Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-27

the example OF Cato OF old although I'M
or.,nro 30 IN Inc case OF the peasant
with the cry of amnesty and liberty as did
Inc roman censor: 'Centerum censeo Car
.haginem esse defendant ard. besides, /
mink. carthage must be destroyed"
A deputy demands that the douma send
telegram to the car demanding his IN
tentfons on the subject of amnesty But
| tse PRESIDENT NJ Mouromtzeff. and the
10 object. They remark that such action
would not only be useless but dangerous.
for no response would be made by the
emperor; the labors of the douma would
be checked indefinitely Besides such at
tttude would cause the world to think that
the question of amnesty is the only import
ant subject In the program of the doAma.
ffnaiiy, If the car refuse, what will the
deputies do about IT? VIII they continue
to sit fter such affront? And II no,
what becomes of their advice, .resistance?'
And If they resist and are expelled and sent
back to their villages. what will their elect
ors say? They will reproach' them, GER
tainly, to have imprudently engaged in
light over very difficult question without
thinking of other vital problems which
they were charged with solving with wis
dom and propriety.''
The first meetings of the douma prove
that each deputy has a speech in his pock-
ct which he is anxious 10
Eager deliver. and the word disso-
LEGISLATORS luton is a sort of sword OF
Damocies suspended
his head. To return to his village without
having delivered that speech would mean
perhaps rough treatment by his fellow VIII
layers Dissolution? Would not that mean
also the stoppage of his per diem? Alas!
here are those in St. Petersburg who say
that this consideration Is the most poten,
Inc fundamental laws issued by the en-
peror were sanctioned by an imperial ukasa
IN which are mentioned the manfestos of
October 30 1903. and March ). 1906 The
emperor possesses the supreme and auto
cratic authority, the empire is one and in
dlVisibie; the principality of Finland is in
separabie from the empire and will be gov
erned by special laws; the Russian Ian
guage Is obligatory in all Russia other
language and dialects being admitted in
certain cases; initial legislation belongs 10
the emperor. and no law can be put into
torce without his order; the emperor can
dissolve the douma and fix at will the time
for new elections.
Inc congress of the constitutional dem
ocratlc party has adopted a resolution de-
claring that government has acted in de-
nance OF the Russian people at the OPEN
ing or the douma by the PRONUNCIATION of
the fundamental laws, and the resolution
terminates thus
The .douma point of concentration of
all hopes. is the object of an attempt to
bring it down to the role of a servant of
bureaucratic, government.
III inc presence this attempt TO take
from the people the power which had
been solemnly conferred and which it
considers that 1t has the right to pre-
serve. the constitutional party and the
representatives of the douma, united In
congress. declare that government COM
mits a fragrant and brutal infraction of
the manifesto of October 80. but that no
obstacle which may be raised will pre-
vent the people from fulfilling their mis-
sion"
The mission of this singular deuma is
incomprehensible and shrouded in mys-
terry. It is not unit but it's many par
ties are divided, on the Jewish and agra
rian questions, for example There are
100 peasants who care nothing for am
nesty and the open door to all criminals
as proposed, but whose all-absorbing idea
IS the obtention of all the lands in Rus
STA. There are 100o00.O00 peasants in
Russia, and their possession of the coveted
lands is, to say the least, a startling prop
osition. Government-that is. the emperor
possesses vast estates IN Russia and her
territories. and If the emperor should aban-
don these 20 the peasants it would prac-
tically disarm the threatenI7 revolution
and render Nicholas the idol OF his 100,
100000 peasants.
The cause of the retirement of NJ White
is quite as much enigma in St. Peters
burg as elsew here. Did the
Whites emperor find him too lib
po+;rernan+ eral or too reactionary?
At any rate. rumor de-
clares that his absence from active partic-
ipatioz In the affairs of government will
be of short duration.
Meanwhile NJ Goremykin has succeeded
NJ White. The new premier is varously
classed as bureaucrat aristocrat, and only
recently as 1iberal-a combination which
may specially recommend him for a very
complicated situation NJ. Goremykin is
man of sixty. He is lawyer, with
little reputation such, although he has
had long experience with agrarian prob
lens in Poland. where he was sent after
the insurrection of 1858. In 1891 NJ. Go
remykn was adjoint to the minister of
Justice and in 1894. on the accession OF
Nicholas II, he replaced NJ. DournoYo as
minister of the interior.
Speculation as to Russian affairs Is not
governed by the application of the rules OF
cause and effect. What has already oc-
Cured is ample evidence that it is the UNI
expected-even the impossible-that hap
pens in Russia. In the National Review for
May the author of an article, Russia on
the Rubicon's Bank" says: Few read
Alright the events of the day. 1t Is as
though one were witnessing a masquerade
formed by chivalrous knights, unprinclpled
scoundrels, Quixotic reformers, ruthless
bomb throwerS vain orators and precocfouS
children behind whom are a million peas
ants who. having been treated and trained
like souliess brutes. are now expected by
their tormenters TO act as refined men,
who shall say what this people In an out
burst of blind fury may not pull down?
- - And the author continues: 1T
is no exaggeration to say that the Russian
is no longer physically normal. The Rus
sian specialists are right who diagnose the
Russian nations disease as political heuras-
thenia, the symptoms are the mania of per-
secution hallucinations, illusions and abb
normal acts. - . Russian journal states
that suicide Is growing daily, chiefly among
the young. who shoot or poison themselves
leaving note saying, I cannot live any
longer, so ~ or, am too weak for
this life. which needs people of strength
and daring Even when Lieutenant
Schmidt was in prison before trial, two per-
sons went mad thinking of him
Revolutionary housebreaking and assas-
sination are spreading. the principal GRIM
inals being boys of grammar schools, tech
meal institutions and universities. The
burglars who took hundreds of thousands
of roubles from the Moscow Bank were
grammar school boys. And this kind
of enterprise is popular
Under such conditions of social and po
litical anarchy, the car. If he be wise, will
hasten to brace himself behind the peas
ant party rendered happy and enthusiastic
by complete concession of all available
lands possessed by the crown. Such ac-
ton would effectually place the douma in
the vocatfve. CHI. CHALLIE-LONG.