The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-09


the appropriation Of private estates,
which, az the Government itself has
come to recognize, would afford the only
adequate remedy for the appalling des-
titution OF the peasantry in many prov
inces, a large advance OF funds to the
land owners would be requisite. Where
would the needed funds be procured?
The official statements regarding tho
condition Of the Treasury are no longer
received with even a p~retence OF con-
fdence. The belief prevails in financial
circles that a large overiesue OF paper
currency has been made, Tor the redemp-
ton Of which sufficient specie is not
forthcoming, and that tie fiscal receipts
fall so far short Of the outgo that the
reserve stock Of gold Is being subjected
to continual inroads. Attempts to obtain
domestic loans have failed, and there
is not the slightest chance Of placing a
| regime shall have been restored and
shall have given some proof Of efficiency
and stability.
II ia the imminence Of bankruptcy that
compels Premier SToLYPIN and his i'm
perial master to remain faithful to the
declaration that a new Duma shall be
called, and, although the date has not
yet been fixed, we have no reason TO
doubt that a general election will take
place at no distant date. The Govern
ment has made no secret Of its intention
to follow a course very different from
that pursued by Count WITTE: instead
Of r~efraining from any effort to inhu-
ence the voters, it will employ all its
resources to secure the return Of q
majority on which it a rely. The task,
however, seems scarcely practicable.
That the avowed Conservatives will be
more numerous than they were in the
last Duma may indeed be taken for
granted, for a reactionary wave has
swept over the land owning class. The
new party Of Peaceful Regenerationists,
which Count HEYDEN is forming, may
also muster a score or two Of Deputies.
The Ootobrist party, on the other hand,
on which Mr.. SToLYPIN seemed disposed
to lean, has been broken up and, while
a fraction Of its members may coalesce
with the peaceful RegeneratiOnists, the
majority seems destined to gravitate
toward the Constitutional Democrats.
The facts do 10 justify the report that
the last named party is itself undergoing
disintegration. In consequence Of the
Premier's refusal to permit them to hold
a convention in Russia proper, the Con-
stitutional Democrats met on October Z
at HelsingfOrs in Finland. There were
present no fewer than III delegates, rep
~resenting forty-three governments prov
inces) and four so-called territories.
Prince PAU DoLGoRoUKoFF, who was
chosen president, explained in an OPEN
ing speech that the convention had been
ca led for the purpose of preparing a
platform for the coming electoral cam
paign. There were indications in the
ensuing debate that the party as q whole
had decided to assume a more moderate
attitude than it had exhibited in the last
Duma, and that combinations with the
Social Democrats, or even with the So
called Group of Toll, would be avoided.
Mr.. NABOUKoPF, for instance, a former
Deputy from st. Petersburg, expressed
the belief that the first Dums had COM
mitted a grave error in allowing the
Group Of Toll TO exercise q preponderant
influence in framing what was then de-
clared to be the parliamentary solution
Of the agrarian problem. The speaker
evidently was alive to the fact that whole
sale and immediate appropriation would
require a pecuniary outlay altogether
LorooJ ,ha oanoh;I;t;aa ~ Tia Rnaaiop
Treasury. He sees, what ought to be
~self-evident, namely, that yer il expro-
priation be adopted as a principle the
application OF it must be gradual. An
other proof that the Constitutional
Democrats are drifting away from the
~intractable elements of the Left was
furnished by the report Of a committee
on the Viborg manifesto, which, it will
be remembered, called upon the people
not to pay a ruble by way of taxes OIL
send a single conscript to the army
The report Of the committee, while il
expressed a perfunctory approval Of the
manifesto and Of a resort to passive
resistance under certain circumstance
urged the inexpediency Of such a course
at Jne present LIme' Inc Beheioi euoc'
of the report and the debate is to sug'
gest that the Constitutional Democrats
have learned a lesson from adversely
and that they are likely in the next Dumt
to talk less wildly and act more wisely
with a view of demonstrating that they
are fit to be trusted with administrative
powers. The SOLDERING tendency woulc
Of course be strengthened should thu
bulk of the Octobrists be incorporated il
their ranks.
We should soon get interesting new
from Russia. The financial need is
pressing one, and it can be met only BY
substantial political concessions.
: A Matter OF Glass, Not Rae