on this day july 20, 1917
Odessa, July 13: I have returned from a tour in the districts of Poltava, Ekateringrad and Nicolaieff. The harvest has begun and haymaking is in progress. The cutting of other crops will begin in the next few days. Most of the cultivated land presents an excellent appearance but, owing to the abnormal duration of cold weather in the spring, followed by a long period of drought, the growth of the crops has been retarded, and the supply of straw will be deficient. A considerable portion of the landlords’ estates has been appropriated by the peasants, who will doubtless cut the crops on their own account. In some instances trifling compensation was offered. This was not paid to the landlords, but handed over to a fund for the widows and families of soldiers.
Whether the landlords who have retained possession of their properties will be allowed to cut their crops seems doubtful. The peasants in the Poltava district have forbidden labourers from other districts to work there, insisting upon the employment of local labour, but this will be scarce, as most of the local workers will be employed on their own lands. The Workmen’s Deputies at Nicolaieff propose to solve the labour difficulty by sending the whole male and female population of the town between the ages of 15 and 50 to work as harvesters. The proposal excites dismay among many parents of the upper classes, who object to allowing their daughters to work in the fields in company with roughs and hooligans from the town.
In general the position of the landlords is being rendered untenable. The Workmen’s and Soldiers’ Committees have usurped authority, and the Government officials are powerless to protect them. In the Kieff and Poltava governments pogroms have taken place on the estates of unpopular landlords. The social disruption in Bessarabia appears to be far greater.
The Cossacks are the only considerable population imbued with conservative sentiments, and they may yet prove an important factor, should the increasing disorder lead to a reactionary movement. They declare that they will resist any attempt to compel them to yield a portion of their lands to others, and any effort in this direction might be productive of serious consequences.