Asia. I then tried to find out something from them about their village gatherings and the nature of their commune. "We elect our staresta every three years," said the pizar. "Every man in the village who has a house and who pays taxes for his land can choose him." "How do you elect him?" I asked. "We all assemble and we talk about it till we decide who is to be elected," was the reply. "But don't you have many candidates?" I said. Here the staresta interposed with a statement to the effect that no one of the peasants was anxious to hold his office. It was clear, then, that there was no hotly contested election with opposing candidates, no rival policies, and no vigorous campaigns in Siberian village politics. In fact the office of staresta seemed not unlike that of a president of a large and unwieldy committee, bringing with it a maximum of responsibility and a minimum of honour, and the procedure of electing this president evidently consists of inducing an unwilling peasant to accept the mantle of his predecessor. "What does the staresta do?" I asked. "He has to speak for us with the Krestyansky Nachalnick, and if necessary to interview the Uyesdy Nachalnick at Minusinsk, who is over all. And then he meets the starestas of every commune in this volost, and with them he discusses matters of common interest." "What is a volost?" I asked. "The volost is a collection of communes in a certain district, and a collection of volosts in their turn compose what is called an Uchastok, or administrative division." And then they showed me a published list, issued by the Government, of all the divisions, volosts and communes, with full details of their population and geographical position, throughout
