﻿THE 
  FAR 
  EASTERN 
  REPUBLIC 
  

  

  577 
  

  

  BURIAT 
  FARMERS 
  COUNTING 
  THE 
  PROFITS 
  OF 
  THE 
  DAY 
  

  

  and 
  it 
  is 
  bitter 
  cold 
  in 
  winter. 
  Even 
  be- 
  

   fore 
  winter 
  comes, 
  one 
  must 
  eat. 
  

  

  "She 
  had 
  nothing 
  more 
  to 
  sell 
  except 
  

   herself. 
  A 
  few 
  nights 
  ago 
  she 
  was 
  at 
  a 
  

   dance. 
  She 
  did 
  not 
  go 
  home, 
  but 
  went 
  

   alone 
  to 
  the 
  river. 
  The 
  next 
  morning, 
  

   when 
  the 
  other 
  girls 
  were 
  swimming, 
  

   they 
  found 
  her 
  body. 
  She 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  first 
  

   and 
  there 
  will 
  be 
  many 
  more." 
  

  

  FURS 
  SOUD 
  FOR 
  BREAD, 
  DEATH 
  COMES 
  

   WITH 
  WINTER 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  warm 
  when 
  I 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  Far 
  

   Eastern 
  Republic, 
  long 
  sunny 
  days, 
  from 
  

   4 
  o'clock 
  in 
  the 
  morning 
  until 
  9 
  at 
  night, 
  

   and 
  weather 
  like 
  summer 
  in 
  the 
  North- 
  

   west. 
  In 
  the 
  winter 
  it 
  is 
  different, 
  with 
  

   the 
  thermometer 
  registering 
  60 
  degrees 
  

   below 
  zero 
  and 
  nature 
  covered 
  by 
  a 
  man- 
  

   tle 
  of 
  snow 
  that 
  never 
  thaws. 
  The 
  winter 
  

   furs 
  and 
  flannels 
  sold 
  to 
  buy 
  a 
  summer's 
  

   bread 
  mean 
  death 
  when 
  the 
  icy 
  blasts 
  grip 
  

   the 
  country. 
  

  

  Of 
  the 
  1,800,000 
  inhabitants 
  of 
  the 
  re- 
  

   public, 
  roughly 
  80 
  per 
  cent 
  are 
  peasants, 
  

   15 
  per 
  cent 
  are 
  in 
  the 
  government 
  service 
  

   of 
  railroads, 
  schools, 
  telegraphs, 
  posts, 
  or 
  

   bureaus, 
  and 
  5 
  per 
  cent 
  are 
  in 
  private 
  in- 
  

   dustry, 
  such 
  as 
  shops, 
  stores, 
  flour 
  mills, 
  

   sawmills, 
  leather 
  tanneries 
  and 
  mining. 
  It 
  

   is 
  the 
  20 
  per 
  cent 
  that 
  suffers 
  physically. 
  

   The 
  government, 
  though 
  without 
  money, 
  

   can 
  supply 
  a 
  modicum 
  of 
  food 
  to 
  stave 
  

  

  off 
  stalking 
  starvation 
  for 
  three- 
  fourths 
  

   of 
  them. 
  

  

  In 
  winter 
  the 
  Russian 
  peasant 
  burrows 
  

   out 
  of 
  his 
  log 
  house 
  from 
  under 
  the 
  snow 
  

   and 
  the 
  Buriat 
  peasant 
  of 
  Mongol 
  blood 
  

   goes 
  to 
  his 
  windowless 
  hut 
  in 
  the 
  moun- 
  

   tains, 
  just 
  as 
  they 
  have 
  done 
  every 
  year 
  

   since 
  they 
  first 
  pioneered 
  in 
  Siberia. 
  They 
  

   have 
  food 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  more 
  in 
  their 
  

   community 
  storehouses, 
  but 
  their 
  crudest 
  

   of 
  farm 
  tools 
  and 
  their 
  clothes, 
  which 
  

   are 
  made 
  for 
  comfort 
  rather 
  than 
  for 
  

   style, 
  are 
  kept 
  together 
  only 
  by 
  constant 
  

   tinkering. 
  

  

  A 
  representative 
  of 
  a 
  Canadian 
  trading 
  

   company 
  showed 
  me 
  a 
  sample 
  of 
  10,000 
  

   thin 
  German 
  scythe 
  blades 
  which 
  he 
  was 
  

   importing, 
  trading 
  each 
  one 
  for 
  60 
  pounds 
  

   of 
  butter 
  or 
  some 
  equivalent 
  farm 
  prod- 
  

   uct. 
  Few 
  commercial 
  houses 
  have 
  the 
  

   patience 
  or 
  facilities 
  for 
  conducting 
  busi- 
  

   ness 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  barter, 
  and 
  the 
  resump- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  trade, 
  even 
  now 
  that 
  gold 
  and 
  

   silver 
  are 
  the 
  only 
  currency, 
  is 
  slow. 
  

  

  A 
  WAITER 
  GIVES 
  A 
  CUSTOMER 
  6o,000 
  

   ROUBLES 
  FOR 
  SOUVENIRS 
  

  

  The 
  two 
  years 
  of 
  civil 
  war 
  which 
  pre- 
  

   ceded 
  the 
  establishing 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  Far 
  

   Eastern 
  Republic 
  not 
  only 
  paralyzed, 
  but 
  

   almost 
  exterminated, 
  trade 
  and 
  industry. 
  

   The 
  property 
  and 
  stocks 
  of 
  merchandise 
  

   which 
  were 
  not 
  requisitioned 
  outright 
  

  

  