New-York tribune., 1905-03-04
NO CHANGE IN SYSTEM.
Continued from flrst page.

| nDpa8SOneQ ~''S-N~
his Ministers. in which he declared that he
sought only the welfare of his subjects
'I am willing" the Emperor said. ito shed my
blood for the good of my people"
| A high official who present when the re-
script was signed made the following statement:
| The action of the Emperor to-day is the ac-
| tuaI grant to the people of the means Wherepy
! their duly elected representatives can place De
| fore his majesty their views on every lfhpor tat
| measure affecting them and recommended py
| the Council of the Empire. Moreover. IL IL you
Will read the rescript carefully you WIN se
| that II contains a distinct promise of something
| more in the future. Its small pesinhns 20 %
not involve the surrender OF the prihctpie I +ta p
| autocracy now; what 1t may eVoiVe oliiS '
We do not expect that it will meet the wishes
| of radicals and extremists of any class; hotlidis
! wouId satisfy them except the complete over
! throw of the existing regime we 40 NJ; ;1;
however. that after mature denperatior II bo wl1
| meet with the approval of moderate Haeh WIN
| are sincere well wishers OF the country. a
The Emperor has been much mahgneo aiIu I
| misunderstood abroad. Nobody appreciates s tlle
trials and suffering ne has endured the last rev
months He has been represented as lnoliiepehS eiS
| to the condition of his people Nothilis 0o"i0
| be further from the truth =. 49,
| Not only the welfare of the people, but @ the
| greatness of Russia is his sole care. For m nm
| the two are indissolubly linked. For TINS iSa
son he refuses to surrender the autocratic power
| In favor OF a constitutional regime. Whyt q
cause he Is convinced, as he VlrtualS soy oraa ~
enc sne rnn,,ipr pnvernrnent The heterogeneous
elements of the population-Poles' f1phs, ID o
| tars Armenians, Mongols and other races races "a
onI,, held together by the autocrocy, whose emu
would mean the fall Of Russia as gred. r+, stao
The Emperor however recognizes the 81 81 i ,t5 IL
of the outcry against the bureaucracy as iila !,
| tested by addresses and memorials Votea oy an
classes of society, and has yielded TO tnelI Ge
mand The peoples representatives can can a nan
L,,onIn 6irec+fv 10 him their views concerning
| every law which the Council OF the EihpiIe pi0-
poses .. 10 raod
| together To Americans the former douptlesS
will appear as a strange, medleVal ooGuli1T.' rS
but II must be remembered that 1t Is Ine I'm
perors word to his people In every r3i u u,
life scattered from the White sea 10 tne I'laSH S
Sea and from the frontiers or Germany 70 'ie -.
Pacific 1t will be read in every church IN
every hamlet of the empire. 1t is personal
appeal to the people to support the govern,
ment in its hour of trial. and shoulo Dc redu
in that light. :. z,o.xos
to the Minister of the Interior Under the rus rus.
sian law only mobiles have the right to ADDRESS
memorials to his majesty in person; all other
classes must communicate through the Minister
OF the Interior. The rescript, therefore, must
be regarded as his majesty's reply to the vast
number of addresses adopted by zemstVos, mu-
inequalities, educational. commercial and pro-
fessionaI associations, and even comnunes
The official above quoted, who probably will
be one of those appointed to elaborate the re-
form scheme, explained that the details all re-
mained to be worked out. but in a general way
he revealed that it is not the present intention
of the government to have representatives OF
the different classes, mobiles. zemstvos mer-
chants, industrlaIs and peasants sit together to
discuss changes.
The representatives of each class will be con-
stituted into a permanent body, to be elected at
stated periods. The jurisdiction Of each viii be
limited to the expression Of views upon the par
ticuIar legislation affecting such class. More
over. the sittings of the different classes may
be held at different times.
Thus the representatives in no sense will con-
stitute an assembly to formulate or discuss
laws avoiding thereby the danger from the con-
vocation of general representative assembly
which, like the States General of France, might
take the reins in it's own hands and transform
itself into a national assembly.
The manner in which the rescript will be re-
ceived is awaited with the keenest anxiety. Ex-
tremists are expected to denounce the govern
ment for steering a middle course yielding
something in the form of popular representation
while retaining the essence Of autocracy; but the
government does not hope to satisfy this class
government the object will be attained.
The strike situation is very critical in many
places. The workmen left their meetings in St
Petersburg this afternoon to reopen a general
| strike. Tonight the streets are again full Of
| Cossacks, and every precaution has been taken
| IN anticipation of possible trouble Tomorrow
Extra editions of The Official Messenger"
containing the imperial manifesto and rescrpt
have been distributed in all the industrial quar-
| ters this evening and the documents will be
posted at every street corner in the country to-
| morrow
The Associated Press is officially informed
demanding release of their fellows arrested since
| January %. open meetings and free publication
of the proceedings of the Schidlovski conciIiation
| commission was because the government
| political agitators The freeing Of those
rested would simply reinforce the workmen. and
| open meetings would be used. not for the pur-
| pose of adjusting strike differences, but to
through the press.
An imperial manifesto, calling the coun-
| try to rally around the throne in defence of the
| empire from its internal enemies was published
| prior to the rescript. and caused profound dis
appointment to the Liberals. They saw in it
the triumph of autocracy, the continuation of
! the war and an internal crisis. It's text fol-