Los Angeles herald., 1907-06-02
RUSSIANS ONCE
NEAR FREEDOM
INTRIGUE AT COURT BLOCKED
RELIEF FOR PEOPLE
Letters Now Appearing in ST. Peters,
burg Publication Reveal Strange
Plot in Days Of Alex
'ander II
By Associated Press.

By Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, June IA num-
ber of important letters written by the
late Constantine Pobedonostzeff while
procurator general of the holy synod are
now appearing in the Archive, the lead
ing historical journal of Russia.
These particular letters deal with mo-
mentous events Immediately following
the sassination of Alexander II, and
shed new light on the fate of the con-
stitution that had been drafted by Loris
Melikoff.
1t has been fairly we'll established
that Alexander II at the time of his
assassination was about to proclaim the
constitution drafted by Melikoff, who
was then virtual dictator of Russia,
establishing parliamentary institutions
in the empire.
The death of the emperor was even
ascribed to a reactionary plot that had
for it's ultimate object the prevention Of
the PRONUNCIATION of a new constitution.
Pobedonostseff's letters fully confirm
the existence of this constitution and
give complete and authentic details of
these intrigues following the accession
to the throne of the successor of Alex
ander II, as a result of which Pebedo-
nostseff succeeded in deferring the eS-
tablishment of representative govern
ment in Russia for a quarter of cen-
tury or until Nicholas II created the
present parliament in 1905.
The first letter was written within
few hours of the death of Alexander II
and after the new emperor, Alexander
III, at late hour in the night, had
summoned Pobedonostseff to the palace,
embraced him sobbingly and implored
him to remain his faithful friend. Po-
bedonsotseff describes Alexander III as
wretched, ill and distracted child
whom he feared lacked the firmness of
will necessary to resist the influence of
the gambler Melikoff.'
Pobedonostseff's first step was to
write a letter urging Alexander III to
strike out on his own path and warning
him against his uncle, Grand Duke Con-
stantine, whom Pobedonostseff wished
to have banished Immediately.
The letters take up almost immedi-
ately the history of the constitution
which Melikoff, to the horror of Pobe-
donostseff, lost no time IN pressing upon
Alexander III. The day after his ac-
cession to the throne Melikoff presented
the project, and upon the margin of the
draft the emperor wrote the words
VERY we'll written" He hesitated,
however, about signing the decree and
called a council of the ministers and
grand dukes for March 21, 1884, for con-
sultation. Pobedonostseff then gives a
full account of this historical session in
the winter palace. Melikoff had drafted
a proclamation creating a legislative
assembly, and he urged the immediate
PRONUNCIATION thereof. He was sup
ported by majority of the council, in
cluding the grand dukes.
Pobedonostseff made a Illuminating
speech, in which he declared that those
present, by advocating the reforms of
Alexander II, were really responsible for
the murder of this ruler. He insisted
that the time had come to cease trem-
bling before public opinion which was
manufactured by contemplate Journal
lists" The emperor was greatly affected
by this speech and postponed his de-
cision regarding Melikoff's proposal for
several weeks.
In the meantime Gen. Baranoff had
been appointed prefect of ST. Peters
burg and he co-operated with Pobe-
donostseff by the pretended discovery of
a number of plots aimed at the emperor.
Pobedonostseff's narrative of this in
trigue read like the widest fiction.
A second conference was held May 1,
1881, a little less than two months after
the emperor's accession. There was an
other heated debate. Pobedonostseff
was again almost alone in the defense
of the established order of things.
Melikoff and his allies were highly salts
fed at the outcome of the conference.
believing they had finally defeated Po-
bodonostseff and that the constitution
was assured. But they were sadly mis-
taken. Within a week Pobodostseff won
the emperor completely, and he drafted
the famous manifesto, rejecting the
slightest infringement upon the absolute
power of the emperor, the promulgation
of which on May 12, 1881, was the signal
for the fall of Melikoff and sealed the
ascendency of Pobedonostseff. This con-
tinued until broken under Alexander III
and his successor, the present emperor,
until the death of Minister of the In
terror Won Plehve in 1904.