PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE EARLY EUROPEAN IMMIGRANT.
DOUKHOBORS.
Councillors divided the money, or its equivalent, according to the size of
the families.
A Doukhobor could not personally own a house, or a cow or a calf or
anything else, although purchased with their own money. This became
very galling to those who had gone about and learned something of modern
ideas, and many withdrew from the community and entered for home-
steads in accordance with the regulations. Like many Indians, some of
these learned more of the white man's vices than his virtues; they not
only ate meat, but drank whiskey, smoked and even swore,of course in
English as there were no swear words in Doukhobor. However, they be-
came excellent citizens as a rule. The older people and some of the
younger, making a majority of the whole, stood fast to the old order
The Doukhobors were at first very poor. Count Tolstoi had financed
their passages out and some assistance was given from the Dominion
Government, but all the fit men had to go to work, leaving the old men
and women and children in the villages. They had at first no oxen or
horses, but got ropes and strong young women hauled the plows with
the old men between the handles. This was done principally for gardens,
and not on a large scale.
Amongst other activities the Community took the contract to grade
the Grand Trunk Pacific branch from Yorkton to Canora which meant
thirty miles through a country a good deal of which was low and wet and
alkaline. They made a good job of it and earned a lot of money between
seeding and haying. Of course there were a great number of them to do
it but the labor was well organised and the work was systematically car-
ried out. Other Doukhobors undertook to grade some of the wet parts
of the Canadian Northern between Dauphin, Manitoba, and Prince Albert,
Sask., being a job that others would not accept or take hold of at any price.
The Doukhobors drained the muskegs, cut the sod with spades and carried
the "dirt" to the dumps in hand barrows. They got a good price per cubic
yard, and they worked from daylight to dark and they made a lot of money.
With this money the farms were equipped. Their living was cheap
and they saved most of their earnings, and they certainly were a hard-
working, happy and contented lot, both men and women. They were
very religious, being literal interpreters of the Old Testament; they had
prayers night and morning, and sang hymns at their work; withal they
were very courteous and hospitable and would take no money for accom-
modation, as I frequently had to discover, but a gift to the children was
allowed.
A change came over them, however. Some fanatics worked them up
to fever heat. They were "God's special children," and God would take
care of them. They should not work animals or use them in any way as
they were the Almighty's, and so on. So, many of them turned their stock
loose, and hauled all their implements and wagons by hand, long strings
of them being thus employed. They discarded all leather and woolen
clothing, because it came from animals, and wore linen garments and rub-
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