St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1859-02-03
A NEOUS
Progress o. E1nano~2 stop in
Russia.
Correspondence Of L'Indspsndeacc Belize.


Sr. PErzRsEUaG, Nov. II, 1853
PROMISED you the news OF the l,5ors
Of the St. Petersburg C>mmittec on Nman-
cipation, and especially the protest which
accompanies it, s!Yled by all the Commit
tee
They were III session for two months,
several times Il week, often twice day,
and it was no rare thing to see session
(which commenced at 7 O'Clock liz the
evening prolonged till midnight. The
great question WAS debated and discussed
from every possible point OF view. The
bases upon which the Committee had to
found their plan Wis gcnerl lily disl!kea
the necessity, however, Of yielding to the
will Of the Emperor had at last produced
= result very nearly in accordance with
the views OF the Government. But Alex
ander Platonof, the brother Of Of the Di-
rector of the Chancelry Of the Emperor S
Lieutenant in Poland, and Marshal OF the
District Of Tsarskoe-Sel,, fought inces-
sanity against the bases prescribed by
the Emperor, as containing Contradictions.
such as personal freedom aud the o5liya-
ton to take land on career. When the
plan WIS al,2;el. Pl4:ou,f i,tly refused
to sign it, declarin;; that h; could not ac-
cept in mass things which he hal contest
ted in detail, all H., ,,vcstnte>i counter
project, 'or rather very plain spoken pro-
test, which throws much light on the an
cient public law Of Russia.
lie first afirms that the subjection of
the pcas:Ilt:y Of Russia to seridom has
never been dccrctl by State Law, that it
Is the result OF series ot' alnn:st tcative
regulations, in the e!aoorat;oa Of which
the classes which foru the sixteenth CEN
tury, when, from a,sire for order, Cloud
on1otf made a law imposing upon the
peasantry per.uenance Of residence IN the
places which we're then their hv:!los. there
Was no intention Of ie;o:'vin,y t;l,m OF
their civil ri gh!s Or .: their citizcnsh;o.-
The Code OF JOHN lV., anterior to t;li:
law Of perm.'oaco, ]is;in ;usho; the peas
antry in no-wisc from the other inhabi
tants Of the country. In the Code Of
Alexis, mric lon:: after the peasanrry hac
lost the right 81; chm ,;in5 their place Of
donicile, not = w,r! is said Of persona
slavery, the Fsstsant'y being considered
before Is we'd rs aite; 5'l;s. to be simply
subjects Of the l'Ii on whose Ian s the,
choose to establish themselves. w;tIlou
becoming their s,ris, still less their pro
perty. Peasants .,,yc :,cen considered IL:
property in administrative regulations onl,
since Peter l., ami this manner Of treatl:
them has never been confirmed by any
State law.
There has long existed in Russia an in
stitution which has given to the Russian
Government kind uf representative char
actea; an Imperial Council of the country
composed Of deputies from all classes o
the nation. In l.w this council still ex
lists, although it has not been consulted
since Catharina II. It was this counci
which crowned the Romanotfs, who ncve
dreamed Of denying it this right, al(
settled their legitimacy. At its last ses
sion, when it was consulted by Cat',sr;n,
H., it established the regulations Of tn,
Provinces and several other laws Of grea
Importance. But f:,r about eighty year
past it has not been assembled, and tn,
Cars have governed by administrative
laws, which really present nothing but
mass Of undigested regulations, that have
produced an unhcard-o of chaos in the sew
eral branches Of the public service.
*l.r These laws, orig mated by the Bureau
acy, and c,nfrmed by the Emperor, can
not have the character of national laws
the National Council not having partiojpa