The Economics of the Russian Village

by Isaac A. Hourwich

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Districts.	Households of yearly or season laborers.	Tilling their plots with their own stock and implements.
		Households.	Per cent.
Korotoyak	1891	1315	70
Nizhnedevitzk	2313	1912	83
Zadonsk	2733	1558	57

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To 1 household upon an average.	Korotoyak.		Nizhnedevitzk.
	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

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	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.

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