The Economics Of The Russian Village - free ebook by Isaac A. (Isaac Aaronovich) Hourwich

THE ECONOMICS OF THE RUSSIAN VILLAGE.

BY Isaac A. Hourwich, Ph.D. , Seligman Fellow in Political Science, Columbia College. New York. 1892....

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INTRODUCTION. THE RISE OF “PEASANTISM.”

The awful famine which has lately been raging over an area as large as the territory of the Dreibund , and inhabited by a population as numerous as that of the “allied Republic,” has called the attention of the whole civilized world to the condition of the starving Russian peasant. A movement has been set on foot in this country to relieve the hard need of the sufferers. This has induced me to think that it would perhaps not be without some interest for the American student of economics to cast

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CHAPTER I. GENERAL SKETCH OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANDHOLDING IN RUSSIA.

It seems now to be a fairly well established fact in science that at the dawn of the evolution of mankind the individual had not yet differentiated from the social aggregate. Archaic communism in the production of food and other necessaries, as well as in possession and consumption, is now, I imagine, universally recognized as the primitive form of social life. It is only during the higher stages of development that private ownership by individuals comes into existence; and private property in l

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CHAPTER II. COMMUNITY OF LAND.

The region which has been selected for the present discussion comprises two Districts: Dankoff and Ranenburg, (or Oranienburg) in the province ( Gubernia ) of Ryazañ. They are situated in Middle Russia, between North latitude 53° and 53° 31´, East longitude 38° 40´ and 40° 10´, and enjoy a moderate climate, at least when judged by Russian ideas. The soil is mostly pure black earth, the rest being made up of black earth mixed, or alternated with other soils. [16] According to the census taken by

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CHAPTER III. THE PRODUCTIVE FORCES OF THE PEASANTRY.

The old laws governing the State peasants, before the reform of 1866, fixed the normal size of the plots at eight dessiatines (about 21 acres) to each male “of the revision” ( i. e. , included in the last preceding census) for the “regions where land is scarce.” By the reforms of 1861 and 1866, not a single class of peasants was granted the extent of land that the state of agriculture in the district under consideration called for, [24] and the average tract owned by the more comfortably situate

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CHAPTER IV. TAXATION OF THE PEASANT.

When the balance of a peasant farm is closed, year in, year out, with a deficit, it is only of secondary importance whether there be added to it a score of rubles or not, in taxes. In either case the farmer has to look for employment outside of his homestead that he may be able to keep body and soul together. Nor is it of great moment that the taxes must be paid in money, since at any rate not a small part of the produce must be carried to the market to be converted into money for the purchase o

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CHAPTER V. COMMUNAL TENURE AND SMALL HOLDINGS.

Two economic features determined the further development of Russia, after the abolition of serfdom. Personal dependence of the serf was replaced, as above shown, by economic dependence of the “peasant-proprietor” compelled to seek work for wages beyond the limits of his own holding. Inequality of condition among the peasants, created by legal discrimination and furthered by the fiscal system, furnished the basis for the division of labor by which the peasants tried to fill up the holes in their

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CHAPTER VI. THE EVOLUTION OF THE FARMER INTO THE AGRICULTURAL LABORER.

In the vast majority of cases tenure at will did but take the place of the old relations between master and serf. [67] The obligation of the serf toward his master was discharged on some estates in labor ( corvée ), on others by payments, either in money or in kind. It is only natural to find the old practice inherited by modern economy: The patriarchal custom of division of the product itself between landlord and tenant ( métayage ) has now become about entirely obsolete, and is now to be found

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CHAPTER VII. THE WAGES IN THE RURAL DISTRICTS.

The amphibious character of the peasant, who is at once farmer and laborer, proves a very important factor in shaping the relations of Russian economic life. In Russia we have the case of the so called allotment system on a large scale. The influence of this system was picturesquely elucidated by John Stuart Mill when he stated that “it makes the people grow their own poor rates.” [72] Exactly the same is observed in Russia. The greater part of the work in agriculture, as well as in industry, is

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CHAPTER VIII. THE RURAL SURPLUS POPULATION.

The movement of population away from the rural districts, which is an economic law in capitalistic countries, plays a very conspicuous part in modern Russian economy. Colonization of the border districts and periodical migration in quest of work, are tending to absorb the natural increase of the peasant population: There is thus but a minor fraction of the surplus population that has forever left the native village with the chance of settling somewhere else as farmers. [86] It is still to agricu

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CHAPTER IX. THE DISSOLUTION OF THE PATRIARCHAL FAMILY.

The Russian village community, as has been stated above, was a compound integer of which the unit was the communistic household. The individualistic tendency of the economic evolution after the emancipation did not fail to affect this cell of archaic communism. The dissolution of the compound family became the evil of the day within the village, and the most warmly discussed topic both in literature and in administrative circles. The peasantist regarded the decline of the “pillars” [94] of Archa

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CHAPTER X. THE MODERN AGRICULTURAL CLASSES.

The existence of the employer presupposes his correlative, the employee. Thus we are brought close to the fact that there have arisen opposite social classes within the village community. It must be borne in mind, however, that the lines between the classes in the Russian village are as yet far from being as sharply drawn as in countries with developed capitalism. It would seem that laborers permanently employed outside of their farms must unquestionably be classed among the proletarians. And ye

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CHAPTER XI. INDIVIDUAL OWNERSHIP AND AGRARIAN COMMUNISM.

Thus far we have seen the changes which the parcelling of soil wrought in the constitution of the village population. We are now brought face to face with the question of how small peasant landholding is influenced by this parcelling. In countries with individual property in land, the question is settled. In Russia the case is complicated by the system of communal ownership in land. Yet the right of alienation, the main essential for the question at issue, is inherent in quarterly possession on

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NOTE TO CHAPTER XII., THE “INALIENABILITY” SCHEME.

The antiquated presumption of the homogeneity of the village found its practical expression in a scheme which came out of the peasantist press, and caught the ear of the ruling classes. This was the proposal to declare communal land inalienable. The question at issue has had its history. So long as the capitalized amortization tax exceeded the value of the land, the number of peasants who had redeemed their lots in absolute property was limited to a score of the wealthiest householders in a dist

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CHAPTER XIII. AGRICULTURE ON A LARGE SCALE.

The peasantist ideas with regard to the village community found their necessary complement in an economic theory which gathered to itself a large following in Russia some ten years ago. The founder of this school, a young writer who concealed his name under the initials V. V. , advanced the thesis that the development of capitalism in Russia is precluded by her economic constitution, as well as by her belated appearance on the international market. Export of grain had been the only vacancy left

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CHAPTER XIV. CONCLUSION: THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FAMINE.

The conclusions drawn from the previous discussion of the economic structure of the Russian village must be taken with a threefold limitation. In the first place, the science of statistics is essentially a science of large numbers. There are many questions, by no means unimportant, which it has been impossible even to touch upon, their discussion being feasible only where large agricultural areas are concerned. In the second place, inasmuch as the facts and deductions have only a local basis, th

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TABLE I, a.

To make it clearer for the purposes of comparative study, some of these data are translated into English measures: ACREAGE OF A PEASANT FARM OR HOUSEHOLD ON AVERAGE....

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TABLE IV.—Distribution of Rented Land.

A.—Classification with regard to ownership of land. B.—Classification with regard to stock-breeding....

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TABLE V. BUDGETS OF TYPICAL PEASANT HOUSEHOLDS.

Translated from the Statistical Reports for the District of Borisoglebsk, Gubernia of Tamboff (Appendix I., pp. 28-32, 88-97). [198] The family selected is one of medium standing, getting along well with its farming. The figures refer to 1879, when the crops were good, the yield being in the ratio of 10:1 to the seed. Members of the Family. 1. The housefather , 60 year old, doing all kinds of farm work. 2. His wife , of the same age, keeping the house. 3. Their son , aged 27. 4. Their daughter-i

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TABLE VI.—Wages of the Peasant in Industrial Employment.

(Compiled from the Appendices to the Statistical Reports for the Gubernia of Ryazañ , 1882.) A. — Local. B. — Outside....

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Council:

Professor F. Y. EDGEWORTH, M. A., D. C. L., Editor and Secretary ....

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Correspondents:

The Annual Subscription is a Guinea (26½ francs). There is at present no entrance fee. Any member may at any time compound for his future yearly payments by paying at once the sum of Ten Guineas (265 francs). The Journal will be supplied to Members without charge. They will also receive gratis some of the other publications which the Association may, from time to time, issue. Any person desirous of becoming a member of the Association is requested to send his name to Professor F. Y. EDGEWORTH, B

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THE Economic Review.

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY. CONTENTS OF THE NUMBER FOR OCTOBER, 1892. 1. What attitude should the Church adopt towards the Aims and Methods of Labour Combinations? The Rev. Canon H. S. Holland, M. A. 2. The Present Position of the “Sweating System” Question in the United Kingdom. David F. Schloss, M. A. 3. Co-operative Credit-Banking in Germany. Henry W. Wolff. 4. The Universities’ Settlement in Whitechapel. Thomas Hancock Nunn. 5. The Theory of Prize-giving. I. The Rev. and Hon. E. Lyttelton, M. A. II

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THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS.

STUDIES IN HISTORY AND POLITICS. Edited by HERBERT B. ADAMS. The Tenth Series is now in progress. Subscription, $3.00 per year. ANNUAL SERIES. 1883-1891. SERIES I.—LOCAL INSTITUTIONS. 479 pages. $4.00. SERIES II.—INSTITUTIONS AND ECONOMICS. 629 pages. $4.00. SERIES III.—MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, AND WASHINGTON. 595 pages. $4.00. SERIES IV.—MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT AND LAND TENURE. 600 pages. $3.50. SERIES V.—MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT, HISTORY AND POLITICS. 559 pages. $3.50. SERIES VI.—THE HISTORY OF CO-OPERATI

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Systematic Political Science BY THE UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE.

The University Faculty of Political Science of Columbia College have in preparation and intend to publish a series of systematic works covering the entire field of political science proper and of the allied sciences of public law and economics. The method of treatment will be historical, comparative and statistical; and it will be the aim of the writers to present the latest results of institutional development and of scientific thought in Europe and America. Each work will be indexed by subject

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