The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1905-10-31

NJ. PETERSBURG. oct si.-Ih,
su,ocraey Of the Romsnons and ,h,
Old order Of things has ceased 10 elisl
In Russia.
Emperor Nicholas has surrendered
aud Count wiits comes inio power 81
minister president. with an imperial
mandate which win enable him to con
vert farricai national assembly Into .
real legislative body.
Count White had q long interview
with the emperor In fe,efhof. going
over q anal draft Of q manifesto q
which he Insisted that CERTAIN modin
cations be made. BEFORE taking q train
for ~ Petersburg be t.lrphoncd 10 4
friend that the emperor had AIMED hi,
signature and that the mandate was ID
his pocket.
tts conditions include frcciom OF the
press. the right of assembly aud Inn
munity Of the person. Including the
right II hsbcas corpus.
The following Il the text OF the I'm
pcrinl manifesto:
I'VE. Nicholas H.. by the grace II
God emperor and auiocrst Of all the
Russlas. grand duke. Of Finland. etc.
declare 10 all our faithful subjects that
the trouble. and agitation In our capt.
tails and In numerous other places OIL
our heart with excessive pain and sof.
row.
The happiness Of the Russian sover.
elgn 10 ipdlssoiubly bound up with the
happiness Of our people. and the sorrow
Of our people IL the sorrow Of the SOY.
erclgn.
"f'rom the present disorders may
arise great national disruption. They
menace the integrity and unity OF our
empire.
"we, therefore. direct our govern.
ment 10 carry out our lnnexiblc win In
the following manner:
"First.-To extend TO the population
the immutable foundations OF civic lib.
erty, based on the real inviolabiiity Of
person. freedom OF conscience, speech.
union and association.
Second. without suspending the al
ready ordered elections to the state
douma TO invite to participation In the
douma 30 far as the limited time before
the convention OF the douma will per.
NIT those classes Of the population now
completely deprived Of electoral rights.
leaving the ultimate development Of
the principle OF the electoral right In
general TO the newly established legis.
lative order OF things.
''ThIrd.-To establish as an unchange-
able rule that no law shall be enforced
without the approval Of the state dou-
ma and that II shall be possible for the
elected OF the people to exercise real
participation In the supervision Of the
legality Of the acts Of the authorities
appointed by us.
I'VE appeal TO all faithful sons Of
Russia TO remember their duty toward
the fatherland, to aid In terminating
these unprecedented troubles and to
apply all their forces In cooperation
with us to the restoration of calm and
peace upon our natal soil.
"Given mt Peterhof Oct 30, In the
eleventh year Of our reign"
IL am sure the American people, who
understand what freedom is, and the
American press, which voices the
wishes Of the people, will rejoice with
the friendly Russian nation at this
moment, when the Russian people have
received from his imperial majesty the
promises and the guarantees of free
dom and will join in the hope that the
Russian people will wisely aid in the
realization Of those liberties by CO.
operating with the government for
their peaceful introduction. Only thus
will 1t be possible to secure the full
benefits Of the freedom conferred upon
the people"
Count Witte, Russia's first premier,
last night sent the above message to |
the American people through the press. |
He had just arrived ut his residence
on Kammeniovrov prospect from Pc
terhof. where, in the Alexander palace,
the emperor had given his final ap-
prevail to manifesto and to a pro-
gramme which will forever end the
rule Of absolutism exercised by him |
and his Romanoff ancestors for 800
years.
The municipal council Of st. Peters
burg at Its sitting, after reading the
manifesto, sent the following
message to the emperor:
'"The council welcomes with delight
the long desired tidings Of freedom,
firmly relying ON bright future for
our dear fatherland. Hurrah for the
Of free peoplev'
At Warsaw the streets last night
were dark and deserted and patrolled
by infantry. Nevertheless, the news
that the emperor had signed con-
stitution spread like wildfre, created
. tremendous sensation and was 70
ceived with great JOY.
The manifesto shows how complete
IL the emperor's abdication of his auto
cratic power. The very style Of the
document Is clear and direct and de-
void Of the verbose. vague and BON.
bastic phraseology which heretofore
has characterized his majesty,s mani.
Roak0oa II not onIx, batra, nc 81 a /. ,,<1,<v. |