Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-21
NEW EPOCH IN RUSSIA
Autocracy SuppIanted by Con-
StitutionaI Government.
CZAR'S POWER DIVIDED
Cannot Get Back What He Has Given
Away.
COMPOSITION OF THE D0UMA
Confirms Representatives Of Many
Races and Religions-Six Members
Cannot Read OF Write.
OF THE DoUMA
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The stor and the Chicago
Record Herald.
ST. PETERSBURG, July 3. 1906.
The douma has come to stay. Make no
mistake about that. Russia is no longer an
autocracy. new epoch has begun. She
has constitutional government and a
parliament at last And 1t is not temporary,
but permanent. whatever pessinists may
predict. Revolutions sometimes go back
ward, but it is otherwise in this case.
Willingly or unwillingly, whichever may be
the truth, the car has admitted his sub
1ects to share in the responsibilities of the
government, and he cannot take 1t from
them again. The relations between the
two branches of the government are still
underlined, in great confusion. and the sub
1ect Of controversy. They may yet be the
cause of violence, but every thoughtful
man among the liberal parties, including the
red radicals. pray, II they pray at all, that
the life Of the car may be preserved, be-
cause they regard him as the most impor-
tant factor in the situation, and the wiser
ones see In his vacillation and ndecison
an elasticity that is like spring In the
bumpers of railway car to soften the
shock Of the collision. In other words they
believe that 1t is much better for the future
of Russia and much more favorable for
the contamination of their plans to have a
weak man at the head of the opposition
rather than a strong man, and that his
frequent changes of policy and purpose
Will serve them much better than lie stub
born resistance of stern determined
sovereign like his father. He has no policy
that is fixed or definite. Some days 1t is
one thing and then it is another.
This shifting of position, this lack OF
firm, continuous and direct purpose, Is
good thing for the future of Russia al
though 1t does not increase ones respect
for the manliness or the ability of the car.
You know the ancient axiom about the
meeting of two irresistible bodies and what
happened in such a case. Fortunately
neither of the contend!ng forces in Russia
is either irresistible or infallible.
Reviving Dying Nation.
OF the two, the douma Is the stronger,
because 1t is the party of the first part
the aggressor who is making an impetuous
attack upon customs, traditions. laws and
prerogatives that are rotten, obsolete and
Inappropriate to the age. They cannot
stand much pressure or bear weight. They
are weak and dilapidated, like the decay
ing timbers of an old house. Russia has
been dying nation, to use the MARQUIS
of Salisburys favorite phrase and it re-
qufred an unexpected shock like the victory
of the Japanese to convince the people of
that fact. The douma is to galvanfze the
monster into life, to stimulate progress.
and the development of the enormous re-
sources that lie untouched in this the
largest OF all empires, and awaken posi-
ollltieS that were never suspected a new
volume of the history of Russia began
rom the date of the Japanese war, and It
Is being written very rapidly.
AS have said, matters are not running
smoothly yet, and the plumbers and com
missions Of both antagonists in the great
struggle that is going on here will doubt
less attract more attention and excite more
comment than the incidents that show in
teIligence or wisdom. 1t is much easier to
criticize than create to denounco than To
defend. So far as the douma is concerned
can only quote again what James Russell
Lowell said of Spain, that institutions
grow and cannot be made to order, that
they grow out OF an actual past and are
not to be conspired out of coniectural flu
ture; that human nature is stronger than
any invention of man. When party
leaders learn that ounce of patience is
worth pound of passion Spain may at
length count on that duration of tranquility
the want of which has been the chief obsta-
Gle to her material development"
Thus far, however. the douma has dis
played a remarkable amount of patience
and self-control, although 1t is still satir-
icaly called debating society, and has
made impossible and unreasonable demands
upon its sovereign. But that is perfectly
natural. Until now the people of Russia
have never been permitted TO express their
opinions and the repression of thousand
years Is being relieved at the meetings of
the parliament. That is the best thing that
could happen. Speech is & safety valve for
an overcharged mind elsewhere as well as
In Russia, and the greatest mistake the
government could make would be to pro-
md TIC ,t,,,..
back to their constituents bursting with I'M
delivered speeches.
Debates Extremely Moderate
The debates have not been SO infamma-
tory as one might expect; as a rule they
have been extremely moderate and reason
able. Occasionally some agitator lets 90
his emotions and arouses the passions and
preiudices of those who agree with him.
The result is an outbreak of enthusiasm or
Indignation or a mixture of both, but II is
no more boisterous than have seen In our
own Hall of Representatives, and, compared
with the French assembly, or the Hungar-
ian diet, or the chamber of deputies in Italy
the proceedings In the douma have thus
far been extremely orderly and decorous
The fiercest radical has not yet produced
such effect as the Irish members have
many time caused in the house OF com
mons, anu tIle socialists and members of the
labor party In the German reichstae are
much more furious in their denunciation Of
the kaiser's government than the leaders
of the revolutionists in the douma have vet
been.
1t Is most interesting assembly 1t con-
tains greater variety Of elements con-
hicting and rival. than any other legislatiye
body that ever met Twelve different races
and half as many different religions are
represented by all members Of all grades of
society, education and intelligence. from
princes to peasants. Six members cannot
read or write. and several times have
newspaper reporters been asked to prenare
letters for them to their friends and con-
stituents at home. On the other hand. the
ablest theorists in the empire and some of
the most profound scholars In Europe have
been sent here by the different universities
Indeed, the leaders who control affairs are
nearly all university professors-mere
theorists in government policies and adj
ministration. The douma is really the child
of professors. Its president and vice presi-
dent are from the faculties of Moscow,
Kharkoff, Petersburg and Warsaw But
behind them Is a large number of practical
men. bankers, merchants, farmers and
others who have been accustomed to deal
with business affairs. The number OF law
yers Is small In comparison with our own
House of Representatives and other parlia-
mentary bodies.