PEASANTS AND SOVIET.

FROM a POLITICAL OBSERVER.

An interesting new development in Soviet Russia is the refusal of numerous provincial organisations to accept the list of representatives sent from Moscow. Until now it has been the unvarying Communist practice to elect by acclamation the men whose names figured in the official list. The chairman of the electoral assembly, usually sent from headquarters, read out the names proposed, and asked if there were any votes against. Under the watchful eyes of the ever-present agents of the Che-ka not a single voice was raised in protest, and the list passed “unanimously.”

Now, however, the official Soviet Press

speaks with regret of these halcyon days of Communist “freedom.” The assemblies have become turbulent; they cannot be restrained even by the presence of the spies; the official list is ignored, and men known to the electors are proposed and receive an overwhelming majority. This happens especially in the county, where, as the Investia complains, the peasants have ceased to respect authority. This independent spirit on the part of the peasantry is the result of the deep disgust felt by the rural population at the way in which things have been mismanaged by the townspeople. The Bolshevik Press is filled with complaints of the impossibility of selling the products of industry to the peasant. This is me officially ascribed to his obstinacy and evil mind. In reality the peasant cannot afford to buy the goods manufactured by the town worker because these products are too expensive, and he can produce much more cheaply himself.