The St. Louis Republic., 1904-12-28
Raising of Russian Peasants Sec.
ond Only to Emancipation
of Serfs.
IMPERIAL UKASE PLEASES.
Emperor, However. Gives No
Hint That He FavorS a Nation
al Legislature. or VIII Per
nit ii.

St Petersburg. Dec n While Emperor
NirEoIas's manifesto o. Russian reforms.
coupled with the Government note of
warning on Ia" same subject. leaves no
doubt that it is the firm intention Of the
emperor to maintain Unimpaired the a,i-
t"cratic principle" which no observer here
ever imagined h." would r,linGuish. and
not Yield to the X-mstvoist demand for a
rational Legislature. the programme Of = g.
forms outlined is = broad one, and IL il
had not been preceded by IN" agitation of
lhe last few months would probably have
been accepted with universal acclaim in
Russia as extremely liberal.
nc raising of the peasants to an cd,Iali-
" with other citizens Of the Empirc is
alone practically second only to the .man-
cipation OF tho serfs, but hardly less i'm
portant are the guarantees which the
manifest" directs to bn INCORPORATED I'm the
laws FOR the protection Of the personal lib-
critics Of the TeCple against the abuses n.
administrative arbi;rarinces.
The measures taken under tho state -,
siege are no longer permittable. except I'm
cases of crimes against the state. The in
crease IN the Independence and scope of
ire doumas "nd the zcmstvos. as well no
'he creation of smaller zcmstvo units. the
definite protection Of the Jews. Armeuiaus
and other uncrthodox sects. and the re-
VISION of the press laws are all on the line
OF the zemstvo demands.
EXTREMISTS NOT SATISFIED
Inc extremists. OF course. are not Salts
LED, and many Of the moderate llheral. arc
disappointed
Inc governments note tbre,,o,,,,.
drastic measures in the event Of = cnr-
unuaticn Of the vain agitation which ,,o
Government considered necessarv :, ~
def 10 put stop to the existing ferren,
is resented deeply by tben and :. t.
feared, Will inname, rather than aIIay ,ba
present agitation o'''S' ''ie
Harsh measures. it is understood. will
nO"eVer be avoided. and the Government
SNPeris thit the solid nature of the re-
forms offered will gradually draw IN ITO
support all except the extreme radicals,
fui!y as important as the Government c
response to the ZemstvOists is the posi-
lioh IN winch NJ. Nitte Is placed by con-
fiding the reforms to the comrriti.e Of
the ministers of which he is President
The old Finance Minister becomes the
man OF the hour. confirming the rerort 9
Moreover. this body. the duties of which
heretofore have been purely perfunc,orv.
are raised 70 the highest dignity. and in
stitGte Tor the first time a species Of
ministerial responsibility which is apt to
make the Committee of Ministers real
cabinet
In addition to the Ministers. six Grand
Dukes are members OF the committee. As
the imperial manifesto directs the COM
mitten 10 ascertain the best method of
carrying the reforms into effect some
papers, notably the Russ. find in these
words that the committee may call in
zemstvo representatives..
VICTORY FOR LIBERALS.
The general opinion is that the manifes-
TO represents victory for Interior Minis
tSr Sviatopolk AIirsky and the consarva-
tive Liberals over NJ. Pobiedonosteff
procurator of the General Holy Synod,
and the reactiOnares, and practically
places the strong combination of ". Witte
ard Sviatopolk- Mirsky behind the Gov
ernmcnts programme.
The vagueness in which the reforms are
outlinede gives possibilities of expansion
o. limitation according TO the ideas pre-
Willing. With a man of NJ. Whites
Committee of Ministers, the general be-
lief is that he will control in the end
Those allied with the zemstvoists ex-
press the intention OF continuing the agi-
Ia ton despite the Governments note OF
warning. They believe that the dissimi-
larity of tine two documents Will enable
them to continue th' fight on the ground
that the manifesto is in coECiliatory
spirit and represents the views OF the
Emperor, and that the Government note
with its covert threat OF repression. IS
the work of the bureaucracy, against
which their campaign Is aimed. The 70
sponse oil the people generally and OF the
extreme Liberals and revolutionaries to
the Governments action is awaited with
intense interest.
No one imaEines that any of these
classes will be satisfied. but upon the
course they have elected to pursue VIII
depend the question of possible crisis in
the near future.