Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 3 - From Marx to Mao

140
V. I. LENIN
Let us now compare the degree of peasant differentiation
in the different localities. In the chart two types of localities
stand out very clearly in this regard: in Taurida,
Samara, Saratov and Perm gubernias the differentiation of
the agricultural peasantry is markedly more intense than
in Orel, Voronezh and Nizhni-Novgorod gubernias. The
curves of the first four gubernias in the run below
the red average line, while those of the last three
gubernias run above the average, i.e., show a smaller concentration
of farming in the hands of the well-to-do minority.
The localities of the first type are the most land-abundant
and strictly agricultural (in Perm Gubernia the agricultural
parts of the uyezds have been singled out), with extensive
farming. With farming of this character the differentiation
of the agricultural peasantry is easily noted and
therefore clearly visible. Conversely, in the localities of
the second type we see, on the one hand, a development of
commercial agriculture such as is not noted in our data;
for example, the sowing of hemp in Orel Gubernia. On
the other hand, we see the tremendous significance of “industries,”
both in the sense of work for hire (Zadonsk Uyezd,
Voronezh Gubernia) and in the sense of non-agricultural
occupations (Nizhni-Novgorod Gubernia). The significance
of both these circumstances for the question of the differentiation
of the agricultural peasantry is enormous. Of the
former (the different forms of commercial agriculture and
agricultural progress in the different localities) we have
already spoken. The significance of the latter (the role of
the “industries”) is no less obvious. If in a given locality the
bulk of the peasants are allotment-holding farm labourers,
day labourers or wage-workers in industries, the differentiation
of the agricultural peasantry will, of course, be marked
very feebly.* But to get a proper idea of the matter, these
typical representatives of the rural proletariat must be compared
with typical representatives of the peasant bourgeoisie.
The allotment-holding Voronezh day labourer who goes
* It is quite possible that in the central black-earth gubernias,
like Orel, Voronezh and others, the differentiation of the peasantry
is indeed much feebler, because of land-poverty, heavy taxation
and the wide prevalence of the labour-service system: all these are
circumstances retarding differentiation.