The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-08-03
THE RUSSIAN CRISIS
CONDITIONS Complicated by the Gar
Dissoivfng Pariiament - Prospects
Tor the Future Dark Indeed. )

Dissolying Parliament - proSr<xrs
for the Future Dark Indeed.
ID cars atcion in dissolving the
RUSSIAN Duma and reestablishinp ebso-
lutte autocracy-with, however, a pledge
OF a new legislature, 10 be elected unde
a dinerent form Of suffrag-creates a
situation in which prediction is more
difficult than at any previous juncture
IN the struggle. If one considers only
tne manner in which the Duma il
oissoived, 1t might perhaps be contend
Gu tnat Louis Napoleon's coup d'etat OF
1907 provided the nearest precedent.
iHeh, as IN the present instance. a
national legislature, itself the uroiuct
VI d revolutionary demonstration, was
lorclDly dispersed by the executive,
the city placed under martial law. the
ministry reconstructed, and new popu-
lar elections, under an extended suf-
Irage, decreed. But with these SUPER
neal facts the parallel ceases. The
ABRUPT and violent termination OF the
career OF an elected legislature. with
a promise Of something else 10 the
people, has hitherto been the act of
a revolutionary leader, reaching out
10 suDVert the constitution in favor of
ms own dictatorship. Such it was in
1892, In the revolution of Brumaire'
In 1899, and in Cromwell's expulsion
OF the Rump Parliament. But he
cars ukase of Saturday is a coup
detat by an autocrat ruler, against a
constitution and popular assemblage
created under his own edict of barely
nine months ago.
However it may be disguised or
yelled in the Cars declaration that
we confirm our immutab BILE intention
Of keeping" the Duma, the necessary
result Of his action is to the resume
and reassert the absolute power Of the
Crown. In this regard, the language
OF the imperial manifesto is almost
naive. Promising that the autocracy
itself had always devoted the great
est care to the removal of the ignor-
ance of the people," had proposed
great reforms to the Duma, and lad
expected benefits for the country from
thei labOrs," the document goes on
to describe, as a cruel disappoint-
ment," the fact that the delegates nave
"strayed into a sphere beyond their
No4h LII AoS DSSu n
comments on the imperfections of the
fundamental laws'-that is to say, of
course, on the limitations placed by
the Car on the Dumas power, where
by that body's capacity for construc-
tive work was virtually fettered. This,
it need hardly be said, is the cruel
disappointment usually suffered by
arbitrary rulers when confronted with
a rncO1,fo nr,,1o ~~;, Ti,~-1
is never the least difficulty in under
standing why such discussions by a
| popular legislature are disliked by au-
tocrats or put down by force. The
question left invariably by such ac-
ton, however, and left by the Cars
action, is whether the appeal t force,
| can be successful.
Thus far, the Car appears to have
assured himself sufficiently of the
army to establish effective martial law
in st. Petersburg. The Duma members
forbidden to return to their hall Of
legislation, and not u~nreasonably fear
ing seizure of obnoxious delegates by
Imperial authority, have retreated to
!, Finland. This mornings dispatches
indicate that the delegates assembled
at the frontier city Of that province
| III t1USd OIluS W ItcStd UIlSu the leg
islative power and present ONE front
! to the Cars manifesto; but the cir
cumstances are not very propitious.
This is precisely what the Cars add
| yisers must have reckoned on in ad-
vance. So far as can yet be judged,
| the immediate result is not to be a
| divided army and a clash in open field
between Crown and Legislature. The
l ,oJor r,;fs%o,- ~x-o%~,o D-l~~ o1-,o--
improbable repetition of the fight be-
tween the generals of Charles l. and
the generals of the Long Parliament.
Recent disaffection and mutiny, in the
ranks Of even the crack Russian regi-
ments have doubtless led to rather gen.
eral belief that the Gar could not
depend upon his army, but the con-
clusion may have been premature.
What has been lacking has been disaf-
lection among high officers in the
army. Until some important military
leader takes a step in opposition TO
the Cars authority, disaffected COM
panies or regiments must inevitably
remain mere isolated bodies of mutt
neers. This important question will
be tested when il is seen what action
the interior communities take On the
dissolution of the Duma.
What, then, is likely to be the next
step in the Russian revolution? Yes
terday's interview with VI. Yermolotf,
representing the conservative wing OF
the Constitutional Democrats. present
whatever there is that is reassuring
in the outlook. He does not believe
that the Constitutional movement can
be stopped by the coup d'etat, and he
does not believe that a Revolutionary
cataclysm'' will ensue. But NJ. Iermo-
loft has no convincing ground fo- MS
predictions. After suggesting the re-
course of a ministry chosen partly
from the conservatives Of the recent
| Duma. he himself admits that unless
such a compromise is possible, conser-
vative legislators may, like the Glron-
dists of 1898, be thrust aside and the
thrown into the hands of