In the northern provinces, where a considerable portion of the male population is always absent, the Village Assembly generally includes a good many female members.  These are women who, on account of the absence or death of their husbands, happen to be for the moment Heads of Households.  As such they are entitled to be present, and their right to take part in the deliberations is never called in question.  In matters affecting the general welfare of the Commune they rarely speak, and if they do venture to enounce an opinion on such occasions they have little chance of commanding attention, for the Russian peasantry are as yet little imbued with the modern doctrines of female equality, and express their opinion of female intelligence by the homely adage:  “The hair is long, but the mind is short.”  According to one proverb, seven women have collectively but one soul, and, according to a still more ungallant popular saying, women have no souls at all, but only a vapour.  Woman, therefore, as woman, is not deserving of much consideration, but a particular woman, as Head of a Household, is entitled to speak on all questions directly affecting the household under her care.  If, for instance, it be proposed to increase or diminish her household’s share of the land and the burdens, she will be allowed to speak freely on the subject, and even to indulge in personal invective against her male opponents.  She thereby exposes herself, it is true, to uncomplimentary remarks; but any which she happens to receive she is pretty sure to repay with interest—­referring, perhaps, with pertinent virulence to the domestic affairs of those who attack her.  And when argument and invective fail, she can try the effect of pathetic appeal, supported by copious tears.

As the Village Assembly is really a representative institution in the full sense of the term, it reflects faithfully the good and the bad qualities of the rural population.  Its decisions are therefore usually characterised by plain, practical common sense, but it is subject to occasional unfortunate aberrations in consequence of pernicious influences, chiefly of an alcoholic kind.  An instance of this fact occurred during my sojourn at Ivanofka.  The question under discussion was whether a kabak, or gin-shop, should be established in the village.  A trader from the district town desired to establish one, and offered to pay to the Commune a yearly sum for the necessary permission.  The more industrious, respectable members of the Commune, backed by the whole female population, were strongly opposed to the project, knowing full well that a kabak would certainly lead to the ruin of more than one household; but the enterprising trader had strong arguments wherewith to seduce a large number of the members, and succeeded in obtaining a decision in his favour.