Project Gutenberg's Article on The Moscow Census, by Lyof N. Tolstoi
#11 in our series by Lyof N. Tolstoi

Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check
the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!

Please take a look at the important information in this header.
We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an
electronic path open for the next readers.

Please do not remove this.

This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book.
Do not change or edit it without written permission.  The words
are carefully chosen to provide users with the information they
need about what they can legally do with the texts.


**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**

**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**

*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations*

Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and
further information is included below, including for donations.

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3)
organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541



Title: The Moscow Census - From "What to do?"

Author: Lyof N. Tolstoi

Release Date: November, 2002  [Etext #3540]
[Yes, we are about one year ahead of schedule]
[The actual date this file first posted = 05/31/01]

Edition: 10

Language: English

Project Gutenberg's Article on The Moscow Census, by Lyof N. Tolstoi
********This file should be named ancim10.txt or ancim10.zip********

Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, ancim11.txt
VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, ancim10a.txt

This etext was produced by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk,
from the 1887 Thomas Y. Crowell edition.

Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions,
all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a
copyright notice is included.  Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any
of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition.

We are now trying to release all our books one year in advance
of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing.
Please be encouraged to send us error messages even years after
the official publication date.

Please note:  neither this list nor its contents are final till
midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement.
The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at
Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month.  A
preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment
and editing by those who wish to do so.

Most people start at our sites at:
http://gutenberg.net
http://promo.net/pg


Those of you who want to download any Etext before announcement
can surf to them as follows, and just download by date; this is
also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the
indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an
announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter.

http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext02
or
ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext02

Or /etext01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90

Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want,
as it appears in our Newsletters.


Information about Project Gutenberg (one page)

We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work.  The
time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours
to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright
searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc.  This
projected audience is one hundred million readers.  If our value
per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2
million dollars per hour this year as we release fifty new Etext
files per month, or 500 more Etexts in 2000 for a total of 3000+
If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total
should reach over 300 billion Etexts given away by year's end.

The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext
Files by December 31, 2001.  [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion]
This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers,
which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users.

At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third
of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we
manage to get some real funding.

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created
to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium.

We need your donations more than ever!

As of 05/16/01 contributions are only being solicited from people in:
Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado,
Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska,
South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Wyoming, South Carolina.

We have filed in about 45 states now, but these are the only ones
that have responded.

As the requirements for other states are met,
additions to this list will be made and fund raising
will begin in the additional states.  Please feel
free to ask to check the status of your state.

In answer to various questions we have received on this:

We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork
to legally request donations in all 50 states.  If
your state is not listed and you would like to know
if we have added it since the list you have, just ask.

While we cannot solicit donations from people in
states where we are not yet registered, we know
of no prohibition against accepting donations
from donors in these states who approach us with
an offer to donate.


International donations are accepted,
but we don't know ANYTHING about how
to make them tax-deductible, or
even if they CAN be made deductible,
and don't have the staff to handle it
even if there are ways.

All donations should be made to:

Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
PMB 113
1739 University Ave.
Oxford, MS 38655-4109


The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3)
organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541,
and has been approved as a 501(c)(3) organization by the US Internal
Revenue Service (IRS).  Donations are tax-deductible to the maximum
extent permitted by law.  As the requirements for other states are met,
additions to this list will be made and fund raising will begin in the
additional states.

We need your donations more than ever!

You can get up to date donation information at:

http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html


***

If you can't reach Project Gutenberg,
you can always email directly to:

Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com>

hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org
if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if
it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . .

Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message.

We would prefer to send you information by email.


***


Example command-line FTP session:

ftp ftp.ibiblio.org
login: anonymous
password: your@login
cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg
cd etext90 through etext99 or etext00 through etext02, etc.
dir [to see files]
get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files]
GET GUTINDEX.??  [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99]
GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books]


**The Legal Small Print**


(Three Pages)

***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START***
Why is this "Small Print!" statement here?  You know: lawyers.
They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with
your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from
someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our
fault.  So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement
disclaims most of our liability to you.  It also tells you how
you may distribute copies of this etext if you want to.

*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT
By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept
this "Small Print!" statement.  If you do not, you can receive
a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by
sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person
you got it from.  If you received this etext on a physical
medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request.

ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS
This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etexts,
is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart
through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project").
Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright
on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and
distribute it in the United States without permission and
without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules, set forth
below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext
under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark.

Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market
any commercial products without permission.

To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable
efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain
works.  Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any
medium they may be on may contain "Defects".  Among other
things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or
corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged
disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer
codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES
But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below,
[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may
receive this etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims
all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including
legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR
UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of
receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any)
you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that
time to the person you received it from.  If you received it
on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and
such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement
copy.  If you received it electronically, such person may
choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to
receive it electronically.

THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS".  NO OTHER
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS
TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or
the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the
above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you
may have other legal rights.

INDEMNITY
You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation,
and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated
with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including
legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the
following that you do or cause:  [1] distribution of this etext,
[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the etext,
or [3] any Defect.

DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"
You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by
disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this
"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg,
or:

[1]  Only give exact copies of it.  Among other things, this
     requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the
     etext or this "small print!" statement.  You may however,
     if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable
     binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
     including any form resulting from conversion by word
     processing or hypertext software, but only so long as
     *EITHER*:

     [*]  The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and
          does *not* contain characters other than those
          intended by the author of the work, although tilde
          (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may
          be used to convey punctuation intended by the
          author, and additional characters may be used to
          indicate hypertext links; OR

     [*]  The etext may be readily converted by the reader at
          no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent
          form by the program that displays the etext (as is
          the case, for instance, with most word processors);
          OR

     [*]  You provide, or agree to also provide on request at
          no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the
          etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC
          or other equivalent proprietary form).

[2]  Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this
     "Small Print!" statement.

[3]  Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the
     gross profits you derive calculated using the method you
     already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  If you
     don't derive profits, no royalty is due.  Royalties are
     payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation"
     the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were
     legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent
     periodic) tax return.  Please contact us beforehand to
     let us know your plans and to work out the details.

WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO?
Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of
public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed
in machine readable form.

The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time,
public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses.
Money should be paid to the:
"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."

If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or
software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at:
hart@pobox.com

*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.05/20/01*END*
[Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hart
and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.]
[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales
of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or
software or any other related product without express permission.]



Please be advised that David sent the two Moscow Census pieces to me
as one file, and that I split it into two, since some people have a
bit of trouble when we put two titles in one file.  However, I did NOT
change the numbering of the footnotes, so they all appear at the end
of each file.





This etext was produced by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk,
from the 1887 Thomas Y. Crowell edition.





THE MOSCOW CENSUS--FROM "WHAT TO DO?"
by Count Lyof N. Tolstoi




Translated from the Russian by
Isabel F. Hapgood




ARTICLE ON THE CENSUS IN MOSCOW. [1882.]



The object of a census is scientific.  A census is a sociological
investigation.  And the object of the science of sociology is the
happiness of the people.  This science and its methods differ sharply
from all other sciences.

Its peculiarity lies in this, that sociological investigations are
not conducted by learned men in their cabinets, observatories and
laboratories, but by two thousand people from the community.  A
second peculiarity is this, that the investigations of other sciences
are not conducted on living people, but here living people are the
subjects.  A third peculiarity is, that the aim of every other
science is simply knowledge, while here it is the good of the people.
One man may investigate a nebula, but for the investigation of
Moscow, two thousand persons are necessary.  The object of the study
of nebulae is merely that we may know about nebulae; the object of
the study of inhabitants is that sociological laws may be deduced,
and that, on the foundation of these laws, a better life for the
people may be established.  It makes no difference to the nebula
whether it is studied or not, and it has waited long, and is ready to
wait a great while longer; but it is not a matter of indifference to
the inhabitants of Moscow, especially to those unfortunates who
constitute the most interesting subjects of the science of sociology.

The census-taker enters a night lodging-house; in the basement he
finds a man dying of hunger, and he politely inquires his profession,
his name, his native place, the character of his occupation, and
after a little hesitation as to whether he is to be entered in the
list as alive, he writes him in and goes his way.

And thus will the two thousand young men proceed.  This is not as it
should be.

Science does its work, and the community, summoned in the persons of
these two thousand young men to aid science, must do its work.  A
statistician drawing his deductions from figures may feel indifferent
towards people, but we census-takers, who see these people and who
have no scientific prepossessions, cannot conduct ourselves towards
them in an inhuman manner.  Science fulfils its task, and its work is
for its objects and in the distant future, both useful and necessary
to us.  For men of science, we can calmly say, that in 1882 there
were so many beggars, so many prostitutes, and so many uncared-for
children.  Science may say this with composure and with pride,
because it knows that the confirmation of this fact conduces to the
elucidation of the laws of sociology, and that the elucidation of the
laws of sociology leads to a better constitution of society.  But
what if we, the unscientific people, say:  "You are perishing in
vice, you are dying of hunger, you are pining away, and killing each
other; so do not grieve about this; when you shall have all perished,
and hundreds of thousands more like you, then, possibly, science may
be able to arrange everything in an excellent manner."  For men of
science, the census has its interest; and for us also, it possesses
an interest of a wholly different significance.  The interest and
significance of the census for the community lie in this, that it
furnishes it with a mirror into which, willy nilly, the whole
community, and each one of us, gaze.

The figures and deductions will be the mirror.  It is possible to
refrain from reading them, as it is possible to turn away from the
looking-glass.  It is possible to glance cursorily at both figures
and mirror, and it is also possible to scrutinize them narrowly.  To
go about in connection with the census as thousands of people are now
about to do, is to scrutinize one's self closely in the mirror.

What does this census, that is about to be made, mean for us people
of Moscow, who are not men of science?  It means two things.  In the
first place, this, that we may learn with certainty, that among us
tens of thousands who live in ease, there dwell tens of thousands of
people who lack bread, clothing and shelter; in the second place,
this, that our brothers and sons will go and view this and will
calmly set down according to the schedules, how many have died of
hunger and cold.

And both these things are very bad.

All cry out upon the instability of our social organization, about
the exceptional situation, about revolutionary tendencies.  Where
lies the root of all this?  To what do the revolutionists point?  To
poverty, to inequality in the distribution of wealth.  To what do the
conservatives point?  To the decline in moral principle.  If the
opinion of the revolutionists is correct, what must be done?  Poverty
and the inequality of wealth must be lessened.  How is this to be
effected?  The rich must share with the poor.  If the opinion of the
conservatives is correct, that the whole evil arises from the decline
in moral principle, what can be more immoral and vicious than the
consciously indifferent survey of popular sufferings, with the sole
object of cataloguing them?  What must be done?  To the census we
must add the work of affectionate intercourse of the idle and
cultivated rich, with the oppressed and unenlightened poor.

Science will do its work, let us perform ours also.  Let us do this.
In the first place, let all of us who are occupied with the census,
superintendents and census-takers, make it perfectly clear to
ourselves what we are to investigate and why.  It is the people, and
the object is that they may be happy.  Whatever may be one's view of
life, every one will agree that there is nothing more important than
human life, and that there is no more weighty task than to remove the
obstacles to the development of this life, and to assist it.

This idea, that the relations of men to poverty are at the foundation
of all popular suffering, is expressed in the Gospels with striking
harshness, but at the same time, with decision and clearness for all.

"He who has clothed the naked, fed the hungry, visited the prisoner,
that man has clothed Me, fed Me, visited Me," that is, has done the
deed for that which is the most important thing in the world.

However a man may look upon things, every one knows that this is more
important than all else on earth.

And this must not be forgotten, and we must not permit any other
consideration to veil from us the most weighty fact of our existence.
Let us inscribe, and reckon, but let us not forget that if we
encounter a man who is hungry and without clothes, it is of more
moment to succor him than to make all possible investigations, than
to discover all possible sciences.  Perish the whole census if we may
but feed an old woman.  The census will be longer and more difficult,
but we cannot pass by people in the poorer quarters and merely note
them down without taking any heed of them and without endeavoring,
according to the measure of our strength and moral sensitiveness, to
aid them.  This in the first place.  In the second, this is what must
be done:  All of us, who are to take part in the census, must refrain
from irritation because we are annoyed; let us understand that this
census is very useful for us; that if this is not cure, it is at
least an effort to study the disease, for which we should be
thankful; that we must seize this occasion, and, in connection with
it, we must seek to recover our health, in some small degree.  Let
all of us, then, who are connected with the census, endeavor to take
advantage of this solitary opportunity in ten years to purify
ourselves somewhat; let us not strive against, but assist the census,
and assist it especially in this sense, that it may not have merely
the harsh character of the investigation of a hopelessly sick person,
but may have the character of healing and restoration to health.  For
the occasion is unique:  eighty energetic, cultivated men, having
under their orders two thousand young men of the same stamp, are to
make their way over the whole of Moscow, and not leave a single man
in Moscow with whom they have not entered into personal relations.
All the wounds of society, the wounds of poverty, of vice, of
ignorance--all will be laid bare.  Is there not something re-assuring
in this?  The census-takers will go about Moscow, they will set down
in their lists, without distinction, those insolent with prosperity,
the satisfied, the calm, those who are on the way to ruin, and those
who are ruined, and the curtain will fall.  The census-takers, our
sons and brothers, these young men will behold all this.  They will
say:  "Yes, our life is very terrible and incurable," and with this
admission they will live on like the rest of us, awaiting a remedy
for the evil from this or that extraneous force.  But those who are
perishing will go on dying, in their ruin, and those on the road to
ruin will continue in their course.  No, let us rather grasp the idea
that science has its task, and that we, on the occasion of this
census, have our task, and let us not allow the curtain once lifted
to be dropped, but let us profit by the opportunity in order to
remove the immense evil of the separation existing between us and the
poor, and to establish intercourse and the work of redressing the
evil of unhappiness and ignorance, and our still greater misfortune,-
-the indifference and aimlessness of our life.

I already hear the customary remark:  "All this is very fine, these
are sounding phrases; but do you tell us what to do and how to do
it?"  Before I say what is to be done, it is indispensable that I
should say what is not to be done.  It is indispensable, first of
all, in my opinion, in order that something practical may come of
this activity, that no society should be formed, that there should be
no publicity, that there should be no collection of money by balls,
bazaars or theatres; that there should be no announcement that Prince
A. has contributed one thousand rubles, and the honorable citizen B.
three thousand; that there shall be no collection, no calling to
account, no writing up,--most of all, no writing up, so that there
may not be the least shadow of any institution, either governmental
or philanthropic.

But in my opinion, this is what should be done instantly:  Firstly,
All those who agree with me should go to the directors, and ask for
their shares the poorest sections, the poorest dwellings; and in
company with the census-takers, twenty-three, twenty-four or twenty-
five in number, they should go to these quarters, enter into
relations with the people who are in need of assistance, and labor
for them.

Secondly:  We should direct the attention of the superintendents and
census-takers to the inhabitants in need of assistance, and work for
them personally, and point them out to those who wish to work over
them.  But I am asked:  What do you mean by WORKING OVER THEM?  I
reply; Doing good to people.  The words "doing good" are usually
understood to mean, giving money.  But, in my opinion, doing good and
giving money are not only not the same thing, but two different and
generally opposite things.  Money, in itself, is evil.  And therefore
he who gives money gives evil.  This error of thinking that the
giving of money means doing good, arose from the fact, that
generally, when a man does good, he frees himself from evil, and from
money among other evils.  And therefore, to give money is only a sign
that a man is beginning to rid himself of evil.  To do good,
signifies to do that which is good for man.  But, in order to know
what is good for man, it is necessary to be on humane, i.e., on
friendly terms with him.  And therefore, in order to do good, it is
not money that is necessary, but, first of all, a capacity for
detaching ourselves, for a time at least, from the conditions of our
own life.  It is necessary that we should not be afraid to soil our
boots and clothing, that we should not fear lice and bedbugs, that we
should not fear typhus fever, diphtheria, and small-pox.  It is
necessary that we should be in a condition to seat ourselves by the
bunk of a tatterdemalion and converse earnestly with him in such a
manner, that he may feel that the man who is talking with him
respects and loves him, and is not putting on airs and admiring
himself.  And in order that this may be so, it is necessary that a
man should find the meaning of life outside himself.  This is what is
requisite in order that good should be done, and this is what it is
difficult to find.

When the idea of assisting through the medium of the census occurred
to me, I discussed the matter with divers of the wealthy, and I saw
how glad the rich were of this opportunity of decently getting rid of
their money, that extraneous sin which they cherish in their hearts.
"Take three hundred--five hundred rubles, if you like," they said to
me, "but I cannot go into those dens myself."  There was no lack of
money.  Remember Zaccheus, the chief of the Publicans in the Gospel.
Remember how he, because he was small of stature, climbed into a tree
to see Christ, and how when Christ announced that he was going to his
house, having understood but one thing, that the Master did not
approve of riches, he leaped headlong from the tree, ran home and
arranged his feast.  And how, as soon as Christ entered, Zaccheus
instantly declared that he gave the half of his goods to the poor,
and if he had wronged any man, to him he would restore fourfold.  And
remember how all of us, when we read the Gospel, set but little store
on this Zaccheus, and involuntarily look with scorn on this half of
his goods, and fourfold restitution.  And our feeling is correct.
Zaccheus, according to his lights, performed a great deed.  He had
not even begun to do good.  He had only begun in some small measure
to purify himself from evil, and so Christ told him.

He merely said to him:  "To-day is salvation come nigh unto this
house."

What if the Moscow Zaccheuses were to do the same that he did?
Assuredly, more than one milliard could be collected.  Well, and what
of that?  Nothing.  There would be still greater sin if we were to
think of distributing this money among the poor.  Money is not
needed.  What is needed is self-sacrificing action; what is needed
are people who would like to do good, not by giving extraneous sin-
money, but by giving their own labor, themselves, their lives.  Where
are such people to be found?  Here they are, walking about Moscow.
They are the student enumerators.  I have seen how they write out
their charts.  The student writes in the night lodging-house, by the
bedside of a sick man.  "What is your disease?"--"Small-pox."  And
the student does not make a wry face, but proceeds with his writing.
And this he does for the sake of some doubtful science.  What would
he do if he were doing it for the sake of his own undoubted good and
the good of others?

When children, in merry mood, feel a desire to laugh, they never
think of devising some reason for laughter, but they laugh without
any reason, because they are gay; and thus these charming youths
sacrifice themselves.  They have not, as yet, contrived to devise any
means of sacrificing themselves, but they devote their attention,
their labor, their lives, in order to write out a chart, from which
something does or does not appear.  What would it be if this labor
were something really worth their while?  There is and there always
will be labor of this sort, which is worthy of the devotion of a
whole life, whatever the man's life may be.  This labor is the loving
intercourse of man with man, and the breaking-down of the barriers
which men have erected between themselves, so that the enjoyment of
the rich man may not be disturbed by the wild howls of the men who
are reverting to beasts, and by the groans of helpless hunger, cold
and disease.

This census will place before the eyes of us well-to-do and so-called
cultivated people, all the poverty and oppression which is lurking in
every corner of Moscow.  Two thousand of our brothers, who stand on
the highest rung of the ladder, will come face to face with thousands
of people who stand on the lowest round of society.  Let us not miss
this opportunity of communion.  Let us, through these two thousand
men, preserve this communion, and let us make use of it to free
ourselves from the aimlessness and the deformity of our lives, and to
free the condemned from that indigence and misery which do not allow
the sensitive people in our ranks to enjoy our good fortune in peace.

This is what I propose:  (1) That all our directors and enumerators
should join to their business of the census a task of assistance,--of
work in the interest of the good of these people, who, in our
opinion, are in need of assistance, and with whom we shall come in
contact; (2) That all of us, directors and enumerators, not by
appointment of the committee of the City Council, but by the
appointment of our own hearts, shall remain in our posts,--that is,
in our relations to the inhabitants of the town who are in need of
assistance,--and that, at the conclusion of the work of the census,
we shall continue our work of aid.  If I have succeeded in any degree
in expressing what I feel, I am sure that the only impossibility will
be getting the directors and enumerators to abandon this, and that
others will present themselves in the places of those who leave; (3)
That we should collect all those inhabitants of Moscow, who feel
themselves fit to work for the needy, into sections, and begin our
activity now, in accordance with the hints of the census-takers and
directors, and afterwards carry it on; (4) That all who, on account
of age, weakness, or other causes, cannot give their personal labor
among the needy, shall intrust the task to their young, strong, and
willing relatives.  (Good consists not in the giving of money, it
consists in the loving intercourse of men.  This alone is needed.)

Whatever may be the outcome of this, any thing will be better than
the present state of things.

Then let the final act of our enumerators and directors be to
distribute a hundred twenty-kopek pieces to those who have no food;
and this will be not a little, not so much because the hungry will
have food, but because the directors and enumerators will conduct
themselves in a humane manner towards a hundred poor people.  How are
we to compute the possible results which will accrue to the balance
of public morality from the fact that, instead of the sentiments of
irritation, anger, and envy which we arouse by reckoning the hungry,
we shall awaken in a hundred instances a sentiment of good, which
will be communicated to a second and a third, and an endless wave
which will thus be set in motion and flow between men?  And this is a
great deal.  Let those of the two thousand enumerators who have never
comprehended this before, come to understand that, when going about
among the poor, it is impossible to say, "This is very interesting;"
that a man should not express himself with regard to another man's
wretchedness by interest only; and this will be a good thing.  Then
let assistance be rendered to all those unfortunates, of whom there
are not so many as I at first supposed in Moscow, who can easily be
helped by money alone to a great extent.  Then let those laborers who
have come to Moscow and have eaten their very clothing from their
backs, and who cannot return to the country, be despatched to their
homes; let the abandoned orphans receive supervision; let feeble old
men and indigent old women, who subsist on the charity of their
companions, be released from their half-famished and dying condition.
(And this is very possible.  There are not very many of them.)  And
this will also be a very, very great deal accomplished.  But why not
think and hope that more and yet more will be done?  Why not expect
that that real task will be partially carried out, or at least begun,
which is effected, not by money, but by labor; that weak drunkards
who have lost their health, unlucky thieves, and prostitutes who are
still capable of reformation, should be saved?  All evil may not be
exterminated, but there will arise some understanding of it, and the
contest with it will not be police methods, but by inward modes,--by
the brotherly intercourse of the men who perceive the evil, with the
men who do not perceive it because they are a part of it.

No matter what may be accomplished, it will be a great deal.  But why
not hope that every thing will be accomplished?  Why not hope that we
shall accomplish thus much, that there shall not exist in Moscow a
single person in want of clothing, a single hungry person, a single
human being sold for money, nor a single individual oppressed by the
judgment of man, who shall not know that there is fraternal aid for
him?  It is not surprising that this should not be so, but it is
surprising that this should exist side by side with our superfluous
leisure and wealth, and that we can live on composedly, knowing that
these things are so.  Let us forget that in great cities and in
London, there is a proletariat, and let us not say that so it must
needs be.  It need not be this, and it should not, for this is
contrary to our reason and our heart, and it cannot be if we are
living people.  Why not hope that we shall come to understand that
there is not a single duty incumbent upon us, not to mention personal
duty, for ourselves, nor our family, nor social, nor governmental,
nor scientific, which is more weighty than this?  Why not think that
we shall at last come to apprehend this?  Only because to do so would
be too great a happiness.  Why not hope that some the people will
wake up, and will comprehend that every thing else is a delusion, but
that this is the only work in life?  And why should not this "some
time" be now, and in Moscow?  Why not hope that the same thing may
happen in society and humanity which suddenly takes place in a
diseased organism, when the moment of convalescence suddenly sets in?
The organism is diseased this means, that the cells cease to perform
their mysterious functions; some die, others become infected, others
still remain in perfect condition, and work on by themselves.  But
all of a sudden the moment comes when every living cell enters upon
an independent and healthy activity:  it crowds out the dead cells,
encloses the infected ones in a living wall, it communicates life to
that which was lifeless; and the body is restored, and lives with new
life.

Why should we not think and expect that the cells of our society will
acquire fresh life and re-invigorate the organism?  We know not in
what the power of the cells consists, but we do know that our life is
in our own power.  We can show forth the light that is in us, or we
may extinguish it.

Let one man approach the Lyapinsky house in the dusk, when a thousand
persons, naked and hungry, are waiting in the bitter cold for
admission, and let that one man attempt to help, and his heart will
ache till it bleeds, and he will flee thence with despair and anger
against men; but let a thousand men approach that other thousand with
a desire to help, and the task will prove easy and delightful.  Let
the mechanicians invent a machine for lifting the weight that is
crushing us--that is a good thing; but until they shall have invented
it, let us bear down upon the people, like fools, like muzhiki, like
peasants, like Christians, and see whether we cannot raise them.

And now, brothers, all together, and away it goes!




Footnotes:

{1}  The fine, tall members of a regiment, selected and placed
together to form a showy squad.

{2}  [] Omitted by the Censor in the authorized edition printed in
Russia, in the set of Count Tolstoi's works.

{3}  Reaumur.

{4}  A drink made of water, honey, and laurel or salvia leaves, which
is drunk as tea, especially by the poorer classes.

{5}  [] Omitted by the censor from the authorized edition published
in Russia in the set of count Tolstoi's works.  The omission is
indicated thus . . .

{6}  Kalatch, a kind of roll:  baranki, cracknels of fine flour.

{7}  An arshin is twenty-eight inches.

{8}  A myeshchanin, or citizen, who pays only poll-tax and not a
guild tax.

{9}  Omitted in authorized edition.

{10}  Omitted by the censor in the authorized edition.

{11}  Omitted by the Censor in the authorized edition.

{12}  Omitted by the Censor in the authorized edition.

{13}  Omitted by the Censor in the authorized edition.

{14}  Omitted by the Censor from the authorized edition.

{15}  Omitted by the Censor in the authorized edition.

{16}  Omitted by the Censor in the authorized edition

{17}  Omitted by the Censor in the authorized edition.

{18}  Omitted by the Censor in the authorized edition.

{19}  A very complicated sort of whist.

{20}  The whole of this chapter is omitted by the Censor in the
authorized edition, and is there represented by the following
sentence:  "And I felt that in money, in money itself, in the
possession of it, there was something immoral; and I asked myself,
What is money?"

{21}  Omitted by the Censor in the authorized edition.

{22}  Omitted by the Censor in the authorized edition.

{23}  The above passage is omitted in the authorized edition, and the
following is added:  "I came to the simple and natural conclusion,
that, if I pity the tortured horse upon which I am riding, the first
thing for me to do is to alight, and to walk on my own feet."

{24}  Omitted in the authorized edition.

{25}  Omitted in the authorized edition.

{26}  "Into a worse state," in the authorized edition.

{27}  Omitted in the authorized edition.

{28}  Omitted in the authorized edition.

{29}  Reaumur.

{30}  In the Moscow edition (authorized by the Censor), the
concluding paragraph is replaced by the following: --"They say:  The
action of a single man is but a drop in the sea.  A drop in the sea!

"There is an Indian legend relating how a man dropped a pearl into
the sea, and in order to recover it he took a bucket, and began to
bail out, and to pour the water on the shore.  Thus he toiled without
intermission, and on the seventh day the spirit of the sea grew
alarmed lest the man should dip the sea dry, and so he brought him
his pearl.  If our social evil of persecuting man were the sea, then
that pearl which we have lost is equivalent to devoting our lives to
bailing out the sea of that evil.  The prince of this world will take
fright, he will succumb more promptly than did the spirit of the sea;
but this social evil is not the sea, but a foul cesspool, which we
assiduously fill with our own uncleanness.  All that is required is
for us to come to our senses, and to comprehend what we are doing; to
fall out of love with our own uncleanness,--in order that that
imaginary sea should dry away, and that we should come into
possession of that priceless pearl,--fraternal, humane life."

{31}  An arshin is twenty-eight inches.

{32}  The fast extends from the 5th to the 30th of June, O.S.  (June
27 to July 12, N.S.)

{33}  A pood is thirty-six pounds.

{34}  Robinson Crusoe.

{35}  Here something has been omitted by the Censor, which I am
unable to supply.--TRANS.





End of Project Gutenberg's Article on The Moscow Census, by Lyof N. Tolstoi

