a yearly sum for
the redemption of the land-allotment which he received at the time of
the Emancipation. Taken together, these form a heavy burden, but for
ten or twelve years the emancipated peasantry bore it patiently, without
falling very deeply into arrears. Then began to appear symptoms of
distress, especially in the provinces with a poor soil, and in 1872
the Government appointed a Commission of Inquiry, in which I had the
privilege of taking part unofficially. The inquiry showed that something
ought to be done, but at that moment the Government was so busy with
administrative reforms and with trying to develop industry and commerce
that it had little time to devote to studying and improving the economic
position of the silent, long-suffering muzhik. It was not till nearly
ten years later, when the Government began to feel the pinch of the
ever-increasing arrears, that it recognised the necessity of relieving
the rural population. For this purpose it abolished the salt-tax and the
poll-tax and repeatedly lessened the burden of the redemption-payments.
At a later period (1899) it afforded further relief by an important
reform in the mode of collecting the direct taxes. From the police,
who often ruined peasant householders by applying distraint
indiscriminately, the collection of taxes was transferred to special
authorities who took into consideration the temporary pecuniary
embarrassments of the tax-payers. Another benefit conferred on the
peasantry by this reform is that an individual member of the Commune
is no longer responsible for the fiscal obligations of the Commune as a
whole.

Since these alleviations have been granted the annual total demanded
from the peasantry for direct taxation and land-redemption payments
is 173 million roubles, and the average annual sum to be paid by each
peasant household varies, according to the locality, from 11 1/2 to 20
roubles (21s. 6d. to 40s.). In addition to this annuity there is a heavy
burden of accumulated arrears, especially in the central and eastern
provinces, which amounted in 1899 to 143 millions. Of the indirect taxes
I can say nothing definite, because it is impossible to calculate, even
approximately, the share of them which falls on the rural population,
but they must not be left out of account. During the ten years of M.
Witte's term of office the revenue of the Imperial Treasury was nearly
doubled, and though the increase was due partly to improvements in t