Rensselaer Democrat, Volume 1, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 May 1898 — The Ex-Serfs and the Ex-Slaves. [ARTICLE]

The Ex-Serfs and the Ex-Slaves.

I have lately made a hasty trip In Russia, not long enough to give me more than a superficial observation, and yet my superficial observation Is sustained by my subsequent reading of the best books about Russia and the Russians. My impressions of Russia were profoundly changed. The Russian represents a huge,’ undeveloped force, not merely In process of development for the conduct of war, but in the conduct of agriculture and industry. They are entering the company of the progressive states. Their literature, their art, their music and all other elements of true life give indications of an imense pow r er in the future of Industry. At present they are In the condition of thejnlddle ages, but subject to the rending forces of modern science and Invention. The former serfs were emancipated in 1861; the negroes of the South were emancipated two years later. The white men of the South have since been emancipated. The great event of the civil war was the emancipation of the white man from the bonds of a bad economic system. My Impressions In Russia led me to the conclusion that in this country which is actuated by the principle of liberty throughout the land, molding all races and conditions of tnen without regard to color, the hlack citizens of the United States hare made much greater progress In education and industry In one generation than the serfs of Russia have made in the same period, although they are a strong race of white men,— Edward Atkinson, In the Tradesman. ♦