The Bourbon news., 1904-11-25

The zemstvos Sign Petition Praying
For a Representative Government.

The ZeInstvos Sign Petition Praying
For Representative Government.
ST. Petersburg, Nov. 2S.-The final
article of the zemstyos memorial as
it will be presented to the emperor is
as follows:
in view of the Importance and diff
ficulty of the internal and external sit
uation through which Russia is pass
ing, this informal conference expresses
the hope that the sovereign power will
summon freely elected representatives
Of the nation in order with their CO.
operation to obtain for the fatherland
an evolution of the state in the direc-
tion of establishing new basis of
law for mutual cooperation between
the imperial authority and the peo-
ple."
A fresh section is inserted provid-
ing that 'The personal, provincial and
political rights of all citizens in the
Russian empire must be equal"
Finally, an important and explicit
definition is given as to the extent in
which the specially elected body"
shall control legislation. This body is
ito give effect to legislation, to draw
up the budget of revenue and expendi-
lures and to control the legality of the
acts of the administration"
The serious work of the Zemstvo
meeting being accomplished, many Of
the members are already leaving for
their homes. At the last moment the
form of the memorial was altered to
make it appear an expression of
Hope that it is the wish of the en-
peror to summon an assembly"
With the removal of the idea that
the ideal represented opposition to
imperial authority. every vestige of
dissent vanished. The practical re-
suit of the meeting as represented by
the emperor's response is now of all
absorbing interest. The memorial will
be presented to Interior Minister
SviatopolkM Mirsky and by him person
ally will be transmitted to the empe-
ror. The general idea in government
circles and even Of many of those
who participated in the meeting is
that it will be unfavorable, but the
whole situation is SO unprecedented
that even the best informed hardly
know what to expect One of the most
prominent members of the Zemstvo
delegation said:
1.-THE general opinion of my col
leagues is the reverse of optimistic.
Therefore, it is a mistake to raise
hopes that are doomed probably to
disappointment, but hope exists. Prob
ably there will be the usual attempt
to temporize. We may not get all,
but we should get something. The
emperor is kind hearted and sincerely
desirous of helping the people, if he
became convinced where the interests
of the people and government lay, but
he is surrounded by influences. The
court and the imperial family are op-
posed to anything like the suggestion
Of constitution. Of only one thing
we are certain-Interior Minister Syi-
atolk-Mirsky will present the memo
rial to the emperor. How far or
whether he will endorse it at all is
not yet known, but he will place it be-
fore his majesty if it costs him his
position in the ministry. No matter
what the immediate result may be, we
have gained remarkable victory. We
have put into concrete form our opin-
ion that the present system in the end
must spell ruin or revolution. The
emperor knows the character Of the
men whose names are attached to the
memorial. They represented the best
blood and thought of the empire. We
are not revolutionists. We do not be-
lieve the people are prepared for a
republic. We support the monarchical
idea, but we believe it must be con.
stituional monarchy and that the en-
peror must choose between the mod
crate program we offer or eventual
revolution"