The sun., 1906-02-20

dictivc form, is not the only proof that
of late his position has been diiiicuit'
not to say prccarious. Apparently ne
has not single friend at 1sarskoc-Selo
nyccpt the sovereign himself. His IL
dcrseacut of th" irnd purchase scheme
Formulated by the Minister of Agrlc'li'-
lIrc went for nothing, and the pan mas
been, for the present at least, abandoned.
TLc Minister of Agriculture has resigned
and another Liberal member OF the
Cabinet is expected to follow him Such
incidents are discouraging; ncvcrthe-
less the Emperor seems resolved on TWO
things First, that the state DuiIa
shall meet on tic date fixed, Aprll 2s;
and secondly. that Count WITTE shall
remain Prime Minister until Russia shall
have procured in France the loan Of $780,
OOO. 600, which is necessary if she is TO
make ends meet during the next two
wears. The French bankers have said
hat they will lend the money, but only
on condition that the State Duma meets
at the time appointed, and approves OF
all preceding loans as well as OF the one
now desired They have also intimated
that their confidence in the financial
prospects Of Russia would be materially
strengthened by the retention of Count
WITTE in Office. They have in mind, no
doubt, the fact that when Minister Of
Finance he nearly doubled the national
revenue.
1t is often said that no man is indis'
pensable, and it is true that France got
on without RICHELIEU and Germany
without BISMARCK. The time will come,
after the new loan has been secured, and
after the state Duma or national as
sembly is in full activity, when the Car
may feel that he can dispense with Count
WlTTEs services. The present Premier
is essentially a man to organize ana Ia
clitate a transition from an autocratic
to a constitutional regime. That was
NECKER's part in the French Revolu-
ton; that part once performed, his day
of usefulness was over. 1t is, however,
an august and memorable place which
history reserves for those who are mainly
to be credited with the bestowal OF free
institutions on great people.
1t must have been much more difficult
to persuade NICHOLAS H. to issue the
manifesto of October 30, convoking
state Duma and granting the funda-
mental liberties cf association, of speech
and of the pros! than it was to persuade
LOUIS XVI. !, ca.i together the States
General. In 1889 the Court Of Versailles
was full of liberal ideas, The higher
noblesse comorised many a retormer
like the Marquis DE LA FAYETTE and the
Due DE LA rCAuLD-LIANCoURT;
and prince of the blood royal, the Duke
of ORLEANS, did not hesitate to side With
them. The Queen MARIE ANToE;ETTE
was not at first the rabid reactlonst
TINT she afterward became. There was,
in a word, no formidable opposition to
the revival of national institution that
had been dormant for century and
half. Very different was the task which
! Count WIrrE undertook. He encoun-
tered inhexble opponents in the En-
Dress Dowager, who retains great lntlu-
ence over her son, and in every member
of the imperial family except, as we
have said, the Gar himself, who I'M
doubtedly is seriously desirous Of pro-
noting the welfare Of his subjects. IN
questionably Count WHITES programme
commended itself to many of the great
land owners in the provinces, but they
were far off, whereas his enemies were
close at hand and even in the imperial
palace. That under such circum-
stances he should have been able to pro-
cure his masters signature to the re-
script of October 80 reflects high honor
upon him and not a little on the Car
| himself. Moreover, he has managed to
hold his sovereign to his purpose, in
spite of the doplorable events that
threa, cncd to shake it, and it now seems
that nothing will intervene to prevent
the meeting of the national assembly.