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Show . . ' y H I . , ANA DA 1ms put hor I I ofllclnl 8tnmp of np- 111 I,rvnl on the Douk-H Douk-H I hobors. J A lato report ot the HBvbwl CannJlan interior de-lySVvHvl de-lySVvHvl partmcnt Is devoted IUbPiUBlI ontlrcty to this liH Mmam "Christian Communl-iMSrMI Communl-iMSrMI ty of 1110 Universal ll)Y&7lll nrotnerllod," as the IOvSvl Douknoborscnll them MfSi ISM BOlvcs In It are em-MQjg em-MQjg U0(llcU the results of ,Jjjj2 a careful ofllclnl In-vestigntlou In-vestigntlou that was provoked by the flood of ndverso criticism during tho Inst ten years against theso "Spirit Wrestlers" ever since they first settled In west-orn west-orn Canadn. Its obvious purpose Is the Indorsement of the Doukhobora ns citizens of tho Dominion and tho discouragement of nny further nt-tempts nt-tempts to mullgn them. Tho report shows tlint instead of being "gold-bricked" by the Doukhobora, Douk-hobora, Cnnndn really got an excellent excel-lent body of cltlzeus when she brought tho "Douks" qver to this fM Bldo of the Atlantic. For years the "Douks" M wero looked upon as n joke and Cnnada was SB laughed nt and ridiculed, but now there la a HW different tnle to tell. Most of tho stories that l. brought the lmmlgrnnta into contempt were v based upon tho doings of a small minority of jB,T tho communists, religious zealots whoso fervor i$m led them Into extra vngance of conduct such ns could bo oxplnlncd only by mcntnl do- I rnngement. These zealots went naked In tho I mlddlo of winter on pilgrimages through the I snow In search of tho Messiah. They would I not work and they would not sanction work I by others. They oven turned looso their ; I horses, cattle, sheep and hogs (given to them I by tho Canadian government), because they I didn't believe that horBcs or oxen should be . I mndo to toll for man or that sheep or hogs ' I should bo eaten liy man. 'rm Tho majority of tho immigrants, however, I wero Industrious and painstaking nnd had lit- ; I tie sympathy for tho fanntlcs. Theso' Indus- ' I trlous ones have built up tho community prop- n.'B erty until now tho Doukhobor colonics nro I among tlio best In tho Snskntchowan country. I They nro as deoply rollglous as ever, and they 1 I cling to their old Qunker-llko customs tena- ,1 clously, but they no longer nro looked upon I ub a problem by tho Canadian government nnd I there will bo no inoro talk of dispossessing I them from tho magnificent domain they oc- I cupy. I The Doukhobor has mado good. I Tho first shipload of Doukhobors loft Ba- I toun, In Asiatic UusBln, In January, 1899, bound I for Canada, and by tho middle of that yenr I inoro thnn 7,000 of them had sottled in tho I far northwest. Now tho number of theso po- I cullnr religionists In Canada exceeds 10,000. I Tho creed of tho Doukhobors Is somowhat I vague In many dotalls. ' The principal points I of their belief, howevor, nro theso: There Is I ono God: tho Holy Trinity Is beyond compre- I honslon. They do not beliovo In praying In temples mado with hnnrt, and say that all tho I coromonlea of tho churches, being useless, I wero much better left alone. Luxury In food B or dress 1b condomned, nnd going to war, car- 'I rylng nrms or taking oaths of nny descrlp- j tlon nro forbidden. Their modo of life Ib strictly communistic, nil laboring for tho com- mon good. They nro nbstnlnora from nlcohol I nnd tobneco, nnd, for thA most part, aro vego- 'tarlans. ' For mnny years tho Doukhobors lived In the neighborhood of Kief, in what Is called "Lit- tlo nussln." In the reign of Alexander I., they all wore banished to tho Wet .mountains of (leorgln, In the Caucasus. There thoy llvod for mnny yenra nmong tho hnlf-savngo Ma- hometnna, who have been tho rulers of that region for centuries. Tho crlsla In their for-yM for-yM ' tunes enmo lu 1887. A universal conscription W was declnred throughout Uussla. Every healthy adult mnlo wns ordered to bo rendy ror J servico In tho nrmy. For tho next thrco years tho Doukhobors were persecuted unremittingly. Thoro wero innumerable banlshmonts, Imprisonments, (loggings nnd torturea thnt cannot bo do- scribed, but tho Doukhobors wero Immovable. Their condition was pitiable In tho extreme when Count Tolstoy nnd the Society of Friends hi England enmo to their relief by raising funtlB for their emigration to Canada. Tlioro waa little dllllculty nbottt otolnlng sulllclont lnnd at little price for the 7,000 Doukhobors who enmo to Cnnada during tho llrst yoar. Each mnlo over 18 years old wns nllowed (o tnko up 1C0 ncroa subject to n pny. mont of 110. which wna threo yeara dofcrrcd. Tho Dominion government ulso gave n grant of ?5 to each man, woman nnd child, who renched Winnipeg boforo Juno 30, 18UJ. Tho region where theso Russlnn oxllcs have mnde their homes Is In the provinces of Asslnl-boln Asslnl-boln nnd Saskatchewan. Their total holdings are between GOO nnd 700 square miles of splendid lnnd for agricultural purposes, pur-poses, now In the heart of tho wheat belt. When the government allotted this lnnd to them, ten years ago, It was considered consid-ered by experts too cold for wheat, but since then tho grain belt has moved no: hward soveral bun-dre bun-dre Is of miles. Tho Doukhobor Douk-hobor Innds to-day nro worth anywhere from J15 to $40 nn ncre, according to locution, which would mnko their total markot value considerably moro than $10,000,000. If it had not been for tho forbearance of tho Canadian government, however, tho Doukhobors might have lost their land f- through their own stubbornness about obeying tho lawB. Thoy recelvod their land under tho terms of tho Canadian homestead act, which, nmong other things, requires thnt the poraon who takes up a "homestead shall reside on It until ho "proves up." Now tho solitary life of the homesteader Iibb no attraction for the Doukhobor, with his ages-old fondness for vll-Iago vll-Iago living. The result was thnt the Doukhobors, Douk-hobors, IiiBtcnd of remnlnlng on their homesteads, home-steads, established themselves In n string of villages, botween 40 and CO In number, thnt sprawl across tho plains for a distance of 100 miles northenst of Yorkton. In duo course tho government gently reminded re-minded tho Doukhobor lenders thnt their peo-plo peo-plo wero In dangor of losing their homesteads through their failure to Uvo on thorn. Tho stolid refugees paid no attention, to tho warning, warn-ing, nnd, In tho end, they had their own way. The powers of tho Dominion decided to lot them hold their land and live ns they wished. This Is not tho first concession tho Canadian Cana-dian government has mado and it Ib not likely like-ly to bo tho last. Not long ago n movement wns started In certain quarters where tho hostility hos-tility to tho "Spirit Wrestlers" was marked, to urgo the authorities to mnko nil tho men tnkn tho oath ot nlleglnnco to King Edwnrd. As It is one of the cardlnnl principles of this religious sect thnt thoy shall tako no oaths of any description, doubtless tho Instigators of this enforcement of ono of the Dominion's laws regarding alien settlers hoped thnt thoy would movo nnd leave their lands open for purchase at n low prlco. Tho government know the Doukhobors probably would rofuso to tnko nny oath, partly on account of their belief nnd pnrtly becnuso they would fear that it might lead them nt some time to bo forced Into military service Therefore, tho authorities authori-ties forboro to press tho mnttor of tho onth of nlleglnnco, but contented themselves with Intimating In-timating to tho Doukhobor leaders that his mnjosty King Edward VII. would take It na n personal fuvor If tho "brethren" would como around whon thqy found it convenient and promlso to bo good subjects. This plan Is working fairly well. Something llko 800 of tho uhlo-bodled men lu tho various communities hnvo taken tho oath voluntarily durlug tho laBt 18 mouths. This lina been duo almost entlroly to tho influence of their lender. Father Vorlgln. Peter Verlgln has been tho greatest powor among tho Doukhobors for nearly 25 years. For 1G years ho waa an exile In Siberia, to-j gothor with six of his brothers, but they all were released finally, and reached Canada' about six years ago. Ills' followers almost deify him, as they hnd his six grent predecessors who ruled llko the kings or prophets of old during tho time thnt the sect sojourned In Hussla. During his long exile he became n firm convert to tho thoorlcs of Tolstoy, nnd 13 yenrs ngo wrote nn oplstlo to. his followers which Is made up chiefly of passages borrowed verbatim from Tolstoy's "Kingdom of God Is Within You," and containing In particular one long passage from thnt book a quotation of Tolstoy's translation of tho Declaration of Sentiments which Wlllnm Lloyd Gnrrlson drow up In 1838 for a Peace convention hold In Boston. This oplstlo Is purt of tho sncred loro of the Doukhobors. It contains no acknowledgment acknowl-edgment of the fnct thnt It wns taken mostly from Tolstoy. Thoro probably aro moro people In Asslnlboin nnd Saskatchpwan to-dny who can repent the long passngo from Garrison's declaration than there uro in the United States who ever hoard of It. Tho disturbers among the Doukhobors bo-long bo-long to tho reactionary or fanatical element, nnd theso mndo themselves felt to such an extont before Verlgln Arrived in Canada that at ono tlmo thoro was serious talk of bundling up nil of tho thousands of Doukhobora nnd shipping them out of Cnnada no one cared much whlthor. At thnt tlmo it wna considered con-sidered that tho czar hnd played a colossal Jolto on Canada by letting tho 7,000 odd Doukhobora Douk-hobora leave his realm, and it was a matter of congrntulntfon among the Canadians that the 10,000 or more who stnyed behind In tho Wot mountnlna of tho Caucasus wero too stubborn stub-born or too fearful to emigrate. It waa this fanatical element that wns responsible re-sponsible for the "pilgrimage In search ot Jesus" In 1902. Theso fnnntlcs belonged to tho Yorkton colonists nnd professed tho bo-Hot bo-Hot thnt tho use ot nnlmals as beasts of bur-don bur-don wns unscrlpturnl and thnt Christ would soon como ngnin in person. Thoy sot tree nearly BOO nnlmals which wero caught by tho authorities nnd sold back to tho moro sober-minded sober-minded Doukhobors. Menntlmo some GOO men, women nnd chlldron sot out across tho snow-covored snow-covored prnlrlo, whoro they oxpected tho Messiah Mes-siah to meet them nnd lead them to evangelize tho world. They wero poorly clnd, they wero without food, except such nn they cuuld get from charltnblo people on tho way, nnd their i HI11 milili tm ) . 11 11 11 nm. WnMW IKUM only shelter was tho winter sky. Somo went bareheaded and barefooted, barefoot-ed, nnd nil rejected lenther footgenr, Mnny went crazy and a few died from exposure. Tho most startling fenturo of a portion por-tion of this mnd pilgrimage, however, was thnt n small portion of these Doukhobor zealots, not content with throwing off tholr outer clothing, denuded de-nuded themselves entirely "to show nnturo to humanity, nnd how man should return Into his fatherland nnd glvo back the ripened fruit and Its seeds," thoy snld. In pnsslng through tunny of tho Doukhobor villages this naked band wero driven out by tholr co-religionists nnd benten with twigs until the blood rnn. At night In tho rnlnnnd snowand wind they clustered Into ono heap nnd lay on tho ground, ono on another, for warmth. Strangely Strange-ly enough It Is said that none of them wns sorlously frozen. This strnngo inarch continued until 28 ot tho unclad un-clad ones renched Yorkton, whoro thoy were mot by the mounted pollcq nnd wero arrested. Thrco months' Imprfs-. Imprfs-. onmcnt wns tholr lot. After thoy wore relensed nil but ten of' theso 28 nudo marchers nbnndoncd their curious curi-ous bcllefB nnd went back to work. Theso ten attempted nnothcr outbreak, out-break, destroyed some of tho brethren's breth-ren's crops nnd burned soma of tholr 'machinery, but finally were subdued and Imprisoned once more. Tho next yenr thoro was another nttempt nt n pilgrimage, but by that tlmo "Fnthor" Verlgln wns In control nnd It amounted amount-ed to nothing. About the time thnt Verlgln enme Into the full powers ot leadership a movement wns set afoot to porsuado tho government to tnko back tho largest part ot the original grant to tho Doukhobors. Thoso behind tho agitation claimed that tho community hud moro laud thnn it over would bo nblo to use, and that a pnrt of the holdings ought to bo mndo nvnllable p!BHWY I for other and moro profitable settlers, "Father" Verlgln at onco Baw that It was "up to" tho Doukhobors to make an adequate defense, nnd ho set about It In n characteristic character-istic way. At tho. fall meeting of the community nenrly $100,000 was set aside to bo used for buying new land Immediately adjacent to tho Doukhobor reservation, nnd nil tnlk of cutting down their holdings ceased forthwith. Another evidence of tho quality of Verlgln's leadership leader-ship Is to be seen In tho system of elevators and granaries gran-aries that Is found (n every center of population In tho community. Tho Doukhobor farmers aro thus under no compulsion to sell their who at nnd flax tho moment 1t Ib harvested, but can hold It for wcekB or months If necessary. nec-essary. Within tho last two years a system of flour mills also has been Installed, and tho export of flour Is beginning to be a considerable Item of profit. Plans aro nfoot for a nnrrow gauge railroad to connect tlie various vari-ous villages ot tho community. They nlrendynro connected connect-ed by ?rlvato telephono lines. In each village there Is ono lm nenso grnnnry or n modem clovntor. All the farm Implements nro owned In common. Much of the mnchlm ry used In cultivating tho soil Is ot tho most modern type obtainable, steam plowa being numerous. ' As n class tho Doukhobors nro a big, tnll rnce, fnlr-halred, with the flat noses that are peculiar to tho Slavs. Each household holds Its religious service nt four o'clock every morning. They hnve no' civil courts, but sot-tlo sot-tlo tholr differences in a religious way, based on their interpretation of tho Scriptures. There is said to bo no crlmo among them, Thoy nro famous throughout Cnnndn for their live Btock, nnd will pny nlmost nny prlco for tho finest blooded breeding animals. |