The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-03-20
Gringnuih Says Par- IianentaTy Government Would
 Disrupt The Russian Empire
CHANGE AT PRESENT SURE
 ID PROVE DESTRUCTIVE
Situation of Russia Renders Absolut- ism Only Hope of Holding the Empire Together-The Vel
 low Peril Feared.

St. Petersburg February 2s.-(corre- spondence of the Associated Press.)-Much has been said and written to show the advisability and even necessity of chang ing the form of government of the Rus sian state from an absolute monarchy to some form of constitutionalism, but there is strong party within the em- pire which believes that the only salva- ton for Russia rests in the retention, for the present at least, of the existing form of government. One of the ablest advocates of this view Is Vladimir Gring- muth, editor and publisher of the Mos COW Viedomosti, the leading conservative organ, from whom the Associated Press has secured the following article. set- ting forth one phase of the argument against sweeping changes. MT. Gring- muth takes the view that to hold to- gether the vast empire absolutism and autocracy are imperatively necessary, that under the influence of consttutional- ism and parliamentary form of govern ment the centrifugal forces would prove too strong to be resisted by the present bonds which unite the Russian peoplea to their Emperor. He says;
 Answer Would be Long.
 "A full and accurate answer to the question why autocracy Is indispensable to Russia, would fill volume. so many are the reasons which could be given to prove that Russia cannot exist without the autocratic power of It's Emperors Among these are forces of historical, geographical, chronological, religious, eth- teal and psychological nature, the latter of which could hardly be presented in a clear and convincing fashion to those who have not studied Russia closely at first hand and familiarized themselves with the spiritual and intellectual quail ties of the Russian people. For these req sons I shall not attempt to discuss the latter causes within the limits of this sketch, the readers of which, unac- quainted with Russia, might easily take the deep convictions of a Russian for idle talk, inconsistent with reality shall, therefore, restrict myself to answer ing the question from the viewpoint of historical facts.
 First of all to simplify the reasoning let me re-state tEe question and ask; Why would a parliamentary system
  wolves no change in substance of the problem for. as a parliamentary system must be the cornerstone of any consti- tutional regime, to prove that parlia- mentarism would wreck the Russian state will involve the corollary that au- tocracy is indispensable to this country
 The Truc Stages.
 My readers probably know that every civilized state must in it's evolution pass through the following stages autocrscy, constitution, republic This opposition may be consideed automatic by all who have in mind the history of the past two centuries in Western Europe and Amer ica But one circumstance which al- ways accompanies such an evolution may have been overlooked, circumstance which with two exceptions of which shall speak later. has helped the pro- gross of all countries and saved them from dissolution. l refer to the exist ing centHpetal force of a nation, the more typical examples or this are Ger many and Italy, where the evolution from absolutism to constitutionalism went hand in hand with the powerful national tendency to unite in one strong whole. In France likewise, all the great governmental upheavals, from the down. fall of the monarchy in 17S9 to the estab- 1ishment of the republic in 1870. were &C., cempanied by a strong nationalistic feel ing and no one event thought of the dismemberment of France. that France which through the policy of Richelieu and Louis XIV was so firmly bound together that even the German Alsac felt itself an integral part. No need to men ton the smaller states, such as Greece, Belgium, Holland, which represent strongly united entities. incapable of di- vision, since they have no parts. And who does not know of the ideal national energy of Switzerland which always re- main on though composed of three diff ferent nationalities?
 oiker Side of the Picture.
 'But now for the other side of the pie ture. In Great Britain we already see signs of an insufficient centripetal force. due to an insufficient feeling of national unity. In the eighteenth century it lost it's American colonies and the present relation of the mother country to It's for eign possessions Is weakening to such an extent that the very name of British Empire" is becoming questionable. We will' say nothing of 1reland-that eternal open wound in the body polite of the "empire." In the same manner the rela- tions between Sweden and Norway are constantly growing weaker these two countries could not unite into one whole in 1874. and now they will never do so. But the most striking example of cen- trifugal, anti-government force is of- fered by the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. During the unlimited autocracy of the Hapsburgs (since 1s6s) it presented one po- litical whole, firmly united under that system; but when in the year 184S the era of democratic constitutionalism be- gan, the monarchy was shaken to its very foundations. Hungary separated from Austria, retaining only an outward tic which if not today will tomorrow be broken. The Hapsburg have forever lost the Italian provinces. have been driven from Germany, and the Austria of today represents a rabble of antagonistic na- tionalities. rendering an ideal political life impossible. As Professor Gumplovich of Gratz. an expert In state law and so- ciology, writes:
 Lesson oi Austria.
 "In Austria the parliamentary system has existed now these forty years and more, and what is the lesson it has taught us? That a parliamentary system for Australia is an utter impracticability. It was trarsplanted nither from the west but took no root. The more the strength of the Germanic elements decreased and