The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Economics of the Russian Village, by Isaac A. Hourwich.

[109]

To 1 household upon an average.	Korotoyak.		Nizhnedevitzk.
To 1 household upon an average.	Full-workers.	Half-workers.	Full-workers.	Half-workers.
Total membership	2	0.4	1.9	0.4
Employed outside	1	0.1	0.9	0.3
Remain at home	1	0.3	1	0.1

[110]

	Zadonsk.	Korotoyak.	Nizhnedevitzk.
Total permanently employed	100	100	100
Households with 1 full worker	64	33	38
Stopped working on their farms	43	33	17

[111] Kulak means “fist”; miroyed means “mir fretter.” These are nicknames for the village usurer and saloon keeper.

[112] Gleb Oospensky stood alone in his skepticism, opposing his ironical smile to the universal illusion. With his perfect knowledge of the peasantry, and his extraordinary artistic talent that penetrated to the very heart of the phenomena, he did not fail to see that individualism had become the basis of economic relations, not only as between the usurer and the debtor, but among the peasants at large.—Cf. his Casting in one mould (Ravnenie pod odno), Russkaya Mysl, January, 1882.

[113] In the Reports for the gubernia of Ryazañ, column 36 of the General Table, states “the area of land held in property by every 10 shareholders of the communal land,” and column 42, the respective data with regard to lease. The figures have no practical value unless it is assumed that all members of the community have their shares in the land acquired in property, or held under lease. In reality, however, the contrary is the case.

[114]

Classes.	Zadonsk.		Korotoyak.		Nizhnedevitsk.
Classes.	Households.	Per cent.	Households.	Per cent.	Households.	Per cent.
Employers	609	4	829	4	1067	5
Employees (farm laborers engaged yearly or per season)	2733	17	1891	9	2313	12
Total peasant population	15704	100	20282	100	20072	100

[115] Households with 2 and those with 3 horses are counted together in the tables; yet given the number of horses, the membership of every group, is found by solving two equations with two unknown quantities.

[116] There are, all told, 103 households of traders who do not work on their farm, i. e., 8 per cent. of all the traders, or 0.5 per cent. of the total peasant population of the district of Korotoyak.

[117] We find among the traders a large minority whose farms do not exceed the average; still the lack of communal land is made up by the greater development of tenure, as shown in the following table:

D. of Korotoyak.	Total.		Tenants.		Rented land to 1 household upon an average (dessiatines).
D. of Korotoyak.	Households.	Per cent.	Households.	Per cent.	Rented land to 1 household upon an average (dessiatines).
Traders owning from 1 to 5 dessiatines	59	5	48	81	5.9
” ” ” 5 to 15 ”	444	35	311	70	8.6
” ” ” 15 to 25 ”	392	31	288	73	9.7
” ” above 25 ”	370	29	271	73	17.3
Total	1265	100	918	73	11.4

[118]

Households.	Farmers merely. Per cent.	Traders. Per cent.
Without adult male workers	..	3
With 1 adult male worker	29	24
With 2 adult male workers	40	33
With 3 or more adult male workers	31	40
Total	100	100

[119]

Classes (in the District of Korotoyak).	Employing farmers.		Laborers employed.
Classes (in the District of Korotoyak).	Households.	Rate within the class (per cent.).	Per cent.		To 1 household.
Traders	296	22	43	} 59	1.5
Mere farmers	161	8	16	} 59	1
In all the rest of the district	372	2	41		1.1
Total	829	4	100		1.3

[120]

Households of trading farmers.	Employing permanent laborers, per cent.
With 3 or more adult male workers	16
With 2 or less adult male workers	25
Total	22

[121]

Stopped working on their plots.	In the class.			In the district at large.
Stopped working on their plots.	Households.	Per cent.		Per cent.
Horseless	2471	90		13
With 1 horse	256	9	} 10	32	} 87
With 2 horses or more	33	1	} 10	55	} 87
Total	2760	100		100

The class almost coincides on the whole with the so-called “horseless:”

“Horseless.”	Households.	Per cent.
Traders	68	3	} 8
Tilling their plots	143	5	} 8
Stopped tilling their plots	2471	92
Total	2682	100

The 10 per cent. who stopped tilling their plots, though owning 1 horse or more, as well as the 8 per cent. who manage to till their plots without working horses, make (each of these sections) only about 1 per cent. of the peasantry of the district. Thus, in identifying the proletarians with the “horseless,” the error is of the kind to be neglected, to use the mathematical term.

[122]

Households.	Stopped tilling their plots.		“Horseless.”		In the district at large.
Households.	Per cent.		Per cent.		Per cent.
Landless	11	} 48	11	} 48	2	} 16
Owning less than 5 dessiatines	37	} 48	37	} 48	14	} 16
Owning from 5 to 15 dessiatines	42		43		50
Owning from 15 to 25 dessiatines	9	} 10	8	} 9	25	} 34
Owning above 25 dessiatines	1	} 10	1	} 9	9	} 34
Total	100		100		100
Average plot:
To 1 household, dessiatines			7.2		14.4
To 1 adult male worker, ”			7.9		8.3

[123]

Households.	Stopped tilling their plots.		“Horseless.”		In the district at large.
Households.	Per cent.		Per cent.		Per cent.
Without adult male workers	24	} 86	17	} 85	5	} 51
With 1 adult male worker	62	} 86	68	} 85	46	} 51
With 2 adult male workers	12	} 14	13	} 15	30	} 49
With 3 or more adult male workers	2	} 14	2	} 15	19	} 49
Total	100		100		100
To 1 household upon an average:
Adult male workers			0.9		1.7
Half-workers			0.2		0.4
Males and females			3.8		7.4

[124]

Proletarians. (Stopped tilling their plots).	Korotoyak. Per cent.	Nizhnedevitzk. Per cent.
Farm laborers	48	50
Miscellaneous	39	40
No steady employment	13	10
Total	100	100

[125]

District of Korotoyak, “Horseless.”	Rubles.	Per cent.
Gross income from farming	40610	24
Wages	122604	72
Odd jobs	6719	4
Total	169933	100

[126]

“Horseless,” Korotoyak.	Receipts. Rubles.	Expenses. Rubles.
Gross income from farming	40610
Taxes		33738
Rent		1046
Wages paid		1144
Total	40610	35928
Balance (2682 households)		4682
	40610	40610
Balance to 1 household (money revenue)		1.75

[127]

District of Zadonsk.	“Horseless.”
District of Zadonsk.	Households.	Per cent.
Feeding on the bread produced on their farms:
All the year through	771	30
9 months	531	21	} 44
From 6 to 9 months	358	14
From 1 to 6 months	220	9
Purchasing bread all through the year	665	26
Total	2545	100

[128]

Districts.	Farm cultivated by hired labor. Per cent.	Farming stopped altogether. Per cent.
Zadonsk (total proletarians = 100)	69	31
Korotoyak ”	67	33
Nizhnedevitzk ”	74	26
Ranenburg ”	64	36
Dankoff ”	64	36

[129] This is the rate of these avowed proletarians within the total peasant population:

Districts.	Per cent.
Zadonsk	8
Korotoyak	5
Nizhnedevitzk	3
Ranenburg (landless included)	15
Dankoff ” ”	15

Of these, a greater percentage find employment in industry, as compared with the proletarians who cultivate their plots by means of hired labor:

Districts and classes.	Industrial laborers. Per cent.	Farm laborers. Per cent.
Korotoyak:
“Husbandless”	51	39
Farming proletarians	34	53
Nizhnedevitzk:
“Husbandless”	48	44
Farming proletarians	37	53

Industrial proletarians are steadily carried away by the growing movement out of the rural districts. Thus it may be reasonably assumed that only one-half of the pure-blooded proletarians remain in the village. This constitutes from 2 to 8 per cent. of the population. Relative rates, however, are sometimes misleading without reference to the absolute numbers. 2 per cent. of a 100-million population convey the illusion of a two million strong rural proletariat with pronounced class interests. Still we know that they are dissipated in villages with an average inhabitancy of 62 households (cf. above page: 50,429 communes with 3,309,020 households). Now the maximum 8 per cent. of 62 households means only 5 proletarian families, and the minimum 2 per cent., only 1 proletarian of the European type to a village. It seems to show that there can be no proletarian class spirit (“proletarisches Klassen-bewusstsein”) in the Russian village of to-day.

[130]

Classes in the district of Korotoyak.	Households. (Per cent.)					Horses to 1 household upon an average.
Classes in the district of Korotoyak.	Horseless.	With 1 horse.	With 2 horses.	With 3 horses.	With 4 horses or more.	Horses to 1 household upon an average.
Trading farmers		12	25	27	36	3.2
Farmers merely			45	38	17	2.8
Farmers—laborers		40	37	15	6	1.8
Proletarian laborers	90	9	1			0.1

[131]

	Households.
D. of Korotoyak.	With net profit. Per cent.		With deficit. Per cent.
Male workers to 1 household—
None	..		3	} 73
One	29		70	} 73
Two	41	} 71	23	} 27
Three or more	30	} 71	4	} 27

[132]

	Households.
D. of Korotoyak.	With net profit. Per cent.	With deficit. Per cent.
Size of the farms—
Less than 5 dessiatines	..	15
From 5 to 15 dessiatines	..	79
From 15 to 25 dessiatines	72	6
Above 25 dessiatines	28	..
Total	100	100
	Dessiatines.	Dessiatines.
Average to 1 household	24.4	10.6
” to 1 adult male worker	11.5	8.3

[133]

D. of Korotoyak.	Section A. Per cent.		Section B. Per cent.
Landholding—
Households owning
Less than 5 dessiatines	15		10
From 5 to 15 dessiatines	79		52
From 15 to 25 dessiatines	6		28	} 38
Above 25 dessiatines	..		10	} 38
Total	100		100
Live stock—
Households
Without working horses	..		1	} 40
With 1 working horse	49		39	} 40
With 2 working horses	36	} 51	38	} 60
With 3 working horses	13		16
With 4 or more working horses	2		6
Total	100		100

[134]

Gross income per worker.	Rubles.
Section A	66.17
Section B	54.29

[135]

Households (D. of Korotoyak).	Section A. Per cent.		Section B. Per cent.
Without adult male workers	3	} 73	1	} 39
With 1 adult male worker	70	} 73	38	} 39
With 2 adult male workers	23	} 27	37	} 61
With 3 or more adult male workers	4	} 27	24	} 61
Total	100		100

[136]

Class II., Section B.
Workers and half-workers	23110
Employed without their farms	16299
Working exclusively on their farms	6811
Total households	10016

[137] In the table below the percentage of old men is contrasted in the several groups of landholders, with a view to the division of the peasantry into the classes above mentioned:

Households (D. of Korotoyak).	Classes.						Total in the district.		Old men above 60.
Households (D. of Korotoyak).	Strong farmers. I.		Farmers laboring. II.		Proletarians. III.		Total in the district.		Total.		Rate to the number of households.
Landless	..		..		11	} 48	2	} 16	1	} 8	9
Owning from 1 to 5 dessiatines	2		11		37	} 48	14	} 16	7	} 8	7
Owning from 5 to 15 dessiatines	14		60		42		50		41		11
Owning from 15 to 25 dessiatines	56	} 84	22	} 29	9	} 10	25	} 34	31	} 51	17
Owning above 25 dessiatines	28	} 84	7	} 29	1	} 10	9	} 34	20	} 51	28
Total	100		100		100		100		100		14

The relative number of old men above 60 is four times greater in the uppermost than in the lowest class of landholders (28:7). The absolute number of old householders belonging to the two lowest classes is the half of the average in the district (8:16), while the uppermost class numbers twice as many householders as the average, and in the two upper groups taken together the number of old householders exceeds the average by 50 per cent. (51:34). Now, the bulk of the class of strong farmers is made up of these two groups, and one-half of the old householders range among the very same groups, constituting there a very noticeable minority. On the contrary, one-half of the proletarians range among those groups in which old people cut no figure numerically.

[138] The above statements are based upon the following numerical data:

District of Zadonsk: Classes.	One part leased.				All cultivated. Dessiatines.
	Households.	Land to 1 household (Dessiatines).
	Households.	In all.	Leased.	Cultivated.
Owning above 25 dessiatines	..	20.7	9.9	10.8	17.6
Owning from 15 to 25 dessiatines	..	9.7	5	4.7	8.9
Owning from 5 to 15 dessiatines	..	5	2.7	2.3	4.9
Owning less than 5 dessiatines	..	2.5	1.5	1	2
Total	..	6	3.2	2.8	4.9
Having 4 horses or more	10	38.1	9	29.1	10.7
Having from 2 to 3 horses	226	11.8	5.6	6.2	5.9
Having 1 horse	909	6	3	3	3.6
Having no horse	877	4.3	2.7	1.6	2.6
Total	2022	6	3.2	2.8	4.9

If we consider the first series specified according to the size of the farms, we notice that the lessors, with their plots somewhat above the average, are falling into the next lower classes with regard to the extent of their farming. On the other hand, given the quantity of live stock, the extent of cultivated land remains constant. The lessors are those whose plots equal the standard of the higher class, while by the quantity of their live stock they are on a par with the lower class. The 10 households with 4 horses to each make an exception, the area cultivated by them considerably exceeding the average. There may be a few more households of the same kind, which are hidden in the average figures; on a whole, however, such households are only an exception to the rule.

As to the extent of the farms leased in toto, the following figures need no comment:

	Average extent of cultured land to 1 household (dessiatines).
	Zadonsk.	Korotoyak.
Total plot leased	2.2	2.5
In the region at large	4.6	5.8

	Percentage of families to population.		Percentage of leased land to the total communal land.
Ranenburg:
Leasing their plots—
1) Total	12	}	10
2) Partly	14	}	10
Dankoff:
Leasing their plots—
1) Total	11	}	8
2) Partly	13	}	8

[139] Cf. Chapter III.

[140] It appears from the following table that among the higher classes of landholders, tenure of peasant plots is represented by a higher percentage than tenure from landlords, while the latter kind of tenure is stronger among the lower groups of landholders:

Classes and districts.	Tenants. Per cent.		Land in tenure. Per cent.
Classes and districts.	Rented from landlords.	Rented from peasants.	Rented from landlords.	Rented from peasants.
Zadonsk:
Owning less than 5 dessiatines	38	31	28	21
Owning from 5 to 15 dessiatines	52	51	48	48
Owning above 15 dessiatines	10	18	24	31
Total	100	100	100	100
Korotoyak:
Owning less than 5 dessiatines	13	13	10	8
Owning from 5 to 15 dessiatines	53	48	38	38
Owning above 15 dessiatines	34	39	52	54
Total	100	100	100	100
Nizhnedevitsk:
Owning less than 5 dessiatines	25	15	23	9
Owning from 5 to 15 dessiatines	52	49	41	42
Owning above 15 dessiatines	23	36	36	49
Total	100	100	100	100