The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1905-02-03

act, But he changed none OF the princi-
pies OF government announced by his
predecessor. He began by assuring tho
RUSSIAN people of his confidence. and they
were overjoyed thereat. He also released
many of the most hoonred and honorable
OF inc cars subjects from prison who
ought never to have ben !ncarcerated
others he recalled from exile. He CON
nived. too. at trivial press pcccad!llos, and
rcifalhed from sending men to jail who
had uttered views which differed from
those of the bureaucracy.
Then the Zemstvo Congress.
Prince Sviatopollt's appointment as min
istcr of the interior made the zemstvo
congress possible. 1t assembled at ST
petersburg on November 10, 1904 the first
great BODY or men representing the Rus
sian people that ever gathered to voice the
nations demands for u more popular form
OF government
The zcmstvos congress was a private.
almost a secret, meeting, but part of its
slilnlncancc lies in the circumstance that
1t could have been hindcrcd and was not,
Inc Hemslvos are elected provincial bod
les invested with certain limited powers
Ihey are charged with repairing the roads,
providing medical help for the rural pou-
u'ation, organizing schools, collecting
statistics, and keeping the thousands who
leave their villages every year in search
or work from falling victims to hunger
and disease
FOR twenty years the zemstvos have
been organizing and spreading educat ton,
at flrst rapidly and then, owing to the op-
position of the bureaucracy, slowly. The
ministry hindercd their work in every con-
ceivable way. Still. in the face of this
great growing opposition the zemstyos
made Roadway.
Appeal to Gar in Vain.
The reactonary party did Its best to
prevent the zemstvo congress from assem-
bling. Bureaucratic dignttaries and other
partisans of the autocracy, pure and sim
PIE, hearing what was planned, grew
alarmed. The assembly must be counter
manded. come what might. Prevention Is
so much easier than cure. They made
earnest representationssto the czar, one of
the most influential among them, going
so far as to say that If the zemstvo presi-
dents came together with the permission
OF the government. their assembly would
be the beginning Of the end.
Thereupon the emperor summoned his
minister and learned that the 10Th of No
Vcmber was the date fixed, but that 1t
might be postponed till January. He re-
fused. however, to authorize 1t at ALL
But the authorization has been already
PROMISED urged Prince Svyatopolk-
Mirski
Well later on we may see more clear
" replied the car
This conversation was reported by the
minister the same evening to NJ. Shipoff
the president of the assembly. whereupon
the Zemstvo presidents resolved to meet
privately and without official authuriZa-
ton. The advantage of this procedure
from the government point of view lay In
the circumstance that the resolutions
which the council might pass would be
those of a hundred unofficial individuals,
binding upon no one From the peoples
point of view Lhe authorization was a
meaningless formaity. For all Russia
men said, is united, all Russia calls for a
voice in governing itself and once the
mass is set rolling it will grow into an
avalanche and sweep away all obstacles
to its progress.
Historic Day for Russia.
The 18th Of November is henceforth
historic date in Russian annals-analo-
gous. one might say, to the 4th of May in
France when the states
general met. On that fateful Saturday
evening, nnetyeight out OF the ITO in
Vited zemstvo leaders gathered together In
a house on the River Fontanka and
formed themselves into preliminary par
lament.
They deliberately then and on the three
outsider being admitted. That was part
of their compact with the minister of the
interior. And the press was strictly for
hidden to publish any item recognizing
their evistence-that being one of the pre-
cautions taken by Prince Sviatopolk-
Mirski.
The result of the debates was that
large majority passed resolutions to the
effect that the present regime was en-
tirely out Of harmony with the needs and
aims of the Russian people, who must
henceforth be allowed to take an active
part in conducting their own affairs. The
future government whatever else it
might be or do, shall be based upon law
and cschew arbitrary measures. and the
wool and web Of legislation must be the
political equality of all Russian citizens,
liberty of conscience, Of the press, of pub
lie meeting, and the establishment of
permanent representative assembly to
make laws vote the budget, watch over
the expenditure, and see that ministers
discharge their duty in the interests of
the nation. These resolutions were I'M
officially placed in the hands of the min
lister by the chairman of the congress, and
the minister undertook to lay them before
the cZar.
List Of Zemstvo Deman ds.
These demands We're formulated In ten
articles and were as follows:
Article I.-That at the present moment
the government is completely out OF
touch with the Russian people and their
wants.
Article II-That the government. In the
ed too far in the distrust which it has
~