of land dealing and colonization as they affect the immigrant.
There are in the Western states about a thousand families (or six thousand
individuals) of Russian peasant sectarians--Molokans, Holy Jumpers, Wet and
Dry Baptists, and others. They were all engaged in agriculture while they
lived in Russia. As a result of persecution by the Russian monarchy they
left their country and came to America about ten years ago.

RUSSIAN SECTARIAN PEASANTS IN THE WEST

From the beginning of their American adventure they have had a keen
desire to settle on land. They have made repeated attempts to acquire
farms, but so far failure has been the rule, with few exceptions.

The facts regarding most of the unsuccessful attempts outlined below
were obtained at a meeting of Russian sectarians in Los Angeles attended
by about one hundred family heads. Each one told his own experience. The
men had great difficulty in indicating American names--the names of
companies, counties, etc.--so that in the following account names are
omitted. When questioned as to how they could secure so much money, they
explained that they all work whenever it is possible to find work, that
they live moderately, that their men and women dress cheaply, that they
do not drink or smoke or go to any places of amusement, as all that is
prohibited by their religion, and that they save. They stated that their
land-seeking attempts are backed financially by the entire colony; the
losses are shared by all its members, although the individual families
who are on the firing line lose more than the families who remain in Los
Angeles and back these scouting parties.

These peasants believe that their difficulty in finding and settling on
land has been due to several causes. First, they have not enough money
to buy immediately a large tract of land, irrigate and improve it, and
give the families a good start. Second, they do not know the country and
conditions well enough, especially the agricultural possibilities.
Third, the private land dealers are mostly crooks who cheat them, either
by misrepresenting the quality of the land, or by not fulfilling their
contract promises, or by making contracts so complicated and so filled
with catches that they afterward prove the ruin of the settler. The
following are some of the most important of the attempts to find land.

From thirty to thirty-three families made a land-purchase contract with
a company of ---- County, Washington. O