Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XVI. The two Worlds, Peasant and Official
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has been proofread at least once.
(diff)
(history)
Denna sida har korrekturlästs minst en gång.
(skillnad)
(historik)
explanations from Minsk, reply was sent that the land was State
property without shadow of doubt, and the peasants’ complaint
groundless.
Meanwhile the Governor-General was not idle. When he
learnt that five peasants were going as a deputation to St.
Petersburg, he despatched an intimation to the Ministry that
these men were revolutionists; result—they were thrown into
prison without any trial, and banished to the White Sea coast.
Everything being now clear in his favour, Tokarjev proceeded,
in 1874, to take formal possession of the estate. Agents were
employed to collect the rents, but the peasants refused to pay.
Twenty-six of them were thrown into prison, and soldiers were
sent to enforce obedience and the payment of rent. The
peasants attempted to break through the ranks, but were
beaten off with clubbed muskets and scared away with a volley
of blank cartridge. Four days before the news of this reached,
him, Tokarjev had telegraphed to St. Petersburg that the
inhabitants of Logoschino were in revolt, and had repulsed his
soldiers. General Loschkarjev was immediately despatched,
with a free hand. He took a battalion of soldiers and 250
Cossacks, and marched from Minsk against “the rebels.”
Colonel Kapgar now comes upon the scene, a ready tool in
the Governor’s hand. His first act was to store several
cartloads of birchrods in the police station at Logoschino; then,
escorted by two policemen, he summoned the villagers, abused
them in the coarsest terms, and told them that "a general was
coming with an army who had full power to bury them alive,
flog them to death, in short, do as they pleased with them if
they did not at once submit.” The terror-stricken peasants
at once gave way, and sent three of their number to pacify this
terrible general. They met him some miles from the place, but
did no good. At evening Loschkarjev with his troops
entered the village, and at once commanded the Cossacks to
keep watch all round and see that none escaped. A fresh
deputation brought bread and salt as tokens of submission.
But the General would have nothing to say to the “rebels”
before they had paid 500 roubles rent for 1874, and 5,000 roubles
for 1873—that is, the year before Tokarjev became possessed
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
