PEASANT PROPERTY 78
N.B. Souchon
Note in Souchon’s book:
Pages
6. Small property (in the opinion of French socialists)—without hired labour.
1. Social value of peasant property—defen- (N.B.)
dersofproperty
14. A factor of social conservation
N.B.
16. Safeguard against the urge for social innovations....
23. The small-farm regions are losing population
more rapidly than the big-farm regions.
4. Figures on holders

—different from
Bulday labourers with land

—the same ga- as kov’s day labourers without

—different land from
N.B.? N.B. II.195-96
25. The smallest holders are more inclined to move
to the towns.
39. Three main arguments in favour of large-scale
production:
(a) lower general costs — Con—(41) associations (b) more division of
— Con: machinery cannot labour and use of always be used (43),
machinery disadvantages of the big: drop in the prices of corn (46)
And a reference to the 1892
Inquiry!79
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(c) more melioration, industries, etc.
— Con: co-operatives (47)
57. Both the large (“model”) and, the small
property are necessary (!)
57-58. There is a decline in the number of day labourers with land—con the theory of the importance
of small holders as hired labourers.
61. It is believed that there are 57.4% holders per
100 plots.
67. Holders with collateral employment (not day labourers)
68. Peasant farm = 5-20 ha (< 5 hacan- N.B.
notprovidesustenanceforafam - ily: pages 68 and 69, note )
ha
72: 1,427,655—agricultural labourers without land
1,400,000— agricultural labourers with land
1,300,000— small holders with collateral employment
7 million (cf. 71 and 67)
(handicraftsmen, etc.)
1,000,000— peasants
10 million
140,000— big farmers (>20 ha)
with hired labour
23 million
Σ=
5,267,655

— minus state lands, etc.)
79. Agricultural crisis—very uncertain thing. They
have been shouting about it for 4 0 years.
87. Since 1883, the number of land plots has been
decreasing...
—a tendency towards concentration.
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V. I. LENIN

88-89—The smallest holders move to the towns
89—“Victims of concentration—the smallest
N.B.
holders”
92-93. The agricultural crisis should end soon.
94. The number of agricultural machines has been
growing very slowly, moderately.
156-158. Allotments Act 80—of small importance (not less or more than 1 acre, conditionally, etc.)
163. Rentengüter—created by the feudal party
164.
against the socialists
”
exodus to the towns
”
shortage of labour
167—by 1896, 605 estates with 53,316 ha were broken up into 5,021 Rentengüter
1,088 2.5-5 ha
1,023 5 -7.5 ha
169. Facilitating the supply of labour (N.B.)
Written in June-September 1901
First published in 1938
Printed from the original in Lenin Miscellany XXXI
!
!
^

CRITICAL REMARKS ON F. MAURICE’S BOOK,
AGRICULTUREANDTHESOCIAL
QUESTION.
AGRICULTURAL AND AGRARIAN FRANCE 81
F. Maurice
[Only paged through. The author has the wildest ideas of the most primitive anarchism. There are some interesting
factual remarks.]
Pp. Note
48. Farmers complain.... Which farmers?
small: 5 million—12 million ha (N.B.)
 big
0.869
—37
”
”
85. (French) soldier’s ration—1 kg of bread
300 grammes of meat

”
vegetables

”
salt

”
coffee

”
sugar
117. 14,074,801 lots; 59.3% farms—consequently—
8,346,000 holders (?)
119. 1 8 8 : 84.7% farms—25.1% of the area
“Extreme”
15.3% (868,000)—74.9% (37.1 milconcentra-(!!)
lion ha)
tion
122. Distribution of rural population according to 1886
statistics.
122-123. Almost 720,000 absentee owners (Absenteeism).
131-132. Small cropping can feed many more people.
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V. I. LENIN

160.
From 1831 to 1886, the countryside gave up
6 millionpersons to the towns.
165.
Rural population in 1 8 5 1 and 1 8 8 6
< number of holders
=
”
” half-croppers
N.B.
&
”
” labourers
167.
Permanent labourers in 1862 and 1882 (—). [The figures are the same as Bulgakov’s (6)]
174.
The growth of big towns from 1831 to 1886.
194-195. The author favours social peace, “stability of
our institutions”, and is against “excessive industrialisation of agriculture”
And he calls himself a socialist! Konfusionsrath!*
195-197. Agriculture is now extensive (on big farms), yields
little produce, etc.
It should be small and intensive.
197.
Maurice’s slogan: smallproperty, smallscaleproduction.
197.
The new (future) phase of agriculture is the “period of vegetable gardening” (author’s italics) or “small
cropping” (!)—the only possible outcome (!).
The tendency in modern society is towards a coalescence of labour and property.
198.
How is this to be achieved?
“Very easy” (!)— there is need for a reform—account must be taken
of the current ideas prevailing among the masses— with individualproperty (!!) and the
family (!!)
200.
“Gradual” supplanting of big farms.
203.
The right of every citizen to use the national territory must be proclaimed
meaning, the nationalisation of land.
* Bungler.—Ed.
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204.
Initially state lands are to be leased to small farms
205.
—large land holdings to be taxed.
etc.
234.
(234-266) (!!)—draft law (!!) Casting of lots for land, etc.

—Descriptions of separate departments.
{The best thing in the book.}
Nord. Beetroot production (287. staple crop.)
Intensified fertilisation.
Prevalence
1-10 ha:
32,000 farms—248,000 ha of (??)
10-50
:
10,000
”
206,000 small
50 and > :

”
53,000 cropping
Farms:
232 ha. Sugar refinery, etc. Model farm. Per ha: 30 hectolitres of wheat “are not appreciably superior
to those of the region” (p. 291) ??? (cf. Nord  4)
50,000 kg of beetroot (cf. Nord 4 5,000)
140 ha. 20 milch cows. 30 hl, 50,000 beetroot.
7 ha. 6 milch cows. 25 hl, 40,000 beetroot (sic!)
“With all the costs covered, and the family partly supplied with sustenance, theprofit , rather ,
thewages , inthiscase , comes to between
15 and 1,800 francs a year” (291).
Great development of industry and mines.
294.
A n entire population i s semi - agricultural and semi - indus -
trial, withaplotofland. Impos - sible to survive on less than ú ha.
295.
—pays for the cultivation of his land (!)
[Sometimes with his labour!]
—fattens livestock for traders for a remuneration.
296.
Cultivation of beetroot with the aid of machinery.
Child labour.
—workingforgarmentmerchants in Lille (N.B.) N.B.
(14-hour working day—per family (!)— 1-14 francs).
297.
The condition of the rural labourer is rather hard....
Meat on Sundays.... Poverty....
N.B.
N.B.

V. I. LENIN

298-299. Growth in the number of small holders doing hired
labour.
Maurice’s “moral”:
“there is danger” in industrialising agriculture (beetroot),
“it is a mistake” (308) to regard agriculture as an industry, etc., etc. There is need to develop
small-scale production!! etc.
309.
Aisne. Big cropping prevails—in contrast to
Nord.
Worse soil, lagging agriculture.
315.
farms ha
< 1 ha
29,000
14,000
1- 10
22,000
94,000
10- 50
7,000
169,000
50- 100

100-300
1,016
404,000
300 and >

320.
Growing production of beetroot. (Idem 316)
322.
The labourers are highly dissatisfied (“not much better than serfdom”!)
... meagre pay and food....
340.
Nor is the condition of the labourer better in
Picardie or in Beauce farms ha
342. Vegetable gardening in the
< 1 ha
11,000
5,000 suburbs of Paris ... of
1- 10
2,600
28,000 ha ... 1,800 ha are
10- 50

23,000 vegetable gardens divided
50-300

into 10,000 enterprises....
300-500

From 1,000 sq. m. to 1 ha (344). ...
28,000
Vegetable gardeners mostly lease land at
2,000 fr....
345.
— — Gross receipts from 1 ha = 20,000 fr.
(working capital
25,000 fr.)
net income
= 10,000 fr.
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345.
Labourers per ha husband and wife (entrepreneurs) —2
Wages and keep = labourers, men —3
6,000 fr.

girls
—2

day labouring woman
—1 (for summer)
Normandy
. . . .
358.
The very small holders go in for wage labour.
361.
—For a minority Normandy is a “rich country”, but for the mass of peasants, it is “harsh and
inhospitable” ....
375.
Vegetable gardeners near Cherbourg (sale of cabbage, etc., to Britain). Land costs 15,000-20,000 fr.
(1 ha).
376.
Farms from 1 to 10 ha....
(N.B.) Each ha needs -3 men labourers (300-
500 fr.) and Maurice is jubilant: “small cropping”!