[11] Essay of a Statistical Investigation on the Peasants’ Landed Property and Taxation.
[12] In the gubernia of Novgorod the former State peasants paid in taxes the entire net income of their land, and the former serfs from 61 to 465 per cent. above their net income. In the gubernia of St. Petersburg they paid 34, and in that of Moscow, upon an average, 105 per cent. in excess of their net income.
EXCESS OF TAXATION ABOVE THE NET INCOME.
| In the gubernias. | Per cent. former State peasants. | Per cent. former serfs. |
|---|---|---|
| Tver | 144 | 152 |
| Smolensk | 66 | 120 |
| Kostroma | 46 | 140 |
| Pskoff | 30 | 113 |
| Vladimir | 68 | 176 |
| Vyatka | 3 | 100 |
In the “black soil” region the difference amounted to from 24 to 200 per cent. for the former serfs, while the former State peasants, more favorably situated, had to pay in taxes from 30 to 148 per cent. of their net income, etc. (Loc. cit., pp. 35-36, 86.)
[13] Corporal punishment for debts (pravyozh) is an institution of Russian law bearing the stamp of antiquity. It might perhaps flatter the Russian “national pride” to class this institution as one of the emanations of the “self-existent Russian spirit.” Unfortunately for the latter, this is a method of procedure common to many other nations at a certain stage of historical development.
[14] The rent is here no fictitious quantity, it being an every-day occurrence for peasants to lease their lots.
[15] Picture the condition of a New Jersey farmer who would have to await the permission of the Governor of New Jersey, the Secretary of State, and the Treasury Department, before moving to Minnesota. This is exactly the condition of the Russian peasant.
According to the recent law, more liberal than the original law of 1861, emigration is allowed by a special permission, in every single case, of the Ministers of the Interior and of Public Domains, which permission is issued upon the presentation of the local governor.