The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-16

a national capital. and / have been |
abundantly repaid for coming hero. |
The duma must be seen to be appre- |
ciated; even more. to understand IT
one must not only see the members
but must know somethingNof the strug-
gle through which they have passed
am satisfied that the Gear himself
Is more liberal than his advisers and
that left to himself, he would long ago
have made, concessions which would
have brought the throne and the sub
Jects nearer together. but he has
Yielded so slowly and given so grud-
irgly that the people have become
very much estranged. To illustrate
this need only cite two facts. First,
as to the election. St. Petersburg and
Moscow are the political centers where
the officials ana the nobility have the
strongest representation. and yet in
the elections the Constitutional Demo-
Gratis won an overwhelming victory in
both these cities In St. Petersburg
the ticket which represented the En-
peror received only 1000 votes out of
a total OF 10000, and in his home pre-
cjnct, where 800 voters were sent to
the polls In court carriages, his ticket
received only 80 votes! Could any
thing more clearly prove the frail hold
OF the Government upon the people?
And 1t must be remembered that they
do not have universal suffrage in the
cities. but property qualification
which excludes the poorest of the peo-
pie, the very ones who have most red
sen to desire popular government.
The second proof of the feeling
against the Government to be found
in the unanimity with which the duma
opposes the position taken by thu Gov
eminent through the ministry. While
80 he 6txyiA aA
among themselves on many questions.
they act as one man in their position
to the Governments policy insofar as
that policy has been outlined. In
| fact, the tension has been so great
that 1 was afraid the body might be
| dissolved by imperial order before we
could reach St. Petersburg
The sessions Of the duma are held
in a palace built by Catherine the
| Great for one of her favorites. Gen
| eral Potemkin. 1t is commodious
building and has been remodeled to
meet present needs. The largest room,
| extending the entire width of the
building was once the ball room and
some notable entertainments have
! been given In it--entertainments call
ing for lavish expenditure and atten-
ded only by the nobility; now the room
serves as a lobby and peasant rep
resentatives. wearing the usual blouse
and top boots, stride through 1t going
to and from sessions In another
part of the building there are ample
dining-rooms, where the members of
the duma and the press may secure
meals at very moderate rates. The
assembly hall Is large enough to ac-
commodate the 450 members, but is
badly lighted. Tho windows are all
| back of the speakers platform. so
that the members sit with their faces
towads the light. 1t would be much
better IL the light came from above.
but 1t is really surprising that the ac-
Icommodations are as satisfactory as
they are considering the short time
the workmen had to make the neces-
sary changes,
/ Back Of the president is life
sized painting OF the. car in uniform
on the left is a box occupied by the
ministers when present. and beyond
the ministers is a still larger en-
closure occupied by the representa-
tives of the foreign press. To the
right of the president are seats foi
members of the Council of Empire
who may be in attendance. and be-
yond them the enclosure occupied BY
representatives of the Russian press
lust in front and little below the
presidents desk is the rostrum, from
; which the members of the duma ad'
dress the assembly, and just below
this rostrum is the reporters table
where the stenographers take doWr
the proceedings Besides the rooms
already mentioned there are com
mittee rooms. cloak rooms, rooms fo'
the home press and for the foreign
press, etc, etc.
In word the duma building looks
very much like an American legisla'
ture or a European parliament
likeness still further emphasized by
the presence of men and women
clerks, doorkepers, pages and spec
tators One thing only was out OF
harmony with a legislative body
and that was a company of soldiers
stationed in a wing of the building as
If in anticipation of possible trouble
We were present at two sessions oil
the Duma and found them intensely in
| teresting The morning session is al
present given up to speeches on the
land question, more than thlrd OF
fine members having expressed de-
sire to be heard on this subject, The
speeches are usually shot and otter
read from manuscript. Handclappine
is allowed, and there was always ap'
plause at the close of the speeches. Oc'
casionally the president announced ina
some speaker on the list surrendered
| his time ana tHls StdtcihChI oA9S
brought forth applause. the discussion
of the subject having by this time
become tiresome.
Ry the courtesy of our Ambassador
Mr. Meyer we were admitted to th'
diplomatic gallery, from which W.
| could survey the entire body. Ther'
is probably no assembly like it or
either hemisphere.
1t is made up of all classes and rep
resents every shade of opinion. Their
are members of the nobility who hav'
cast in their lot with the people: law
yers who have temporarily left thei
practice TO devote themselves to TIN
larger interests of the public; profes
sors fresh from the universities, bust
ness men from the cities. laboring mel
from the factories and there are, NOR
numerous still, peasants from the farms
Some of the members are near the ent
of life, and command attention by thei
years as well us by their words, ant
there IS sprinkling of young mel
who have become the spokesman o
their communities; but the majorit!
are middle aged men, who have year
of experience behind them and are We
strong for the battle. In garb Their
is also a great variety, the black frocl
coat, the business suit, the belted blous
and the clerical robe are all TO be seen
The smooth face seems to be at a dis
| count in Russia; one would suppos
that the BARRIERS were on a strike
There are many heavy heads of hair
too, sometimes the locks falling L
the shoulders, sometimes cut squar
. about the ears