Petersburg, 1893). As my object is to convey to the reader
merely a general idea of the institution, I refrain from
confusing him by an enumeration of the endless divergencies
from the original type.

** Since 1719 eleven revisions have been made, the last in
1897. The intervals varied from six to forty-one years.

But why, it may be said, should the widow not accept provisionally the
five shares, and let to others the part which she does not require? The
balance of rent after payment of the taxes might help her to bring up
her young family.

So it seems to one acquainted only with the rural economy of England,
where land is scarce, and always gives a revenue more than sufficient
to defray the taxes. But in Russia the possession of a share of Communal
land is often not a privilege, but a burden. In some Communes the land
is so poor and abundant that it cannot be let at any price. In others
the soil will repay cultivation, but a fair rent will not suffice to pay
the taxes and dues.

To obviate these inconvenient results of the simpler system, many
Communes have adopted the expedient of allotting the land, not according
to the number of revision souls, but according to the working power
of the families. Thus, in the instance above supposed, the widow would
receive perhaps two shares, and the large household, containing five
workers, would receive perhaps seven or eight. Since the breaking-up of
the large families, such inequality as I have supposed is, of course,
rare; but inequality of a less extreme kind does still occur, and
justifies a departure from the system of allotment according to the
revision-lists.

Even if the allotment be fair and equitable at the time of the revision,
it may soon become unfair and burdensome by the natural fluctuations of
the population. Births and deaths may in the course of a very few years
entirely alter the relative working power of the various families.
The sons of the widow may grow up to manhood, whilst two or three
able-bodied members of the other family may be cut off by an epidemic.
Thus, long before a new revision takes place, the distribution of the
land may be no longer in accordance with the wants and capacities of
the various families composing the Commune. To correct this, various
expedients are employed. Some Communes transfer particular lots from one
family to another, as circumstances demand; whilst others make from
time to time, durin