St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1859-02-03
MISCELLANEOUS
Progress o. Emancipation: in
" Russia .'r
Corre.psndence of Independence Belize.

Corre.psndence Of Independence Beige.
.. ST.. PErERsBuRa, Nov. u, 1853
I PROMISED you the news Of the labors
Of the St. Petersburg Committee on Enan-
cipation, and especially the protest which
accompanies it, s!g1ed by all the Commit
tee. .-s,.. 'gs*.tl
They were in session for two months,
several times = week, often twice day,
and it was no rare thing to see session
which commenced at o'clock in 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 was generally disliked;
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
Lieutenant in Poland, and Marshal Of the
District of Tsarskoe-Selo, fought inces-
sanity against the bases prescribed by
the Emperor, as containing contradictions,
such as personal freedom aud the o5liga-
ton to take land on t~rcce When the
plan was adopted, Platonoff daily refused
to: sign it, declarin:, that he could not ac-
cept in mass things which he had contest
ted in detail, aud he presented a counter
: project,.o rather q very plain spoken pro-
test, which throws much light on the an
cient public law Of Russia. -"
rs. He first afirms that the subsection of
: the pcasantry OF Russia to serfdom has
never been decreed by State law; that it
is the result OF series of administrative
regulations, in. the. elaboration of which
the classes which form the sixteenth CEN
j. fury, when, from a desire for or der, Cloud
ondoff ,nadea law imposing upon the
peasantry permenance Of residence IN the
places which we're then their homes. there
was no intention Of depriyin,, them of
their. civil rights or Of their citizenship. =
. The Code Of John [V., anterior to this
!: law Of permlnenca, distinguishes the peas
. antry in ,no-wise from the other inhabi-
tants ofthe country. In the Code Of
Alexis, made long after the peasantry had
lost the right Of changing their place Of
] domicile,; not word IS said Of personal
slavery, the rt9asantrys being considered
before as we'd Us aftess this to be simply
subjects Of the l,rei on whose Ian s they
choose to establish themselves. witlou,
becoming their serfs, still less their pro
,perty. Peasants have. been considered as
properly in administrative regulations only
since Peter l., and this manner Of treating
3Ithem has never been confirmed By any
State law. E.
There has long existed in Russia an in
stitution which has given to the Russian
Government !, kind Of representative char
7 actea; an Imperial Council ofEthe country
composed. Of deputies from all classes o
the nation. In law this council still ex
lists, although it has not been consulted
since Catharina IL twas this council
which crowned the Romanotfs, who move
7 dreamed Of denying it this right, ane
settled their legitimacy. At its last SEES
7 sion, whea5it was consulted by Catharin,
IL, it established the regulations Of th,
8 Provinces and several other laws Of grea
Importance But for about eighty year
past it has not been assembled, and tn,
Cars have governed BY administrative,
laws, Whichsreal present nothing but !;
mass Of undigested regulatio ns, that hay,
produced al unhcardl- Of chaos in the sew
sfeal branches Of the public service.
tse7 These laws, orig mated by. the Bureau
acy, and confirmed BY the Emperor, can
, not have the character Of national laws
the Na,s;opaa Council not having paTHojps