The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-12-23
AGITATION is
UTTERLY USELESS
National Assembly Will Not Be
Gonvoked by the Gar.
AUTOCRACY IS TRIUMPHANT
STILL HOPE FOR OTHER MEAS
UREs OF REFORM.


st. Petersburg, Dec. 22.-Emperor
Nicholas formally notified the country
today that agitation fer a constitution
and the convocation of a national as
semhly is useless. Such is the con-
| strueuon placed upon the endorsement
written in his own hand ON the resoIu-
I tons telegraphed by the Chernigov-
zemstvO Dec 20, begging him in the
/ most loyal manner 70 convocate legally
elected members of the zemstvos TO
present programme of reforms for his
consideration. The emperor wrote on
the dispatch:
Il consider the action OF the president
to be presumptuous and tactless. Cues
tions of state administration are Of no
concern to the zemstvos whose func-
lions and rights are clearly defined by
| the law"
Extremists Went Too Far.
The endorsement is printed in the
Official Messenger this morning, cash
ing the hopes of the extremists. 1t
does not come as a great surprise. The
emperor, from the beginning. although
he has shown himself favorably dis
posed toward more liberal regime and
in entire sympathy with some or the
| zeInstvo demands, had resolved not to
yield the principle of autocTacy. Upon
this point it is understood all his adj
visers, including Interior Minister
Sviatopolk Mirsky, agreed, but the
| character of the agitation which fol-
/ lowed the meeting Of the presidents of
the zemstvos and the action of various.
provincial Zemstvos and municipal
councils. coupled with the recent dem
onstrations at st. Petersburg, Moscow
and elsewhere, probably served to
aries and convinced the emperor of the
imperative necessity for a plain spoken
announcement of the sOveTeign's posi-
! ton upon the main point. The reac-
tionaries undoubtedly regard the en-
peror's action as a distinct victory for
them. Nevertheless. the conferences
over the reform measures which will
be taken are still in progress at the
Tsarskoe-Selo palace and will shortly
be published.
MAY Fan the Flames.
What the immediate effect of the i'm
perial rebuke administered to the Cher
nigov zemstvo will be is prOblematical.
1t may only serve to fan the names
and used by the revolutionary organ
izations to increase the agitation and in
turn compel it's repression.
The Associated Press was informed
this afternoon by a person competent to
speak that too much importance should
not be attached to the emperor's an
notation which, it is believed, he wrote
in moment of i'll humOr because the
Crenigov zemstvO telegraphed direct to
him instead of through the minister OF
the interior The informant of the As
ISOLATED Press pointed out that the
publication did not appear i'm the Off
cial portion Of the paper, arguing there
from that the publication was secured
by a person who was interested in the
effect that would be produced. While
any idea of a constitution or of the con-
vocation of a national assembly has
been rejected the Associated Press in
formant positively declared the emper-
or had no intention of receding from
his position to grant certain measures
in the direction Ct liberality.