The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1892.

Timaru Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 5353, 4 February 1892, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1892.

A cablegram which we published yesterday under the heading of " Serfdom m Russia " furnishes material for serious reflection. The message stated that the Czar proposed to rebind the peasantry to the soil as they were m former days, and compel them to cultivate it ; the State retaining twothirds of the produce, and one-third being stored m the magazines of each commune for the support of the peasants. The message evidently gives only one or two leading features of the scheme, and it is not distinctly stated whether it ia intended to be applied to the whole body of the Russian peasan try, or only to those resident m certain districts. It seems, however, to be implied that the application is to he general m those parts of the Russian Empire m which serfdom . formerly prevailed. Although, considering the momentous character of the proposal, the message is exceedingly brief, it nevertheless makes it clear thut practically what is m contemplation is a return to serfdom, or whet a free people would term slavery. The abominable system prevailed until the Cxar Alexander 11. commenced his great series of reforms, shortly after bis accession to the throne on the death of his father Nicholas. In spite of tremendous opposition on the part of a large section of the nobility, Alexander abolished serfdom. Nearly 20,000,000 of men received their freedom, as freedom is understood by Russian law. That enormous number of the Czar's subjects had previously been governed exclusively by their ownerß, and had enjoyed scarcely any civil rights. Alexander's great act of emancipation was justly applauded throughout the civilised world, and though the most conflicting accounts have ever since prevailed bb to the full effect of. the change on the condition of the peasantry, there can be no doubt that, on the whole, they have profited largely. They are many degrees nearer to an Englishman's standard of freedom than, they were previously. In the very nature of things the tendency of their course is upwards, though under the general conditions of society m Russia i the advance to a higher level may be slow and wearisome. To pull them down once more into serfdom, even of a modified character, would be an utterly unjustifiable and a terrible act of tyranny. ' The intention may be good. The proposal ia probably the outcome of a wish to set up a strong barrier against the recurrence of famine, by compelling' the cultivation of larger areas, and arranging a better system for the distribution of products. The remedy is a false one, and has about it a savour of barbarism which is literally appalling m the present state of civilisation over a large part of the world. It would by no means surprise ns if later telegrams contradicted the message on which we are commenting. It has become a serious part of the business of the Pre6B Association to eat its own words, and on this occasion the agent may have been only preparing for himself a repast of the usual character. If, however, it should turn out that the first statement was true, and, further, thut the Czar's masterful project is likely to become a reality, surely the occasion would be one on which the free nations of the earth ought to enter a protest m the name of

outraged humanity. Great Britain exerts her naval power to prevent tbe export of slaves from African ports. She also moves actively m putting down the accursed thing m the interior of the Dark Continent. She has made it her special mission to extend a helping band to negroe3. Ought she, then to be a silent, if not contented, spectator of the monstrous and comprehensive tyranny of the Czar — the reduction of millions of civilised Europeans to a state which can properly be described only as slavery?