OBSERVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE. 



11 



have a family of Bashkirs, inhabiting a country 

 that is renowned for the beauty of its vernal sea- 

 son : they are still half nomadic, spurn agricultu- 

 ral labor, and live upon the milk of their young 

 rnares like the Hippomulga? and Galactophagae of 

 antiquity. Then comes a family of laborers em- 

 ployed in the gold-washings and the iron-works 

 of the Ural : these devote themselves to the work 

 of making clearings and garden-patches in the 

 midst of the woods. Next come regular cultiva- 

 tors of the soil, peasants of the " black land " 

 of Orenburg, who are attached to the seigniorial 

 demesne by a system of corvees (husbandry-ser- 

 vice). Still farther to the west, and especially in 

 districts where, as in the basin of the Oka, the 

 peasants are able to increase their little store by 

 periodical emigrations of young laborers to the 

 towns, -the plan of rent (ob?-ok) takes the place of 

 husbandry-service. The social constitution which 

 among nomads makes each head of a family a 

 sort of petty sovereign has here been supplanted 

 by the feudal system ; still the patriarchal spirit 

 has survived. Prior to the reforms of 1861, the 

 landed proprietor exercised a paternal authority 

 over his laborers, and the young were taught to 

 respect the ancient traditions. Land-owners and 

 factory-proprietors were held morally responsible 

 for the well-being of their subordinates, and mas- 

 ter and workman were united by feelings of soli- 

 darity that resembled the ties of family. The 

 transition from husbandry-service to rent was the 

 prelude to emancipation, which would have come 

 about spontaneously by the gradual evolution of 

 interests, had it not been hastened by the gener- 

 ous initiative of the sovereign. Among the good 

 results of emancipation, M. Le Play enumerates 

 increased industry, increased savings, more ambi- 

 tion among the better class of laborers, less ab- 

 senteeism on the part of the rural proprietors, 

 and an increase of comfort for both of these class- 

 es in the fertile regions. But, on the other hand, 

 weak or improvident families have parted with 

 their traditional well-being ; a pauper class is 

 springing up, and the inferior nobility, especially 

 those of that class whose estates were encum- 

 bered with debt, have been reduced to penury. 

 Then, too, the compulsory suppression of seign- 

 iorial authority has dealt a blow at Russian nation- 

 ality by weakening the moral influences which 

 were wont to uphold religious belief and respect 

 for authority. Finally, the trade in spirituous 

 liquors has suddenly reached a considerable de- 

 velopment, the consequence being here, as else- 

 where, a degradation of the race. The best as- 

 surance for the future of Russia is to be found in 



the rural communities, which have been wisely 

 strengthened by the provisions of the emancipa- 

 tion act. These institutions, while they do but 

 little to stimulate the energies of the peasants, 

 and oftentimes check the career of eminent indi- 

 vidualities, nevertheless insure to the great ma- 

 jority of the people a competency. At the same 

 time they serve to prepare these populations for 

 the enjoyment of the benefits of individual prop- 

 erty. 



The monography of the Jobajjy family, living 

 on the banks of the Theiss, presents in miniature 

 the old feudal regime of Hungary. The con- 

 cession of the seigniorial lands, at first only a 

 usufruct, had become, by force of custom and 

 under the influence of material progress, strict 

 property almost. The peasant could freely trans- 

 mit landed property, in accordance with the local 

 usage ; but he could not mortgage it, neither 

 could he parcel it out beyond a certain fixed 

 limit. When a family became extinct, its inher- 

 itance did not go to increase the reserve of the 

 proprietary, but was granted to other peasants. 

 The rent was paid either in kind or in service. 

 Some lands were held in fee by peasants, or even 

 by day-laborers, thus showing the degree of fore- 

 sight reached by the population. All the taxes, 

 except the church tithes, were collected gratui- 

 tously with the rent of the estate by the pro- 

 prietary, who also bore the expenses of police 

 and of courts of justice; furthermore, he was 

 required by self-interest still more than by cus- 

 tom always to assist his tenants. The Revolution 

 of 1848 put an end to these institutions, and now 

 from among its manifold complicated and contra- 

 dictory results there are a few that are easily 

 recognized. As a rule, the redemption of the 

 enforced husbandry-service and of the tithe 

 has benefited all classes, whether proprietaries or 

 peasants : there is now more industry, agricult- 

 ure is more prosperous, and wealth brings better 

 returns. But some of the changes have been of 

 benefit only to the proprietors : the taxes, which 

 they used to collect without charge to the treas- 

 ury, and in such a way as to cause the least pos- 

 sible distress to the tax-payers, are now levied by 

 the fiscal authorities with all the rigor of official- 

 ism. Patrimonial justice is succeeded by public 

 tribunals, which are oftentimes strangers to the 

 local usages or are held in distant places, but are 

 always costly, especially on account of the neces- 

 sity of hiring lawyers. But what most seriously 

 compromises the economic future of the middle 

 classes is the endless division of small estates, 

 resulting in social degradation of the peasantry, 



