New-York tribune., 1907-03-06
THE DOUMA.

The meeting Of the second Douma is less
sensational but more significant than that OF
the first Last years body was an experiment.
This years is an achievement The members of
the first Douma had not found themselves" and
were not at all sure of their ground Those Of
the second know exactly where they stand and
have well defined plans Of procedure. The clash,
the in1pGsSe and the dissolution of the first
Douma were not unexpected. But something
very different is expected of the second. 1t IS
expected to find or to make mOduS utUendi with
the government and 10 achieve a substantial
programme OF constructive legislation-tO be, in
brief a real parliament, in acts and results as
well as In name.
In that view OF the case 1t is to be regretted
that It is body Of minority groups so that any
positive action which may be effected will have
TO be the work OF coalition. In that respect,
however, the Douma is by no means singular.
The French Chamber of Deputies had just such
a composition down TO a few years ago. The
German ReIchstag has always had II and shows
no hopeful sign Of getting rid Of it. Yet both
those bodies have in these thirty-dve years done
a great amount of valuable work. There is no
insuperable obstacle to the formation of n ma
jority coalition In the DOuma. On the contrary,
there are strong influences working toward that
end. The coalition may not be a stable one, any
more than that In Germany. It's composition
may vary from time to time, according to the
nature Of the work In hand. But on all impOr-
tant occasions il should be possible to secure
some sort Of a majority.
At present the DOuma consists Of 405 mem
bers; % more are yet to be chosen. These are
roughly divided into Right, Centre and Left.
The Right comprises 80 Monarchists, or Reaction
aries and 80 Octobrists, or Moderates-126 in
all, or a trihe more than one-fourth OF the whole
y 4fo
Gratis, 43 Poles and 20 PrOgressives-184 in all,
or a fraction less than One-third OF the DOuma.
In the Left are the Socialists, the Revolution
lists and the Group Of Toll. numbering 1872, or
nearly 40 per cent. Besides, there are 13 Inde-
pendents, or unattached members. 1t will thus
be seen that the Left is decidedly the strongest
OF the three groups, while the Constitutional
Democrats are probably little more numerous
than any other single party.
The hope OF the Douma apparently lies, then,
in the formation Of a working coalition OF which
the Constitutional Democrats will be the nu-
cleus. If the 164 members Of the three Centre
parties could win the adherence Of the 80 octO-
brists Of the Right and Of the Group OF Toll
numbering about 80, at the Left, a majority
would be secured, which might be strengthened
by the addition OF some Of the unattached mem
hers Among the factions In such a coalition
there would be some radical differences Of pol
icy. no doubt but there would also be some i'm
portant grounds Of union. They all believe. for
example, in constitutional government, 10 which
the Monarchists of the extreme Right are Op-
posed and they are all willing to maintain the
throne and the present dynasty which the So
cIaIists and RevOlutiOnists at the extreme Left
are not.
The present government, If It Is to remain IN
Office and is 70 have the support and cooperation
OF the Douma. must depend upon some such
coalition as that. and 1t must therefore. be a
bitter reflection to Mr. Stolypin that by his own
acts he has made it, or at any rate, its dominant
factor weaker than it would otherwise have
been. Had he not arbitrarily changed the cleo
tion laws and prosecuted some Of the best men,
bers of the former Douma the Constitutional
Democrats might have been returned in almost
double their present strength and the Centre
might have comprised clear majority OF the
whole. AS 1t is, any possible majority will be
slender, and the whole outlook is stormy and un-