Connecticut western news., 1877-07-13
Turkey and Russia-Modes of Government

further information concerning the | form of government in the two cOun- tries. They are, both of them, the far thest removed from modern principles of any countries that can claim the | title of civilized. In TuLkey there is absolutely no approach, even in the minutest details, to representation of the people governed. Russia is trifleI wiser in local affairs, but not in those which appertain to the State. In neither country is there anything which approaches, in the faintest de- gree, to what, in Constitutional gov ernments, is called Legislature or | Parliament. | Russia is the most absolute heredi- tary monarchy of the civilized world in fact the only one where the Legisla- 1 tive, Executive, and Judicial powers are united in the monarch. His will is practically, the law, limited only by certain rules of Government, established by past sovereigns, to which the reign ing House has given assent, and which are therefore binding precedents. The most prominent of these is the law of succession to the throne, which is that of regular descent to the first-born male, the females coming in for the succession only in case of the failure of | lished in 1797, up to which time the Czar had the right of naming his 'suc- cessor from any of the Imperial family. The machinery of the Government is, briefly, as follows:
 -s The great primordial body, in which l centres the whole executive authority ot the Empire, is the Private Cabinet of the Emperor, selected and con- trolled by the Czar. It is divided into four sections. The first has the presi- dency and superintendcnce of the others, and is ill immediate communi- cation with the Emperor. The second is the legislative department; the third I looks after the army and the secret police; the fourth has charge of eccle- siastical affairs. s.5.:... l.'
 Next below the Private Cabinet come four great boards, each having it's es- peciaI duties, but all controlled by the Private Cabinet, and thus by the Czar.
 The first is the "Councils of the Elm pire," now numbering some forty per- sons appointed by the Emperor, and in cluding, as er-oticio members, the min isters and the Imperial family.
 The council superintends the action of the general administration, takes care of the administration of the laws,
 and suggests to the Emperor such new
 laws as it may think necessary. It is
 subdivided into three departments, Legislative, Civil Administration and
 Finance, each with it's own separate
 organization, but all occasionally meet
 ing as collective body.
 The second great Board is the Obj recting Senate," which is the High
 Court of Justice of the Empire con trolling all inferior tribunals, but it.
 self controlled by the Private Cabinet.
 Mt has eight sections, five of which sit tat St. Petersburg, and three at Moscow.
 It is composed mostly of persons of
 high rank, but presiding over each sec
 ton is a lawyer of high eminence, rep
 resenting the CZar, and without whose
 signature the decrees of the Court are null.
 The third great Board is the ''Holy |, SynOd," composed of Church dignita-
 ries (the Greek Church), and attending 2
 exclusively to ecclesiastical affairs. It's
 decisions are of no force until approved
 by the Emperor.
 The fourth of the great Boards is the l "Council of Ministers" It is divided , into eleven departments, representing
 the Cabinet divisions of a Constitu-
 tional Government.
 This Board, like the others, is in con-
 stant communication with the Private
 Cabinet, and subject to it.
 We alluded above to one feature of local government wherein Russia is | representative. The Empire is divided , into QsD vice-royalties, (2d) govern , ments, and (3d) districts. Of the first . there are 14, of the second 51, and of the third 320. These are governed by appointees of the Emperor, subject to
 the control of him and his Cabinet. , But each district is subdivided into
 communes, or mir, and these are , grouped into "Volestes," each con- taining population of about 2,0OO. Each of the "Volestes" is presided over has also tax collector, and a Superin- 7 tendent of Public Stores. All of these I officers, together with all other parish , officers, are elected annually, by ballot,
 by the peasants, and are always peas ants themselves. There are local s legislatures, or assemblies, also = elected in the same. way, who regulate
 all local and social.affairs, not immedi-
 ately concerning the affairs of the State
 This move toward universal suffrage
 and popular government contributes
 immensely toward the increase of pa = triotism and the strengthening of the <. Empire.
 In Turkey there is, we may say, a e Constitution, but it is the Koran. All |, laws of the Empire must be in accord
 with the precepts of that book, and :. herein we see the secret of the failure ' of all the attempts at constitutional re- form which have been promised anC e made. In whatever respect the new
 Constitution is hostile to the Koran, ii
 at once becomes dead letter. In, his
 lies, also, the secret of Turkeys rapit l. decadence since her power threatened Il the Christian world. A written Con. Il stitution (especially if a religious one s which can not change to meet chang
 ing conditions and increase of knowl : edge, necessarily becomes an ever
 tightening moose about the neck of |:
 people, slowly strangling the life ou i of them.
 e The will of the Sultan is absolute il
 so far as it does not contravene thu # principles of the Koran, and those O
 the "Multeka''-an additional cod' Q made up of supposed sayings of Mo o hammed. Next under the Sultan come
 the Grand Vizier, head of the Civi ,f Government, and the Sheik-ul-Islam e head of the Church. The former is ap d pointed by the Sultan, and subject t. ,, him. The latter is also appointed b! Il the Sultan, but subject to the approva e of the "Ulema," a body composed o e the Church dignataries. The Sheik-ul l. Islam presides over the Ulema, but ha }. neither priestly nor judicial junctions .o But ill the "Mufti," subdivision o ~ the Ulema, the Sultan finds, in man. B. respects, his superior. They are tn le court which decides whether his act a- and his laws are in accordance with tn
 Koran. He can not declare war, o conclude peace, until he has asked tn Mufti whnthar if iS EcOnfOrma hla tO th