Page:Morgan Philips Price - Siberia (1912).djvu/179

 Rh officials, they can deal with them much better as a commune than as individuals. Historically the commune is an institution of social defence, formed by a people not very independent in character, for the purpose of overcoming the difficulties of nature, and of defending themselves against the tyranny of local Government officials. In the early days, when the power of the central administration over minor officials was less than it is to-day, the oppression of the communes by unjust taxation and other acts of petty tyranny was much greater. The system, therefore, has grown with the people. It is almost uniformly a feature of primitive society. But as conditions change, so this social system will also change. Stricter discipline over petty officials will in time diminish corruption, while the increase of population and the decrease of available land will in time bring into existence more intensive systems of agriculture, under which the individual will become more and more desirous of keeping the fruits of his labour for himself. All these forces will tend to break down the restrictions which the commune imposes upon the individual, although the Siberian peasants will probably always hang together in colonies for the sake of each other's society. But the conversations which I had with the peasants themselves and with some of the elders of the commune undoubtedly suggested that even in these parts of Siberia a movement was on foot for the greater recognition of individual rights by the commune itself.

Generally speaking, I was most favourably struck with the economic condition of the Siberian peasant and with the apparent prosperity which seemed to