登陆注册
5382300000102

第102章 CHAPTER XV(4)

The Cossacks in active service are to be met with in all parts of the Empire, from the Prussian to the Chinese frontier. In the Asiatic Provinces their services are invaluable. Capable of enduring an incredible amount of fatigue and all manner of privations, they can live and thrive in conditions which would soon disable regular troops. The capacity of self-adaptation, which is characteristic of the Russian people generally, is possessed by them in the highest degree. When placed on some distant Asiatic frontier they can at once transform themselves into squatters--

building their own houses, raising crops of grain, and living as colonists without neglecting their military duties.

I have sometimes heard it asserted by military men that the Cossack organisation is an antiquated institution, and that the soldiers which it produces, however useful they may be in Central Asia, would be of little service in regular European warfare. Whether this view, which received some confirmation in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, is true or false I cannot pretend to say, for it is a subject on which a civilian has no right to speak; but I may remark that the Cossacks themselves are not by any means of that opinion. They regard themselves as the most valuable troops which the Tsar possesses, believing themselves capable of performing anything within the bounds of human possibility, and a good deal that lies beyond that limit. More than once Don Cossacks have assured me that if the Tsar had allowed them to fit out a flotilla of small boats during the Crimean War they would have captured the British fleet, as their ancestors used to capture Turkish galleys on the Black Sea!

In old times, throughout the whole territory of the Don Cossacks, agriculture was prohibited on pain of death. It is generally supposed that this measure was adopted with a view to preserve the martial spirit of the inhabitants, but it may be explained otherwise. The great majority of the Cossacks, averse to all regular, laborious occupations, wished to live by fishing, hunting, cattle-breeding, and marauding, but there was always amongst them a considerable number of immigrants--runaway serfs from the interior--

who had been accustomed to live by agriculture. These latter wished to raise crops on the fertile virgin soil, and if they had been allowed to do so they would to some extent have spoiled the pastures. We have here, I believe, the true reason for the above-

mentioned prohibition, and this view is strongly confirmed by analogous facts which I have observed in another locality. In the Kirghiz territory the poorer inhabitants of the aouls near the frontier, having few or no cattle, wish to let part of the common land to the neighbouring Russian peasantry for agricultural purposes; but the richer inhabitants, who possess flocks and herds, strenuously oppose this movement, and would doubtless prohibit it under pain of death if they had the power, because all agricultural encroachments diminish the pasture-land.

Whatever was the real reason of the prohibition, practical necessity proved in the long run too strong for the anti-

agriculturists. As the population augmented and the opportunities for marauding decreased, the majority had to overcome their repugnance to husbandry; and soon large patches of ploughed land or waving grain were to be seen in the vicinity of the stanitsas, as the Cossack villages are termed. At first there was no attempt to regulate this new use of the ager publicus. Each Cossack who wished to raise a crop ploughed and sowed wherever he thought fit, and retained as long as he chose the land thus appropriated; and when the soil began to show signs of exhaustion he abandoned his plot and ploughed elsewhere. But this unregulated use of the Communal property could not long continue. As the number of agriculturists increased, quarrels frequently arose, and sometimes terminated in bloodshed. Still worse evils appeared when markets were created in the vicinity, and it became possible to sell the grain for exportation. In some stanitsas the richer families appropriated enormous quantities of the common land by using several teams of oxen, or by hiring peasants in the nearest villages to come and plough for them; and instead of abandoning the land after raising two or three crops they retained possession of it, and came to regard it as their private property. Thus the whole of the arable land, or at least the best part of it, became actually, if not legally, the private property of a few families, whilst the less energetic or less fortunate inhabitants of the stanitsa had only parcels of comparatively barren soil, or had no land whatever, and became mere agricultural labourers.

After a time this injustice was remedied. The landless members justly complained that they had to bear the same burdens as those who possessed the land, and that therefore they ought to enjoy the same privileges. The old spirit of equality was still strong amongst them, and they ultimately succeeded in asserting their rights. In accordance with their demands the appropriated land was confiscated by the Commune, and the system of periodical redistributions was introduced. By this system each adult male possesses a share of the land.

These facts tend to throw light on some of the dark questions of social development in its early stages.

同类推荐
  • 困学纪闻

    困学纪闻

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 金刚顶胜初瑜伽经中略出大乐金刚萨埵念诵仪

    金刚顶胜初瑜伽经中略出大乐金刚萨埵念诵仪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛藏经

    佛藏经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 棠阴比事

    棠阴比事

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 六道伽陀经

    六道伽陀经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 七国春秋平话

    七国春秋平话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 谋杀鉴赏

    谋杀鉴赏

    女制片人艾利·福尔曼人收到一封观众来信而登门拜访,不料从此卷进了一桩惊天大案——纵跨60年,横跨两大洲,人命6条而警方并不立案;她自己被人跟踪、耄耋老父遇袭,与自己交谈过的黑人少年大白天大街上遭枪击……案情之复杂,牵涉面之广,超过了你读过的福尔摩斯、波洛系列的所有案子。《谋杀鉴赏》带着你走进芝加哥的大街小巷,观赏世相百态,不知不觉地进入剧情,与主人公一道感知谋杀案的蛛丝马迹,分析条条线索、推测种种疑点,与她一起经历心跳加快的喜悦、瞬间停跳的震惊、惊心动魄的险境——这就是鉴赏的过程。
  • 夏有乔木:雅望天堂3

    夏有乔木:雅望天堂3

    十岁,单单母亲重病在床,父亲却带着私生子单依安堂而皇之地进入家门。单单出钱请人绑架单依安为母亲出气,却反被抢钱欺负,幸好被从学校逃课的唐小天所救。十四岁,单单在美国街头遇见满身仇恨的唐小天,原来此刻他青梅竹马的初恋舒雅望被人玷污。从此她开始了一场不可能的单恋:她十八岁表白被拒;二十四岁以为得到幸福,却亲眼看见刺骨的真相;二十六岁她因爱生恨,差点亲手将他最爱的女孩推下深渊……这是一个爱的疯狂,追的执着,恨的竭斯底里,毁的彻底的故事。
  • 灵纹仙劫

    灵纹仙劫

    修真之路,逆天行道;仙凡天劫,九死一生;一缕仙缘,得道成仙;道法万千,殊途同归。一场上仙间的斗法,破坏了一个原本安宁的村庄、导致了一个幸福家庭的破灭;一本传家之宝——算命神书,蕴含着诅咒之力、血脉之力,而世代却视其如珍宝、如命根,其中到底隐藏着什么秘密?灭村之仇、毁家之恨,如何能报?神秘的混沌天河、盘古开天的秘密、银汉一族由来……
  • 中国历史宫殿故宫之谜

    中国历史宫殿故宫之谜

    故宫的设计师们如何用亭台楼阁烘托天子的威严?置身于其中的帝王, 又用怎样的心态面对此间的一草一木,深锁的宫门内,究竟隐藏了多少秘 密?君臣们指点江山的大殿内,又蕴藏着多少杀机? 中国古代最引人注目的舞台在故宫,最隐秘无闻的战场也在故宫。故 宫是中国建筑艺术的样本,也是一座皇家艺术宝库;故宫是中国宫殿文化 的集大成者,也是一段段历史的见证者;故宫是一座充满权谋与暗算的城 堡,也是无数宫廷谜案发生的现场。
  • 踏浪晚风中

    踏浪晚风中

    他是美国RS集团总裁,她是他亲自照顾六年的女孩。婚礼照常,她不是新娘,成了隐藏在他婚姻中的影子。都说心理咨询师的心理更容易出现问题,她是深深体会到了。作为一个能很好控制自己情绪的沙盘治疗师,她很少这样子失控。过度的敏感和对自己内心的斥责让她无法原谅自己。*******************************是的,他们不是兄妹,她只是他领养的妹子,但是是他带领自己走出了失去双亲的悲恸,是他让她品尝到了不是亲人胜似亲人的情义。对他的情感,她说不清也道不明,她只知道她想跟他在一起——一生一世……*******************************肖掬月痛哭流涕,她一直自诩的善良纯真竟然成了罪魁祸首。因为她的愚蠢,让她眼睁睁地看着他坠入冰冷的海水……有多少爱可以重来?五年后,当肖掬月无意中在马路上看到一个高大的身影时,顿时僵化,从此便开始了她疯狂的找寻……阿怪新文,火热连载,速速收藏!飞鹰堡QQ群:68729084欢迎快快加入!
  • 逆袭王府:嫡女很逍遥

    逆袭王府:嫡女很逍遥

    爹不亲娘不爱,兄弟姐妹忙陷害,一穷二白婚事遭阻碍,这就是王府大小姐夏云染悲催的现状。惊雷一声,死于暗害的大小姐诈尸还魂,二十一世界新新灵魂入驻重生。赚银子,置产业,养吃货,踹美男,防姐妹,斗后娘,逆袭王府,夏云染的穿越生活忙碌又充实。马不停蹄的背后总有疲惫,唯有那一袭清隽白袍缭绕不去,她只对他说:“你且随意,我自倾怀。”
  • 学长请吃药

    学长请吃药

    这是体育系少女顾小慕与法律系才子顾谦之间轻松搞笑的故事。顾小慕与顾谦之在两岁半就认识,一个单细胞,一个心思多,顾小慕从小就在顾谦之的压迫下长大。顾小慕好不容易考上了大学,却被顾谦之改了志愿,成为了他所在学校的体育生,有着一颗文艺少女心的顾小慕表示:与顾谦之老死不相往来。多姿多彩的大学校园生活就此拉开了,顾小慕一边在跑道上挥汗如雨地训练着,一边还得十二万分小心地提防着顾谦之。因为,这个号称法律系的男神老是来找她的碴,阻挠她去追求心仪的学长。一个千般算计万般阻挠,一个见招拆招笑料百出,在经历游泳比赛、重遇初恋等事件后,顾小慕终于认清楚了自己的心,原来男神一直在她的身边不曾走远。
  • 名人传记丛书:玄奘

    名人传记丛书:玄奘

    名人传记丛书——玄奘——十七年,五万里,真经回,佛法扬:“立足课本,超越课堂”,以提高中小学生的综合素质为目的,让中小学生从课内受益到课外,是一生的良师益友。
  • Under the Redwoods

    Under the Redwoods

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。