically all food is grown on colony farms. I Everyone works and works hard. Women run the community jam fac- i tory and raise most of the fruit The Doukhobors, on religious grounds, refuse to register births, i deaths or marriages, snd are op-1 posed to all war or military training- They ware admitted to Canada In 1 1900, after they had suffered se- ; vara persecution in Russia. The . dominion government gave them a I large tract of swampy and rocky land that no other settlers would j claim. i It was agreed the colonists would never be called on to bear arms, and consequently they waived clti- sensbip rights and cannot vote. Within a few years they transformed trans-formed the "bad lands" on which they settled into fruit orchards, grain fields and truck gardens ranking with the best in Canada.