The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-08-19
GRANTED BY GEAR  Nicholas Issues an Imperial Manifesto for National Assembly of the
 People.
READ IN CHURCHES TO-DAY
A MoMENTUOUS EVENT IN HIS
 TORY OF THE EMPIRE.

Overshadows in Importance the Libera-
 ton of the Serfs-Czar Reserves the
 Fundamental Law of AutOcratic
 Power-AIso in Entirety the Care of
 Perfecting the Organization of the
 Gosudarstoennaia Douma, OF Lower
 House of the Assembly, Which is to be Created-Its Members to be Elect
 ed From the Whole Empire-special
 ,Measures to Govern the Delegates " From Finland.
 St. Petersburg, Aug. 19.-Russia's na- national representative assembly, the fruit of decades of stress and striving for reform, which endows the Russian people with the right of being consulted through their chosen representatives in the suggestion, preparation and repeal of legislation, to-day takes it's place among the fundamental institutions of the empire. .gs. ...s ,.~.
 In a solemn manifesto Emperor Nich- olas announces this morning to his sub- jects the fruition of his plans summon Ing the representatives of the people as outlined by him in a ,rescript issued on March last and fixes the date for the first convoeation as mid-January and In a. ukase addressed to the senate, for malIy orders that body to register as the imperial will a law project, fornlu- lating the nature, powers and procedure of the new governmental organization.
 The manifesto, ukase and project are published this morning in special edi- lions of the Official Messenger in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and will be read in all the churches of the empire to-day. They will be given out for pub lication at noon to all the newspapers throughout the empire, many of which are preparing to issue extra editions to signalize nomentous historical event, overshado lowing in importance the liberation of the serfs. t
 The date of the occasion has been happily chosen with due regard to the poetical symbolism so dear to the Rus sian heart, for on this day is celebrated the great religious feast of the Trans figuration of Christ, with the bringing to the church of the first fruits of the new harvest. e.. D.. ......- -.. B.. .
 The national assembly will be a con- sultative organization in connection with the council of the empire and not a legislative body. The powers of the emperor remain theoretically absolute. As the emperor is the supreme law giv- CT and autocrat, the decisions of the douma have only a recommendatory and not a binding force, thought the re- jection of any legislative measures by two-thirds majority of both houses is sufficient to prevent that measure from becoming law.
 The representatives of the people will have not only the right to be heard on any legislation proposed by the govern ment. but also can voice their desires on new laws and will have the right to exert d certain supervision over budget ary expenditures.
 The suffrage though wide, is not uni- versaI It is based on property qualif1- cation the peasantry having a vote through membership in communal or ganizations, A considerable portion of the residents of the cities, possessing no lands, together with women, soldiers, civil functionaries, etc., are without suffrage.
 Th text of the manifesto follows:
 GThe empire of Russia is formed and strengthened by the indestructible sol- idarity of the emperor with the people and of the people with the emperor. This concord of emperor and people is the great moral force which has created Russia in the course of centuries by protecting her from all misfortunes and all attacks and has constituted up to the present time pledge of unity, inde- pendence, integrity, material well being and intellectual development.
 ''In our manifesto of February 24, 1903, we called to close understanding all the faithful sons of the fatherland in order to protect the organization of the state. by establishing on a firm basis the domestic life of the empire, and then we devoted ourselves to the task of co-ordinating elective public in- stitutions with governmental authori- ties and of removing the disagreements existing between them which had re- acted so disastrously on the normal course of our national life.
 "The autocratic emperor, our ances- tors, constantly had that object in view, and the time has come to follow out their good intentions and to summon elected representatives from the whole of Russia to take constant and active, part in the elaboration of the laws, thereby attaching to the higher state institutions a special consultative body entrusted with the preliminary elabora- tion and discussion of measures and with the examination of the state bud get. -.,.
 Tt is for this reason, that while pre- serving the fundamental law regarding the autocratic power, we have deemed it well to form gosudarstvennaia
 s'7T-7 oy, nj, Srr N "