The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-09-18
THE SITUATION IN RUSSIA

wound Of their c~ouutrymen thar wf.
almost move the stones 10 rise aaa
! mntiny."
This is the first duma. and il has
I not proceeded far enough Ia fuIIv de-
Telop the permanent leaders. bur il ]
may use the similc as q basket Of p.h-
bles il shaken by debate. the larg-
ones are gradually rising TO the TOP.
{ The president OF the duna i Prof.
Serge MurmetSelf, 81 Moscow. who's
learning and judicial temperament.
combine TO make him the choice ur
several parties. no N Of which can
claim a majority.
The constitutional democrats hay-
the largest membership and ara the
best organized. They also have TIN
advantage If occupying the middl.
ground between the radical and the
conservatives. Having about 10
members on their rolls n some 81
more acting with them, they can
count upon enough votes from the
more conservative clements 10 defeat
the extreme radicals. and they can
rely upon enough radical votes T.,
carry u their programme.
The fioor leader Of this party is
Vladimir D.. Nabok off. of 81. Peter
burg, a member of 4 prominent fam
lily and himself until recently an in
structor in the national law school.
He is about SO years Of age, intelligent
n alert. and has the confidence of
his party.
The orator of the constitutional
democrats is Theodore /. RodichefI,
q notwithstanding man Of 80. He is
polished in manner and persuasive in
speech one OF the most influential
Of the constitutional democrats is Mr..
MaXim WinaWer. q Jewish lawyer OF
the capital. He is sometimes describ-
ed as the brains Of the party and
is credited with drafting the dumas
reply to the address from the throne.
He Is one OF the ablest civil lawyers
in the empire and his election from
st. Petersburg. where there are but
5000 Jewish voters out of a total vote
Of 10000, and his elevation to the vice
presidency of the national organiza-
ton of his party would seem to an
sWer the charge that there is wide
spread hostility TO the Jews among
the people.
Nabokoff, Rodicheff, and WinaWer
are members of the duma and are,
therefore, prominently before the pub
lie at this time, but in popularity they
have a rival in the person of Paul l..
Miliukoff, editor of the "Retch.' (The
government would probably put a
v" before the r. and give the word
its English meaning. but in Russia
the word Reich means Speech.) Mr..
MiliukCff, it will be remembered. was
one of the candidates Of his party in
st. Petersburg, but the government
compelled the substitution of another
name because he a awaiting trial
for an alleged violation of the press
laws. He was acquitted soon after
ward and is one of the moving spirits
in the present parliamentary struggle.
He speaks excellent English and has
lectured in the United States. No one
need despair Of reform in Russia While
such a man as MiliukOff deVOteS his
great ability to journalism.
Next to the Constitutional Democrats
the members Of the Group of Toll
form the largest party. There are
about a hundred of these. and Alexis
c.. Aladdin is their leader. He is even
younger than N~abokoff. but has al
ready shown himself to be a man of
force and originality.
Count Heyden is the leader of the
conservative element, if there is a
conservative lemen in the duma. Per-
haps it would be more accurate to de-
scribe him as the spokesman for the
least radical group, for all of the menu
DefS of the duma are refOrmerS, diff
fering only as to the extent of the
changes and the speed with which they
cred radical, but he has not moved aa
rapidly as public sentiment. Count
Heyden bears quite q resemblance to
Uncle Sam as he is pictured in the
newspapers. I have spoken some
what at length of the leaders in order
to show that While the grievances of
the peasants and laborers are at the
bottom of the movement. all classes
are enlisted in the effort to establish
constitutional government.
The afternoon sessions are generally
lively, for, it is at this time that the
ministers make their reports, offer
their messages and answer the ques-
tons p~TOpOunded by the member
The session which we attended was no
exception to the rule. The house was
full. the galleries crowded and the
newspapers fully represented. There
We're more than 40 Russian writer's in
their corner and not less than so of
the foreign press. When the represent
tatlve of the war department, replying
military executions, declared that the
minister of war was powerless to over
rule the generals, there We're shouts OF
"Murder!' 'AssaSsin!" Dog and
other equally uncomplimentary cpl
thetS.
one of the demands made by the
duma is for the abolition of the death
penalty. This might seem a very radi-
cal measure to US, but the conditions
are quite different in Russia. Here
there is no assurance of an impartial
trial. and torture is resorted to to
force an admission of guilt. Only re-
Gently three persons We're found to be
innocent after they had been tortured
and put to death. The members Of
the duma feel that the only security
to the people is in the entire abolition
of the death penalty. for While those
who are falsely accused still live. there
is a chance to rescue them. In this
respect. exile. hateful as it is. has its
advantages. and | met a member of
the duma who was returned from exile
by the government upon the demand
of the duma. In the torturning of
kprisoners for the purpose of extorting
a confession, Russia is even behind
China. bad as China is, for in the lat
ter nation it has been abolished EXCEPT
where n is charged with murder and
is only permitted then after the cliIt
OF the GUS mas been established by
other evidence.
There are a number Of important
measures which are very little dis
cussed IN the duma ecaus they are
certain to receive the approval Of The
government: one of these proyidps
for =uniTersaI education. The program
dom of the press protection -. -.