Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1903-04-01

die and May Continue to Exercise
Authority Over Committees of the
People.
St Petersburg, March 16.-(Corre
spondence of the Associated Press. y
1t has been stated that the public had
adopted a waiting attitude toward the
emperor's reform manifesto This
feeling is mingled with perplexity in
regard to the orient The emperor
seems to intend to refer the reform
schemes, when they are drafted by
the ministries to special committees
representing the rural interests and
the public Is unable to reconcile this
with the treatment that has been the
reward of the local committees lately
Investigating the agricultural depres-
sion. These committees interpreted
their instructions literally and made
numerous recommendations for gov
ernmentaI reforms. Their recommen-
dations embraced, among others, some
of the very points that the emperor
has adopted and yet the ministry of
the interior is exerting it's utmost eff
forts in order to prevent these recon-
mendations from reaching the empe
ror. The provincial governors have,
under strict instructions from Minister
Plehve, prevented the provincial COM
mittees from even discussing reform
proposals offered by the district com
mittees or have procured their rejec-
tiOn in the provincial committees in
nearly every instance. 1t should be
explained that the local committees
bility, who are often men of advanced
views. The provincial committees
were selected by the governors and
they gave the preponderance to Off
cials and more conservative land own
ers. The action of the governors of
Tambov and Tver resulted in the with
drawal of all the liberal elements from
the provincial committees of these
provinces, in fact, of almost every one
except officials This example has
now been followed by the liberals
of the province of Moscow.
In letter to the Russia Vedomosti,
the republication of which in other
newspapers was Immediately forbid
den by the censorship, D. N. Shipov,
the handspring of the famous Moscow
conference last year that drafted the
liberal program for all the local COM
mittees, state that II members had
withdrawn from the Moscow provincial
committee on account of the predom-
tnence of officials representing the
central government.
For some reason the liberal pro-
gram met more favorable reception
in the provincial committee for the
province of Nirhny Novgorrod al
though it also included large num-
Der of officials as their program would
certainly have been adopted in many
other provinces f local opinion had
been allowed expression and since it
Is similar to the resolutions adopted
by a large number of local commit
tees throughout European Russia The
liberals claim it is a moderate express
sion of the sentiment of the rural
population Of the empire.
The resolutions that were adopted
would require two columns of an
American newspaper.
These few extracts will indicate the
salient features of them:
Popular education must be free and
accessible to all. but not obligatory.
Practically popular schools must be
under the jurisdiction of the minis
try of education exclusively and the
Zemstvos should participate in the
contro of the course of study as well
as in the financial support of the
schools (This is aimed, in part, at
the present tendency of the govern
ment to favor parochial schools)
Liberal support of primary educa-
tion by the central government is nee
essary. Such schools have at least
a few years course, and should pursue
no ends except secular education.
Resolutions favoring the extension
of popular libraries and intermediate
and higher educational institutions,
particularly agricultural colleges were
also adopted.