The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-25
"Strong Armed Reform" Still Domi-
nant I'm Russia.

"Strong Armed Reform" Still Domi-
nant I'm Russia.
1t is settled that the election Of the
next Duma is to take place on February
10, and we shall know, therefore, in the
course of a few weeks whether it is
possible for the Government to secure a
majority Of that body. Meanwhile the
evidence accumulates that Premier
SToLYpIN is supported by the Gar in the
determination to make substantial con-
cessions to reform, while at the same
time taking energetic measures to re-
press disorder.
The resolve Of the present Govern
ment to extirpate the dishonesty which
for years has pervaded the bureaucracy,
from its highest to its lowest ranks, is
attested by the rigor with which the
Assistant Secretary Of the Interior has
been prosecuted for malversation of the
famine relief fund. The punishment
of an offender so high placed should
prove an effective warning to the whole
Administration, and will tend to lessen
the evaporation caused among the
~peasantry in the afflicted provinces by
the delay in the distribution Of grain.
That for the moment the Reactionists
are almost powerless at court may be
inferred from the Cars approval on
December IS of a bill submitted by the
Council Of Ministers which to a large
extent removes the disabilities OF He
brews. That is to say, it permits them,
within the so-called Pale, to live in the
rural districts as well as in the cities, and
abolishes the restrictions hitherto i'm
posed on Hebrew merchants and arti-
sans in cities outside the Pale. More
over the provincial Governors, many Of
whom were formerly suspected of con-
nivance in the plots of the Black Hun
dreds, have been taught that the present
Government will not tolerate a repetition
Of the atrocities committed in Odessa
and other places which witnessed not
long ago organized uprisings against the
Jews. On the other hand, the Premier
has proceeded with equal severity against
the revolutionists and has succeeded in
arresting so many of their leaders that
the activity Of their propaganda has
been sensibly checked. OF mutiny in
the army and navy there are no longer
any signs; in Poland, and eve in the
Caucasus, order seems to have been re-
stored; and in the sections Of the Volga
region which suffer most grievously from
famine the formidable upheaval which
was predicted has not occurred.
Premier SToLYPIN, then, has shown
himself the possessor ola strong arm
and he has also evinced an intention Of
keeping his promises of reform. 1t is
nevertheless doubtful whether the Con-
stitutional Democrats and other avowed
opponents Of the existing regime can be
prevented from securing p~reponder-
ance in the next national assembly.
There are indications, however, that
they have been sobered by adversely
and that they are inclined TO adopt diff
ferent tactics from those followed when
they made their first parliamentary ex-
pertinent. They have been warned,
indeed, that II they postpone construc-
tive legislation for the welfare of the
Russian people and demand, as a con-
dition precedent to such work, the recog-
milton Of the principle Of Ministerial
responsibility, the new Duma will be
quickly dissolved. At a recent meeting
Of their leaders the opinion prevailed
that 1t behooved them to gain the con-
hdence Of the peasants by passing benef-
icent laws before insisting that the Cars
Ministers should be accountable to the
peoples representatives.
There is no doubt that II Russian re-
formers had been told two years ago that
the Gear was willing to concede to them
a national assembly which should be the
counterpart Of the Reichstag they would
have been temporarily satisfied. For,
although the Reichstag has never u C
ceeded in establishing the principle of
Ministerial responsibility, and although
it may be dissolved at any hour by the
Emperor, acting in conjunction with
the Bundesrath, it has a right to initiate
legislation, to ask the Government for
reports, and to express its opinion on the
management of affairs. Moreover, all
laws require its consent, and so do the
budget, all loans and all treaties which
involve matters falling within the domain
Of legislation. Such a legislative body
would obviously constitute an immense
improvement on the autocracy from
which Russia has long sought to emerge.
Unfortunately Count WITTE and the
other advisers OF the Gar at the time
when representative institutions we're
proclaimed do not seem to have made
up their minds promptly and clearly as
to what type Of legislature should be
granted. On the one hand, the fact
that the new Council Of the Empire was
invested with most Of the powers OF the
Bundesrath seemed to indicate that the
German model would be copied; but, on
the other hand, Count WIrTE was cred
tied with saying that II Ministerial re-