The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-07-01
Russian Reforms.

PC'lduCc Vi DelDU Selnl-OIIlc
dor Ill. has at last decided to make a
virtue of grim necessity by granting
reforms" What these are to be is not
stated, OF even remotely intimated; nor,
If we understand it, will they be def
hnitely known until the coronation,
which, "because of the impossibility of
completing preparations earlier" has
been postponed for year. This excuse
for delay will deceive no one except the
Ignorant masses for whom it is mainly
intended. The coronation, which must
occur at Moscow, had been fixed for
next September or October, but rumors
of action on the part of the Nihilists
which might convert the festivities into
an extensive funeral, caused the aban-
donment of the original plan, and an
nouncement of indefinite postponement
was made two or three weeks ago. Since
then it would seem as if the Gar had
been studying how he could make this
necessary ceremonial any safer in 1888
than it would be in 1882, and has finally
reached the conclusion that the promise
OF reforms may enable him to 90 to his
ancient capital and return without
salute of death-dealing dynamite. In
other words, he has decided to change
his policy toward those who killed his
father and have threatened his own life,
and as they cannot be crushed, to see if
they cannot be conciliated. For his own
sake, and still more for TIE sake of his
subjects, we hope he may be successful,
but of course the prospects of success
cannot be estimated with any degree of
accuracy until the character and extent
of the reforms are published to the world.
Meanwhile brief glance at one or two
of the elements of difficult and dan
gerous problem may be interesting.
The peasants constitute the great bulk
of the Russian population, and upon
their blind and submissive loyalty, the
result of combined ignorance and super
Stition, Russian autocracy has heretofore
rested secure. But of late years certain
causes have tended to weaken the foun-
dations of the mighty superstructure.
The first of these. curiously enough, is
the act of emancipation, which, by trans
forming the serfs into freemen, gave
them opportunities for picking up a few
grains of knowledge through change of
residence and communication with
strangers. Moreover, the act not only
confirmed the old communal system,
which is the basis of rural society in Rus
STA, but gave to the peasants as an in
alienable possession portion of the
lands belonging to their former masters.
The mobiles were paid for their lost prop
erty by the State, and the latter reim-
bursed itself bya special tax upon the
new proprietors. The meaning of this
tax the peasant did not understand. sup
posing it to be merely for the support of
the State and not-as it really was-his
own indirect payment for what he
thought free gift. The general i'm
preston among the emancipated class
was that they had been for centuries de-
prived of what rightfully belonged to
them, and that the Car had finally
recognized this fact by restoring part
of the land to them. Indeed, many
of them believed, and still believe,
that the Gar gave them all the land,
and that they have been and are
kept out of it by the tricks of the robles
Here, then, we have sense of wrong
which, however unfounded, is potent fol
mischief and is being utilized accordingly
| by the secret revolutionary agents who
are now penetrating the country in every
| direction. The Turkish war. too, con
tributed to the disaffection. The soldiers
in that war, drawn from the peasantry,
learned from the gossip of the camp and
by the necessary movements of the
campaign that neighboring nations
were better off in many respects than
they were, having larger freedom and
more solid prosperity; and these crude
though pregnant ideas had the natural
| effect of unsettling the hereditary faith in
their own political and social institutions
which scepticism the soldier, when
! the war was over, communicated to his
| friends and acquaintance at home. In
this way seeds of discomfort have been
planted which are liable at any moment
to produce troublesome harvest. Last,
but far from least, is that matchless mis-.
sionary of popular progress and enlight-
eminent, the railway. AT the time of the
Crimean war there was but one railway in
all Russia, and that only fifteen or twenty
miles long. The official report of Jan.
uary l, 1878, showed ID, ia miles already
constructed and in operation in European
Russia. and l, 10 in process of construc.
ton. Since then new lines have been
opened, and the total cannot now be
much less than 20. 900 miles, supplement.
ed by at least 10000 miles of telegraph
lines, where twenty-five years ago there
was not single mile.
1t is needless to say, in view of these
facts, that the Russia of Alexander Ill
is much harder to govern on the princi
| Piles of autocrat absolutism than was the
Russia of Nicholas; and the difficulties
of government are increasing every year
every day. If the present Gar grants
reforms it is because he cannot safely dc
otherwise yet nothing he is likely to dc
will satisfy the party from which he has
most to fear. No constitutional govern
ment he can consent to will meet the de
mands of the Nihilists, and from al
that can be learned of their programme
it is impracticable under the existing
order of things. Monarchy must give
way to a republic of the most radica
type before that programme can be ear
ried out and therefore the probablitie:
are that Alexander will, by the promis
ed reforms, only strengthen the power
and prestige of his enemies and cores
pondingly weaken his owns. Loai
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