to saying, in a strongly united commnno — the koalak, even
ivhen accepted as the head of the administration^ will think
twice before committing a gross injury to a member of the
mir, or before plunging his grasping' hand too deeply into
the communal cash-box. For a flourishing agricultural
commune not in "arrear" with its taxes eren the police
have no overpowering terrors, and the mir grows very ob-
stinate when provoked beyond a certain limit

We gaze on another picture when we look at poor, half-
ruined villages swamped by " arrears,'* overcrowded by bo-
byls indebted almost to a roan to the koulak, and depend-
ent on his kindness and mercy. Here the koulak reigns
supreme. Whether in office or not, he is absolute master of
the position, because he is able to sway the mir's vote at
his pleasure. Both elders and judges, who among other
powers have the right to inflict corporal punishment on
the peasants of their district, are the tools, friends, depend-
ents, obedient to his biddings. In such communities the
koulaks verily are absolute masters. The very vastness
of the powers wielded by the mir makes it extremely dfln«
gerous to resist the koulak — should there be no rivalry
among the set, almost impossible.
Thus are the koulaks not merely instrumental in the ma-
terial ruin of our peasantry ; they are the chief agents in
the demoralization and perversion of our people's public
spirit, and of those democratic communal institutions which
flrst fostered it At the same time the koulaks serve as a
channel by which the demoralizing' influences which come
from the police and the administrations are infiltrated into
the hearts of the villages.
"^^



CHAPTER in.
