In 1857 the Emperor Alexander II first raised the question of
emancipation, and declared it was time for it to be accomplished. As
might have been expected, the idea of emancipation met with great
opposition from different sides. Yet the opposition was directed not so
much against the personal emancipation of the serfs as against the
appropriation to them, when liberated, of the land they held. The
proprietors, assembled in different committees which were established
all over the empire to discuss the matter, ended even by giving up their
right of possession in the person of the serf, and, mentioning only
their right to the land occupied by the peasants, claimed pecuniary
indemnities if that land were delivered to them. The honorable gentlemen
whom the Emperor intrusted with this important task, forming a committee
_ad hoc_, declared from the first as a principle that the emancipated
peasants must have land, about in the same quantity as they had hitherto
occupied, on condition of a pecuniary indemnity to be paid to the
proprietors. That principle prevailed, thanks to the Emperor's firmness.
During the discussion of that question in Russia, I published several
writings on the matter. My chief purpose and warmest desire being to
secure to the peasants as soon as possible their personal freedom and
complete liberty of labor, I proposed a method of emancipation, claiming
the entire property of their homes; that is to say, cottages and
orchards and a small quantity of arable land, and that without the
slightest indemnity from them to their masters, which was to be left to
the Government. A sum of about two hundred million dollars, according to
my calculation, would have been sufficient for it.
Meanwhile I inherited a small landed property, inhabited by about four
hundred persons of both sexes. I hastened to put in practice my method.
I abandoned one-third of the land, including their houses, to the
peasants, and let them the two remaining thirds for a certain sum of
money. In my agreement with them it was settled that, if the
emancipation which the Government was preparing (1859) turned out more
advantageous to them, they were to accept it in preference to mine. It
is needless to add that, when the official emancipation was proclaimed,
the peasants and I found it more advantageous and adopted it. If I were
to compare the two methods, I should say that mine tended chiefly to the
liberty of the peasants' person and labor, and that of the Government to
give them a quantity of land sufficient for their subsistence.
The great inconvenience of this last method was that it obliged the
peasants to pay a heavy rent to redeem their land, and that during
forty-nine years! Nevertheless, their passion to possess land was so
strong that they cheerfully submitted to such hard conditions. The
redeeming rent _(rente de rachat_) was to be paid by the peasants,
either in money, according to an estimate fixed by law, or by work done
for the proprietor, _i.e.,_ by _corvies_. This last mode of payment,
sanctioned by law only for a short period, disappeared more and more
every day, so that the majority of the peasants no longer worked for the
proprietors, but paid their rent in money.
I can say more: About two millions of peasants were entirely liberated
with regard to the proprietors, thanks to an immediate payment of the
redeeming rent. In such cases their annual rent (_redevance_) was
capitalized, and the Government gave the proprietor an obligation for
the amount of the capital, which bore five per cent, interest, and was
to be redeemed in the course of forty-nine years by annual drawings
(_tirages_); the peasants then to pay their redeeming rent to
Government, and thus become free and independent proprietors. For some
time both peasants and proprietors seemed to find this proceeding the
most profitable, and agreements of this kind became more and more
frequent every day.
I can hardly say how happy I was when I saw for the first time my dear,
beloved, and deeply respected Russian peasants free at last, and
proprietors of the land they had till then cultivated as serfs! What a
change! The same creatures, serfs yesterday, became men, conscious of
their human dignity; their aspect, their language, are those of free
men. In the mean while, in getting rid of their serfdom, they preserved
their usual good sense, wisdom, and _bonhomie_; no impertinence, no
arrogance whatever can be detected in them; they are full of
self-respect, yet polite. I saw them discussing with the authorities
some business of theirs. They maintained their new rights, and, when
wrong, never hesitated to acknowledge it.
Every district and every _chef-lieu_ had every year an assembly of
deputies who named a permanent committee for three years. This committee
was charged with the municipal administration, under the control of the
assembly. Everyone was called by law to the election of the deputies. It
happened in many places that the peasants were the more numerous and
could therefore dispose of all the places in the administrative
committee. They were so informed. "No," was their answer; "we want one
or two members of the committee taken from among ourselves; they will
watch over our interests. As for defending them, as for action, the
nobles we name will do it better than we, for they are more learned than
we are." In one of the assemblies the nobles, moved by the tact and
moderation of the peasants, insisted and almost forced a peasant to
become president of the administrative committee of the district. When
the salary of the members of the committee had to be decided, the
peasants usually considered it too high for them, and, letting the
nobles and the merchants have it, got it diminished by one-half for
themselves.
All the district assemblies, after voting for the formation of the
administrative committee, named the deputies for the larger assembly in
the chief town in the province, which in its turn chose among its own
members the members for the provincial administrative committee. The
central committee seemed to interest the peasants less than those of the
districts, and this too is owing to their modesty and moderation.
Another field was offered by the new law to the activity of the peasants
in the local or municipal tribunals. The law united several rural
communes in one canton _(volost)._ Each canton, each commune, chose an
_ancient_, assisted by a _conseil_ In every canton was a tribunal to
judge the peasants' affairs. Ancients and judges were elected by
peasants; noblemen were not submitted to these tribunals, but it has
happened that some of them preferred having their difficulties with
peasants settled by municipal judges rather than by the usual tribunals.
This jurisdiction, established merely for peasants, had great
importance, owing chiefly to the privilege of deciding not only
according to general law, but also according to local customs.
Opportunities were not wanting for the good sense of the peasants to
show itself in these municipal tribunals and councils, and the success
of the institution was clear to everyone.
(1844-1861) CHRONOLOGY OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY, Embracing the period
covered in this volume, Daniel Edwin Wheeler
Events treated at length are here indicated in large type; the numerals
following give volume and page.
Separate chronologies or the various nations, and of the careers of
famous persons, will be found in the INDEX VOLUME, with references
showing where the several events are fully treated.