DESTITUTION AND RELIEF 41 



Unhappily the feudal system held the farm-lands 

 away from real ownership by the farmers. This 

 system, which of old prevailed in the Middle Ages, 

 was abolished in England in 1660; in Scotland in 

 1747; in France at the Revolution of 1789; in Ger- 

 many and Austria after the Revolution of 1848-50. 



Now the stars in their courses, which fought 

 from heaven against Sisera, are shining so brightly 

 over Russia that I deem it safe to predict that 

 Russia will fall in line with these other nations and 

 feudalism will vanish like mist before the morning 

 sun. 



The land was imposed upon every family under 

 the Emancipation Law in quantity proportionate 

 with the number of males in the household. The 

 land dues or rent was required to be paid whether 

 crops grew or failed, and as the allotted land was 

 not more than enough to keep the women of the 

 family employed in the cultivation, the men had 

 to find employment elsewhere or become a burden 

 upon the workers. And rarely was employment 

 to be secured on any terms. When it could be had, 

 it was only at wages equalling fifteen to twenty 

 cents per day . I heard of men working the entire 

 summer of 1891 for eight cents per day. Russia's 



