Los Angeles herald., 1905-06-06
Other Ministers Resianlna

the secret.
Other Ministers Resignng
The ukase came like a bolt from
clear sky. NJ. Bouligan, minister of
the interior, could not face the humili-
alton and Immediately resigned, and
it is not improbable that other minis
ters will follow suit 1t is rumored in
the city that Count Lamsdorff, the
foreign minister, has already placed
his resignation in the hands of the
emperor and that he will be succeeded
by M. Muravieff, former minister of
justice and now ambassador at Rome
Admiral AleXieff has also demanded the
acceptance of his resignation.
To find a precedent for the resigna
ton of minister as a protest against
imperial action it is necessary to go
back to the designations of Minister'S
Loris-Melikoff, Milutia and Ignatieff,
when, after the assassination of Alex
ander II, Alexander III repudiated the
liberal policy of his father by issuing
his famous manifesto affirming the
maintenance of authority and ortho-
doxy, manifesto which stirred the
chancellories of Europe to their depths
and marked the beginning of the reac-
tionary policy that has lasted until the
present liberal agitation began.
NJ. Sturmer, an extreme reactionary
who belongs to the Won Plehve school,
will, it is commonly reported at this
writing, succeed NJ. Bouligan as minis
ter of the interior, but it matters little
who may succeed to that portfolio, as
its holder will, be a subordinate to
General Trepoff in all matters affecting
politics.
In spite of the popular Interpretation,
however, of Trepoff's appointment as
meaning repression TO the bitter end.
the latter conclusion by no means fol-
lows, as it was under Loris-Melikoff'
dictatorship that the reform program of
Alexander II was worked out. The
Indeed, among the contradictory ru-
mors that are current in the city one
Is that the ukase will be completed by
the immediate calling of a zemskysobor,
but nothing is definitely known and the
emperor's most influential friends are
not aware as to what stand he will take.
Whatever he may do it is now appar-
ent that the emperor has decided that
the hands of the government shall no
longer be forced by political agitation
and that the legislative assembly shall
bear the hall mark of imperial fash
ioning and not that of popular clamor.
Act Results From Late Defeat
The decision of the emperor was un-
doubtedly precipitated by the Russian
disaster in the sea of Japan, as Liber-
ais and Radicals everywhere were pre-
pairing to make the best possible use of
1t in furthering their wishes.
The government also will be threat
ened with peace demonstrations, the
first of which was to be big meeting
OF zemstVoists at Moscow today, which
Gen. Trepoff, as his first act prohib-
tied.
On the surface of things, therefore, 1t
looks ominously as If Trepoff had been
placed at the helm to deal with the in
ternal crisis which the determination
to pursue the war is apt to cause. In
deed, there are rumors that general
mobilization has already been decided
upon and that the appointment of
Trepoff has been made to enable the
government TO carry 1t out.
1t is dangerous to forecast the result
OF the change in the situation. AS long
as there was vent for escaping
steam i'm congresses and assemblies
pressure did not accumulate, but with
the extra weight on the safety valve