New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-03-20
THE ZEMSTyoS PART IN THE REFORM MOVEMENT.
d. STOLYPIN WRITES OF BUREAUCRATS EFFORTS TO
CRUSH AGRARIAN DEVELOPMENT.

= zen1stvo establishment was well organized and
conducted by enthusiastic teachers The Church
school experiment foredoomed TO fallure,
| and the government has now greatly cooled tow
/ ard the enterprise.
| I have devoted so much attention to this
| branch Of zemstvo work because 1 think my
| American readers will more readily understand
| It's general character from this particular e1-
ample than from a disquisition on the Wholo
aspect of the question, many elements of which
| are foreign to American life and COMPREHENSION.
| THE FIGHT AGAINST BUREAUCRACY
| 1t is demcnstrable that the conflict now pro-
ceeding in Russia is nowfse directed against
the monarehieaI principle 10 LINEN rne b
| the bureaucracy of all the vital functions OK
| the nation. The peasants have come to peheve
| that their former owners have since the eInan-
| cipation Of the serfs been concentrating Of
| fees and influence in their own hands, and have
| thus practically usurped the power Of the En-
| peror 1t is common saying among the peas
| ants that the government Stands IKE a wan
| between the Emperor and his people There
| is q great deal OF truth In this On the other
| hand, great alarm is felt In higher spheres for
| the safety of the dynasty and this alarm
| is due to misunderstanding Of the fact tina the
zemstvo, upon which evolutionary mask mas
| been foisted as excuse for repression is es-
sentially conservative institution
The zenstvo cannot be q revolutionary and
still less an anarfhistio element for the simple
reason that it Is composed of landholders, and
| the ideals pursued by the proletariat OF labor
although they may be temporarily adopted by
| the zemStvo in its campaign for freedonl-are
necessarily Objectionable and even terrible to 1T.
| portion Of mobiles in the zemstvos increased
| over that of the first Zemstvos, showing that
| the changes, dealing principally with the meth
cd OF election, chiefly affected the peasants Inc
government hoped to find in the mobiles con-
sentative element which should relieve 1t Of all
| apprehensions from an elective institution. But
the reformed zerastvo did not display the slight
| est change of policy, and the late Minister
Plehve found, to his astonishment, that the
sophisticated body was just as resolute OPP
, ponent as it's predecessor.
It may even be confidently asserted that had
| Plehve done the very reverse, had he increased
| the proportion Of peasants, he would have done
| much more to achieve the desired result for,
! though the peasants might have gone the length
| of seeking to apply Henry Georges nationalist
/ ton of land, they would certainly have re-
| manned Indifferent to political rights II we
are 10 Judge by the rapidity with which tho
| large land holdings Of the mobiles are passing
1 into the hands of the peasants, it may be pre-
| suned that this transfer would have nateri-
! by any catastrophe.
The fact is, however. that our government
Tears nothing so much as agrarian move
ment Everything is sacrificed to this self-im-
posed bogie the people are sedulously kept In
| a state or darkness and ignorance the develop
ment of this country is impeded and numbed
dfscontent is engendered and the energies of
the nation are wasted in internal strife
! ELEMENTS OF THE REFORM PARTY.
But how is it to be explained that the zenastyo
| composed of noble proprietors, with a small ad-
mixture or peasants, has remained progressive
| HperaI ana persistently opposed to the govern
| nentl 1t is easy to answer this question by
! pointing out that the bureaucratic army Is re-
crufted from the same noble class but from less
! independent. less self-reliant mernbers-nobIes
| who have deteriorated In the luxurious enjoy
nent OF government offices and ennoluments. On
| the other hand, the opposing force is composed
OF men OF energy. of principle and of ideals
forming minority Of the mobiles which has rea-
HEed the banefulness Of bureaucratic routine
| and sees the salvation of Russia in the untram-
melled growth of free institutions
| 1t IS none the less family quarrel between
the liberal and reactionary parties of the dorni-
nant class The mass of the people remains a
passive spectator of this conflict Hence PIeh-
! We by reinforcing the mobiles In the zernstvo
only increased the number of his liberal oppo-
! nents. who fought him, not within the narrow
| walls Of a parliament. but in enormous arena.
burg offices. and consequently, notwithstand-
| ing all his despotic power, he was doomed to
| defeat by sheer force of numbers.
| When, however the inevitable victory Of the
| zemstyo is finally won. when its united forces
succeed in obtaining some form of constitutional
| government, zemsky sober, may expect a
Transformation of the political struggle such as
few foresee
The main point in this zenstvo programme is
national participation IN self-governnent. This
will give the peasant preponderant vote and at
| once give rise to agrarian movement-the
peasants seeking to Increase their holdings from
the land belonging to other classes and to the
state. OF course, this can be settled by means OF
gradual appropriations, but 1t is difficult to ex-
pect such peaceful adjustment. This interest
ing social question is destined TO assume unex-
pectsd forms in Russia
ORGANIZATION OF THE ZEMSTVOS.
| In concluding this review of the zemStvoS
role in the political development of Russia,
think 1t OF interest to give few facts regarding
| its organization. The zemstvo institution ex-
lists in thirty-four provinces or governments of
European Russia. The members of the provin-
| cial zemstvos elected by the members of
| the district zemstvos, which number 31S: the
| members of the district bodies are elected by
direct vote IN the electoral colleges of each class
of the community. The contingent of members
returned by the peasants is strictly limited,
and the number of peasants electoral col
leges is in of this contingent, the governor
makes a selection The ukase of December
% 1904, provides for the creation of small
zernstvo units, which will represent the villages
and bear the same relation to the district zenst-
I vo that the latter now bears to the provincial
body.
There also exists a secret organization which
virtually unites the thirN-four Zemstvos in q
this organization was treated as Illegal and sub
jected to persecution by the government, but
now it is not directly interfered with, although
still unrecognized by law.
Besides building and endowing schools. the
| Russian ZemstVo has developed and organized a
| number of other public enterprises including
statistical veterinary and, most important of all,
| constantly brought by the government against
the zemstvo is that 1T employs outsiders, clerks,
statsticians teachers physicians and other rep
/ resentatives of the liberal professions who form
an imposing army of revolutionary workers.
I Although unenfranchised, they none the less ac-
quire the character of members of the zemstvo
! and exercise great influence among the people.
| In Justice it must be said that these men-the
so-caled third estate-are the personifcation of
| all that is strong. energetic and businesslfke in
Russia. The failure of the government to bring
these men to its side is great mistake.