Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-12
IR0N-HANDED REFORM In RUSSIA.

to have spent its fury. The proposed gen.
eral strike. although supported
| a Spent by all revolutionary elements.
Storm. has failed. with the central
| committee in prison and the
revolutionists in confusion. II not consterna-
| ton. The bomb intended for government
| has burst in the hands Of the bomb throw
| ers The manifesto Of the former deputies
| composing the social democratic and labor
and Jewish committees addressed to the
whole nation has fallen upon deaf ears.
| Citizens it said. ''all to whom freedom
| is dear. we call upon you for a decisive
| struggle against the government of the en-
peror for national government and for
| land and liberty We call upon you for
general strike. to cast down the imperial
government and the authorities depending
thereon. Long live the general strike and
the decisive struggle for national powerr
The people. heretofore the drum upon
which all revolutionary societies have been
accustomed to beat. have had time during
this long-drawn revolution for reflection.
promises for land and liberty which the
duma signally failed to obtain for them.
Besides. a man has been found who in
some way. not yet known. has inspired
N. Pierre Arkadievitch Stolypin, who sue
ceeded NJ. Goremykin as premier, was the
only member of the former cabinet who
succeeded by his calm and conciliatory at
titude in obtaining the respectful attention
of the duma. M. Stolypin enjoys the
highest consideration Of almost every one
in Russia, and is admired for his honesty
and his respect for the law. He is the son
of a general who distinguished himself at
Sebastopol. He studied law at st. Peters,
burg. and in 1854 he entered the ministry
of land and the interior. Well versed in
agricultural questions, he resided in 1883
In the government of Kovno, WHERE he adj
ministered his own vast estates Appointed
marshal Of the nobility, he won the SYM
pathies Of the people; as president Of the
tribunal, he was accessible to every one.
His equity and goodness for fact attract
ed the friendship of the entire population
| friendship which the minister has known
how to employ to great advantage In the
| recent difficult situation.
M. StOlypin, while recommending repres-
sion and iron-handed reform. proposes to
concede all the land to the
Stolypin's peasantry whichmay be found
Policy. available, and thus appease
the people. This was not at
| tempted before because of the financial diff
| fculties, and because Of the prestige it
would have given the duma. This prestige
| the government now maintains under the
| wise control of M. Stolypin.
In the course of NJ. Stolypin's efforts to
| form a cabinet he was interviewed on the
| 10Th ultimo by the correspondent Of the
| London Times: Referring to the dissolu-
! ton of the duma NJ. Stolypin said: There
| has been no coup detat Nothing has been
| done which is not in accordance with pre-
| scribed constitutional methods. The car
| is empowered by the fundamental code to
dissolve the duma and no other course was
open to his majesty The duma as a whole
| was a dying body, and the most merciful
| treatment was a prompt dispatch putting a
| term to it's Improbable existence. AS to
| the constitutional democracy, it contained
| many dilletante doctrinaires without any
| policy or political substance" He differen-
! tiated between the really serious members
| Of the party and those whose sole aim was
| to GUST the government of the czar and
whose inherent weakness was so patent
! even to themselves that they were daily
| making bigger concessions to the revolu-
| ticnists both inside and outside of the
| duma. AS to the extent counter-action
| was likely to go NJ. Stolypin said:
| Three policies were open to the car and
| his advisers-frst, reaction: second, fmpas-
| svity toward the threatened revolution;
| third, policy of strOng-handed reform.
| 1t is the last mentioned policy upon which
| the car resolved and upon which We have
| now entered. The hpolicy of reaction Is
! that which is furthest removed from the
/ cars wishes, but the revolutionists must
| be thwarted before there can be any posi-
| bility of deciding on the definite basis OF
| stable future. 1 personally place implicit
| reliance in the innate patriotism and civic
| sense of the mass of the nation. l believe
| that the cars appeal to them, backed mp
| by constant evidence Of good faith and
honest endeavor on the part of his majeS-
| tvs representatives. will result in the ex-
| tinction or at least the effective repression
| of the anarchicaf forces"
X X
AS I'd ho nf
the last few days. the premier said: Ar
rests, explosions and other
Repressive measures Of an administra-
Measures. tive order are Indispensable
In the present circumstances.
There will doubt be a manufactured
| outcry against them. but during a popular
misrule of intimidation and menace It
would be impossible to compel witnesses
to appear in the regular courts. The news
papers which have been suppressed were
purely and simply revolutionary organs
whose publication would not be counte-
nanced in any country in the world.
THE interests of the peasants lie near
the cars heart. His majesty admits the
justice of many of their claims and moth
Ing will be left undone to solve the agrarian
problem in spirit of sympathy, generos-
ity and equity. 1 believe the peasants will
recognize this when the details of our
land proposals are fully explained to them.
When the cabinet is complete we will come
forward with exhaustive program COW
ering the land question and other subjects
which demand immediate solution"
Summing up his views NJ. Stolypin said
he believed strength was required, not re-
action; humanity, not cruelty; good sense,
| not hysterical promises. The car had not
g. doubt concerning the future. His maj
esty had cherished the best expectations of
the duma. Until the last he had hoped it
could work in conjunction with the gov
eminent toward the regeneration of Rus
STA, and he had dissolved it with the ut
most reluctance and only when he saw
that nothing could be expected from 1t.
1.-The duma' he said, was not repre-
sentation of the country. 1t included far
too many professional and amateur agita>
tors who had stake in their con-
stituencies or in the country generally
We have two distinct movements in Rus
sia first. a social one, including the agra
rian problems and. second, political ore.
The former has all our sympathy and will
be the object of our most attentive study;
| the second will be dealt with as circum-