The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-14


pms howsvef ihst n sh,sili rfrr"ri
In conformity sith pafliamsntsry rf",f
danff and ibtt Hs y siust shnuhi nu'i
suppression ~ nv tshifsss frsp"mira Nv
tho 4THrth ffiw Mo- ihf1rr
frr iha ptfpsr NJ preparing Ht..t
m rhlfass tUti rlrpifN nr No. nfauri
sriInr No. infmu tHs piipIfnei tH
Wty ~ hut nuf uuti Ne l%hirpeuloni
apifii hnd fHrn ptlvHi ny itr utHwUP
evrlia'pu ~ iat]frturfttf HNfi r0iltN
nraN ffnm lhr iimisH Whom ihr rhtw
trf f]aturyenei M Saturday Nv" ruH
hihaiian ilehri aaferii tnpr ~ = D1n
frferrs ~ Constitutional itrWnTfs'1
anI netsHrta we s%leristi rfln,e fffrt
futrunUt Hoff ani Professor Onuyr
aNrt ~ KhaftuH tnine ehHaen 'I,r
Presidents Nnoiher earnest demon
sifi'ipn In ftvps NJ amnesty iroh place.
hut ihe presiding nn,of anil n'hef lrrl"t1
NJ The Constitutional fiemprfnis ugsin
showed their power w. cVhtfol the nsanm
NV aud pointed out that M denuii"
action should b. trken Until y cplc ~
parliamentary rulc- should have b""n
adopted
How doea N happrn that tho doml-
nan, element IN the first assembly held
In Ritasia ~ which the name " n national
legislature may fairly H. applied should
oShihit such qualifications for directing
n deliberntive body How comes II ~
pnRa that Russian refOrmers cnniOund
their enemies hy %cyincinR mora htness
for their functions than was displayed
bv tho members of tho French States
General which mot on May ~, 1852
Tho explanation ia not far 10 sock \
hundred and seventeen years ago Eng
land waa tho only European country
which possessed an institution meriting
the name Of Parliament, and scarcely
n member Of the States General know
anything about II except what he had
CLEANED from MoNrFsoUiFU's book on
The Spirit Of flaws" Now, on the other
hand. every European nation except
Turkey and Russia has long had its
Legislature, and by observation or study,
educated Russians have become thor
oughlv familiar with legislative proc
eases and usages. Moreover, there
seems 10 he in Russia on the part of the
pr~oletariat and the peasantry very little
Of the jealousy with which in some
countries the "intellectuals" arc re-
garded by the ignorant. Evidently the
Duma has put its best men in the places
Of authority and means TO accept their
guidance.
The reply Of the House to the speech
from the throne is awaited with peculiar
interest, for, although d~eferential in
form, it is expected TO embody a repudia-
ton of the restrictions imposed upon the
peoples representatives by the funda-
mental Law. The reply will %denounce,
we are informed, the Council of the En-
pire as an anachronism, inasmuch as all
of its members except twelve are APP
pointed. As a matter of fact the Council
of the Empire is no more an anachronism
than is the Upper House in Austria, in
Hungary, in Italy or in Prussia, and it is
unlikely to give the popular branch of
the legislature much trouble the mo-
ment the latter body secures the power
of the purse. That power will be ex-
acted and probably granted at an early
date, provided the Duma gives the reac-
tionists no plausible excuse for dissolv-
ing it. The reply to the Cars speech
will insist, respectfully but firmly, on
the establishment Of a constitutional
monarchy in the English sense OF the
word, on the choice of a Ministry respon-
sible to the majority of the Duma, on
the substitution of universal suffrage
for the present indirect and complicated
method Of electing legislators, and on
full amnesty for political offences, The
Duma will also ask for the abolition of
the death penalty, which, although it has
long been nominally illegal, has been
repeatedly inflicted upon political pris-
oners by administrative decree.