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

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

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAPITALISM IN RUSSIA<br />

south in search <strong>of</strong> odd jobs must be compared with the<br />

Taurida peasant who cultivates huge tracts <strong>of</strong> land. The<br />

Kaluga, Nizhni-Novgorod and Yaroslavl carpenter must<br />

be compared with the Yaroslavl or Moscow vegetable grower<br />

or peasant who keeps cows <strong>to</strong> sell the milk, etc. Similarly,<br />

if the bulk <strong>of</strong> the peasants in a locality are engaged in the<br />

manufacturing industries, their allotments providing them<br />

with only a small part <strong>of</strong> their means <strong>of</strong> livelihood, the data<br />

on the differentiation <strong>of</strong> the agricultural peasantry must<br />

be supplemented with data on the differentiation <strong>of</strong> those<br />

who engage in industries. In Chapter V we shall deal with<br />

this latter question; at the moment we are concerned only<br />

with the differentiation <strong>of</strong> the typically agricultural peasantry.<br />

X. SUMMARY OF ZEMSTVO STATISTICS AND ARMY-HORSE<br />

CENSUS RETURNS 52<br />

We have shown that the relation <strong>of</strong> the <strong>to</strong>p <strong>to</strong> the bot<strong>to</strong>m<br />

group <strong>of</strong> the peasantry bears the very features that<br />

characterise the relation <strong>of</strong> the rural bourgeoisie <strong>to</strong><br />

the rural proletariat; that these relationships are remarkably<br />

similar in the most varied localities with the most<br />

varied conditions; that even their numerical expression<br />

(i.e., percentages <strong>of</strong> the groups in the <strong>to</strong>tal area under<br />

crops, number <strong>of</strong> animals, etc.) fluctuates within limits<br />

that, comparatively speaking, are very small. The question<br />

naturally arises: how far can these data on the relationships<br />

between the groups in the different localities<br />

be utilised for forming an idea <strong>of</strong> the groups in<strong>to</strong> which<br />

the entire Russian peasantry is divided? In other words,<br />

what returns can enable us <strong>to</strong> judge the composition <strong>of</strong>, and<br />

the interrelation between, the <strong>to</strong>p and the bot<strong>to</strong>m groups<br />

<strong>of</strong> the entire Russian peasantry?<br />

There are very few <strong>of</strong> these returns, for no agricultural<br />

censuses are taken in Russia that register all the cropraising<br />

farms in the country. The only material by which<br />

we can judge in<strong>to</strong> which economic groups our peasantry<br />

is divided is the combined Zemstvo statistics and the armyhorse<br />

census returns showing the distribution <strong>of</strong> draught<br />

animals (or horses) among the peasant households. Meagre<br />

141

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