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Show THE RUSSIAN PEASANT The Three Branches of the Slavic PopulationGentle, ness of Character A Communistic System in the Villages-The Penal System. H B3T is dlllleult for those who H iy) live In western Europe or I T I In the eastern part of the L-"-! United States to realize IjLJSlI w,mt ext,'nt ,lus" sla Is still an agricultural nation, and to under In ml tlio slg-nltleanco slg-nltleanco of that fact. In Russia the large cities are few and far lietween, and, with the exception of .Moscow, nre almost nil upon the extreme western west-ern or southern border of the Umpire. Klght-tenth.il 0f the population Is still to be'found In detntclicd .lllngeo of from 1000 to 1C00 Inhnbltiints, scattered scat-tered over nn nreu much larger thnn that of tho United States. Any speculation spec-ulation upon the political future of Russia will bo futile if does not take into proper recount the nature of these village organizations (or "Mlrs," ns they nre called), nnd tho raclnl clrirncterlstlcs of the Individuals Individ-uals who constitute them. The Slavic population of Itussln Is divided Into tliree brunches, tho Great ltussian, (he Little ltusslan, und tho White lltisslnn. Of these the Great ltusslan Is by far predominant, numbering num-bering more tnan 40,000,000, and occupying oc-cupying the whole valley of the Volga, a large part of tho basin of the Don; and extending westward to the Dnieper Dnie-per nnd Dvlnn Itlvcrs. Tolstoy, with whose picture In peasant costume every one Is familiar, Is both physically phys-ically and temperamentally the typical typi-cal Great ltusslan. With his stalwart frame, Ms lleht brown hair and heard, his mild blue or gray eye, broad fuce nnd gentle expression, r.ud lilt belted blouse overhanging bis trousers, the Grcnt ltusslan meets you everywhere In the kingdom. Not only in his orlglnnl Jiome, but in Vladivostok, throughout Siberia and Central Asia, on the shores of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, he is sure to greet you with the offer of broad shoulders or of his swift droshky for the transportation trans-portation of your luggage and your person. Tho Little ltusslan, next in Importance Impor-tance of the Slavic population, often has dark hair and dark eyes, supposed sup-posed by some to have come tnrough a slight intermixture of Tf.rtnr blood; but In general his characteristics are similar to those cr his brothers in Great Russia. IIo is, however, cleaner In arpearance and manner of living, and his villages show signs of greater prosperity. Tho CossncKS of tho Don nnd the Ural are simply tho frontiersmen of rtussla, with such modifications as border life produces in nil classes of people. They possess a military organization, which Is extremely ex-tremely democratic, except In tho appointment ap-pointment of its higher ofllccrs. Naturally Nat-urally they have come to be tho chief dependence of the Government In, preserving pre-serving order throughout tho Empire, their relation to the ordinary army of conscripts being something like that of our regular nrmy o tho Stnte mllltin. We have much the same difficulty dif-ficulty In the United States In suppressing sup-pressing disorders through the mllltla that Russiu has. through the regular army. In repeated instances our militia mil-itia have refused to respond for the forcible suppression of disorders fomented fo-mented by their fellow citizens. The refusal of Russian troops to lire upon a mob, and tho resort to the Cossacks as wo resort to tho regular army, arc no new things in Russia. THE GENTLE RUSSIAN. Notluug can bo more erroneous than tho lmpre.-slon which Is conveyed by picturing the Russian ns n "bear," for, really, ho Is n gentle creature, overflowing over-flowing with sympathy, and this Is the basis of ( his most characteristic faults. Roggtirs aro everywhere tol-criited. tol-criited. They lino tho npproncbes to every church, nnd stretch out their op-pealing op-pealing hands from every corner. Nor uro they rudely thrust nslde by nny. Their very numbers indicate the consideration con-sideration with which they nro treated. treat-ed. Tho exile, as ho starts for Siberia, Is universally looked upon as the more unfortunate rather than crlmlnn', and Is the recipient of many parting gifts. In Siberia itseli tha free settler ever leaves some breadnnd water outside his door that the fugitive from justice may Mud refreshment In his lonely night murehes. It was In obedience to this sentimentality of tho peop'e at large that capital punishment was abolished In Russia -."0 years ago. Tho whole penal system of Siberia has really sprung out of the sumu national na-tional seiitlinentiillsin. Kxllo to Siberia, Si-beria, with a speedy releaso from close confinement nnd n chance to retrieve re-trieve one's fortune- In a nr w country, has seemed to the nation tnoro nuinaue than bummary execution or prolonged close coullnemcut. However mlstiikcu tho policy may havo been, tho liu-pulso liu-pulso lending to It has been generous rather than severe, whflo no ono could well s o beforehand tho Incidental evils which havo been connected with It. Now that tho policy is to bo reversed, re-versed, the tlrst requisite Is tho erection erec-tion of a largo number of now local prisons, whtro it is doubtful If tho unfortunnto class will bo any better off than they have been. It is Interesting Inter-esting to note that Prlnco Kropotklu, upon being conllncd In nn up-to-date French prison, emphatically declared that the General effect of the Siberian prison was better than that of the prions of Western Europe. 3ho Russian neither iitirt.es himself nor any one else. One of tho most stalking characteristics observed through uiauy nonths close assoela-1 Y aaaaaaaaaa tlon with hlin, tlrst nnd last, has been the iinlfoii.i klndnesswlth which workmen work-men nre treated by ov rsecrs. A recent trip down tho Mississippi upon a river steambont revealed scenes of hard-hcortedness hard-hcortedness and cruelty on tho part of the overseers "who were drlvln;; negro stevedores to the utmost limit of human cndurance,shocklng every sentiment of humanity. The harsh and rasping tones, the t,errlblo profanity, and the repented blows upon tho backs of the overworked ne,roes, contrasted )u n forcible manner with the patience observed everywhere here. The Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon overseer Is ii brute compared with a Russian. These feelings of sympathy sym-pathy found expression In n striking scone which I once witnessed In a group of children who had como out to slide upon some newly frozen ice, at the beginning of winter. A number of children were barefooted, but tboso who hnd Shoes, Instead of monopolizing monopoliz-ing them entirely to their own benefit, bene-fit, at Intervals took them oft and lent them to tuelr less fortunate companions. compan-ions. T1IE VILLAGE GOVERNMENT. Parndoxlcnl ns It trny seem, ono of tho grentest hindrances to progress nniong the Russhtn peasantry is the n mount of liberty retnlned by the vll-llge vll-llge commune of MIr. Admirable in many respects ns an organization is, it is looked upon by tho most enlightened enlight-ened friends of Russia ns one of the uinln obstiicles to prepress Jn tho social so-cial nud political condition of the Empire. Em-pire. The MIr either owns or rents tho lands which Its Individual members mem-bers cultivate. Annually, by universal 8iilTrago 1- which tho woui-n who nro widows, or -whose husbands are absent, ab-sent, take part, elders uro elected whose duty it is to see that each family fam-ily has its proper proportion of the land assigned to it. But, If there Is any dissatisfaction, each Individual has the right to call a public meeting and make a Uual appeal to the whele body of voters. But every house has Its garden well stocked with cabbagec nnd cucumbers and other vegetables, while tho houso itse.f, built of logs and covered with thatch, .s admirably adapted to tho conditions con-ditions of llfo to which tho peasant has becomo attached. It la warm In winter nnd cool in summer, nnd provided provid-ed with a large brick oven in the principal prin-cipal room, which well conserves tho heat f trnlsbcd by tho scanty supply of fuel. Tho furniture Is rmple, consisting con-sisting of a few I ouches and rough bedsteads nnd a tnble. The oven itself it-self nlso cften serves the purpose of affording facilities for tho weekly steam bath which every Rurshin is careful to take. In the winter the top of tho own is a favorlto sleeping place for the aged members of the family. fam-ily. After driving over a level and treeless pralrlu for many miles without with-out seeing a single habitation, as one is ordinarily compelled to do, it is n pleasant experience to como suddenly upon u village of such houses, snugly ensconced beside sou1, little stream which furnishes a convenient water supply. Life in these vIliageB Is certainly cer-tainly much less lonely than In the scattered habitations of our own Western West-ern prairies. The MIr, again, has the right and responsibility of dealing with Infractions Infrac-tions both of the civil nnd criminal laws up to u certain degree, and is permitted, per-mitted, ns tho nuclcnt Greek communities commu-nities were, to ostracise objectlounl members. More than fifty per cent, of all the exiles to Siberia have been sent there by vote of tho village communities com-munities lu which they lived. When such 'u vote Is taken, thu imfortunato member Is turned over to the general Government and put under police surveillance sur-veillance In Siberia. Nor Is a criminal who lir.s been sentenced by tho courts permitted to return to his commune except by general permission. TJiu Mir has certain common responsibilities re-sponsibilities which every Individual shares. It owes to the gnceriil Government Gov-ernment taxes aud military service. This Is essential to the maintenance of the unity of the Empire r.nd to tho fulfillment of all the higher aspirations aspira-tions of the Slavic race, llenco It comes, about th'.'t the Individual member mem-ber of tlic MIr Is not permitted to go and como as ho likes; but, upon leaving leav-ing home, he must give a pledge to his fellow member that lie will continue con-tinue to bear his share of the common burdens, nt least until the next census cen-sus is taken. Ho must, therefore, secure se-cure lenvu of absence from them. This1 Is the reason for that Internal passport pass-port System which to outsiders seems so meddlesome and onerous, while, viewed lu the light of the real equities of tho case, It Is perfectly fair and Just, und is so considered by the muss of the Russian people. The great commerclr.l and manufacturing centres of Russia nro lllled will; peasants who havo obtained teirporury leave of absence ab-sence from their Mlrs fo. the purpose of Improving their condition lu these broader ileitis of activity. Often they continue for tho rest of their lives to reMdo in tho cities, while cheerfully cheer-fully paying their annual tux to the MIr. This, however, is not regarded ns an Imposition, hut really as a payment pay-ment to secure an old uge pension; for so long as they pay this tux tliej can, if business adversity overtakes them, return nnd bo reinstated in nil the rights of tho village, G. Frederick Wright, la the Now York Evening Post. |