Daily Republican., 1879-05-03
,otso A Abso, ute As he .:Seems.


The ruler of Russia has large num-
her of official titles, first OF which Is
" Auto rat of all the Russians. he Is
ia theory, the absolute sovereign OF bis
doninous, his power being limited by
no constitutional checks. He rot only
makes the laws, but interprets and eX'
ecutrs them. la theory, the three sep
srate departments OF constitutional gov
prnmrnts-legislative, executive AMI
judicial-are all concentrated in his
person.
This, we say, is the theory of the Rus
sian government, and the popular con
ception of the Cars rule corresponds T.
this theory. But in practice, we hard
ly need say, this theory is quite disre-
gardei In the first place it is utterly
impossible for one man to governs ,ooO,
600 people, in any strict sense OF the
word. No matter how unquestion his
power might be he would be simply un-
ahlp 70 attend to the vast and complica
ted business that such government in
wolves. Consequently the Car is com
PEELED to eptrust the details OF govern
ment to ten ministers, who presid- over
the following departments the imperi-
al house, foreign affairs, var, the navy,
tn. interior, finance, public instruction,
iu,tice, the imper als domain, public
wo,ks. 7 ese ministers constitute the
Sat COunril, over " hich the Car pre-
sizes. the ministers in turn get most
of the work done by suhorainates, and
Only a tithe of the real work Of govern
ing ever gones to the Car, knowledge.
So much tor the executive department.
The legislative and judicial functions of
the State are largely intrusted to the
Senate, a body constituted by Peter the
Great in I'LL. The Senate promulgates
the laws and acts as a SUI RENE court in
interpreting them. A final appeal can
be taken 10 the Gar, and all important
DEGREES must be signed by him. But,
f. ON the nature of the case, he is in
most Instances obliged to take the word
of others for the merits Of the cases, as
to Aaniiue them all for himself would
be impossible.
1t will thus be seen that there is ma
tural limit to the SO called " absolute
powers of the Russian autocrat. But
there are other limits. The Car is sur
rounded by large Court of Russian
mobiles. Though his power is immense,
he dare not undertake any policy that
i, opposed by these mobiles, or even by
large majority Of them. The people.
too, though in theory they have no
right at all, exercise a potent influence
on the policy of the Autocrat. The
present Gar, for example, would not
have b.en able to make war on Turkey
Aai such war not been thoroughly
popular. A despOt is far more depend
ent on the support of public opinion
than a constitutional monarch. The
latt-r may oppose and even defy, with
in certain limits, adverse popular Opin
ion; for he does it in the exercises of
certain we'll defined constitutional pre-
negatives, and Knows that the people
will curtail them only as his folly IN.
pels them to tie his hands. On the
other hand, an Autocrat must have
popular opinion with him, or he is not
only powerless but in danger of losing
his throne or his life.
The Russians have very summary
way Of enforcing what are in other
countries constitutional checks upon
the power Of the Crown. If the Gar
otFrnds the noble, he is apt to die sud-
denly. If he oifends the people, he is
shot Or stabbed. The repeal of an un-
just and oppressive law is sought in
the same way; every official who makes
bimself obnoxious by his zeal in enforc-
ing it loses his life. The people do not
waste their time and risk their lives in
fruitless "agitation" for repeal, such
as would be considered the natural
course in England or the United States.
The bullet and the dagger are much
more persuasive arguments in Rus
sa than leading articles and stump
speeches.
In view of these facts, the govern
ment of Russia has not inaptly been
defined as an absolute despotism, limi-
ted by assassination. Many people
wonder that the Gar should have any
difficulty in crushing out Nihilism in
his domains. Is he not absolute ruler'
Yes, in theory in practice. No. His
power is limited as really, though not
as formally, as that Of the sovereign Of
England. There is an unwritten law
that he may not violate, except at his
peril. And in his attempts to suppress
freedom Of speech and of the press, the
Gar has come perilously near to over
stepping the limits of his power. This
is seen in the repeated assassination of
Russian officials who are engaged in EN-.
forcing laws. An occasional attempt Of
the sort might occur under another
gov~.nment-has occurred, in fact, in
Germany, Italy and Spain. But re-
peated and desperate attempts point to
a stronger undercurrent of opposition
to the State in Russia than in any
other country of Europe. This popular
opposition the Gar mustre recognize soon,
and either yield to or attempt forcibly
to overcome it. The world will look on
with great interest while the question
is being solved.