© Underwood and Underwood 

 RUSSIAN OFFICERS TAKING TEA IN THEIR CASINO 



When, by imperial rescript, Nicholas II put an end to the manufacture and sale of 

 vodka, the national alcoholic beverage, there was much groaning among the 120,000,000 white 

 Russians, but the effect was miraculously salutary, both upon the civilian population and the 

 soldiers. 



was a village council called the volost; 

 this was composed solely of peasants and 

 was a sort of development historically of 

 the ancient mir, or commune, a survival 

 of the old family rule. The volost, how- 

 ever, was soon seen to be inadequate and 

 a larger unit, the zemstvo, was created by 

 an imperial decree in 1864. 



The best English translation of this 

 word, perhaps, is "county council." It is 

 an assembly of deputies from the volosts, 

 to which are added a certain number of 

 nobles, so that peasants and proprietors 

 are seated together. Above the district 

 zemstvo again are the provincial councils, 

 consisting of chosen representatives of 

 the lower councils. 



This system worked fairly satisfac- 

 torily for a number of years and had 

 made the beginning of self-government 

 in parliamentary fashion once more in 

 current use in Russia. In 1889, how- 

 ever, the government decided to have its 

 own direct officers in each rural district, 



and for that purpose appointed semski 

 natchalniki, or rural overseers, to live in 

 each district. 



As these petty officials were appointed 

 not by the people, but by the central ad- 

 ministration, their presence was not wel- 

 come, and their interference with local 

 affairs and their constant surveillance of 

 the people brought about many conflicts 

 with the local authorities. They were 

 designed to be a sort of guardian for the 

 peasants, on the theory that the latter 

 were unfit to govern themselves, but in 

 reality, of course, they were spies. 



The legal economic status of the peas- 

 antry, it must be remembered, is that of a 

 minor not fully competent as yet to man- 

 age his own business or private affairs. 



The decision, however, that the peas- 

 ants of Russia were not capable of self- 

 government, even in the ordinary affairs 

 of the community, while convenient for 

 the bureaucracy, was not very successful 

 as a way out of the practical difficulties 



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