Evening star., 1917-03-20
Petrograd Thinks Government
Will Be Patterned on That
of Switzerland.
MINISTER'S ARE TO RULE
UNTIL THE PEOPLE VOTE
Should Monarchy Be Decided Upon,
It Will Be of Most Linn
tied Character.

1
PETROGRAD, March 10, via
London, March 2o.-Russias gov
ernment, it was learned at tie for
eien office today, will rest exclu-
sivelv in the control of the coun-
Gil of ministers until the convoca-
ton of the constitutional assem-
bly,. The duma committee, having
| fulfilled its task as the temporary
governing body during the days
of the revolution, will thus pass
out of existence as the chief eN-
ecutive body of the nation and
will surrender its extraordinary
powers to a cabinet whose pre-
mier, Prince Lvoff, will have the
authority approNimating that OF
the president of republic.
Opinion Favors Republic.
1t is impossible as yet to forecast
with any certainty the final form the
government will assume. since it will
depend entirely upon the collective will
of the entire population. to which has
been extended the proclamation of the
new government regarding universal
s,ffrage.
The belief prevails in official circles
that the opinion of the country will be
found to favor a republican form of
government, not under a president, but
under a commission similar to the gov
erning body of Switzerland. II this be-
comes an eventuality it is not unlikely
that from the present cabinet. contain
ing the most popular leaders in the
country, will be drawn the principal
names for the commission which will
govern the country.
Old Regime Is Dead.
In any event the old regime is dead.
the foreign Office today informed the
Associated Press. and nothing can res
urrect it. If the people decide upon
monarchy it will be a monarchy of the
most limited type. and the monarch will
| he stripped of all the traditional powers
which belonged to the emperor, and he
| will he little more than ruler in name.
| The foreign Office reiterated the deciara-
| tion already made by the new govern
ment concerning the liberty and full y rhts
| for all the races which are component
| narts of the nation and it was stated
| that since this was applicable to Jews as
we'll as others nothing now stood in the
! way of a new commercial treaty with the
| United States.
Rasputin Given Royal Burial.
| The Petrograd press. no longer under
the strict censorship of the old regime.
ia taking advantage of it's new liberty to
| publish facts hitherto suppressed in regard
| TO the assassination of Gregory Rasputin
| the mystic, whose influence in court circles
! stirred the country. While the whole ma
ton was breathing sigh OF relief at
| fiuence, the imperial family was laying
away his remains. with great reverence
| and pomp, at Tsarskoe-Selo.
| After the body was found in the Neva
+, was taken to Tsarskoe- Selo in the
| ;mnerial car, in which rode the then
| minister of the interior, NJ. Protopopoff,
and Cen Voyekoff. The body was
| taken direct to the imperial palace.
The funeral ceremony was held in the
imnerial church. silver coffin, con-
| tanning the body, was carried to it's
| resting place by the emperor. NJ.
| Protopopoff, Gen. Noyekoff and others,
| followed by the empress in deep mourn
ING The affair caused a great scandal
at the time and further inf1amed the
neople against the empress.
Censorship Is Abolished.
LONDON, March 2o.-Al censorship
in Russia, except that on military af-
fairs, has been suppressed by the
/ petrograd government, according to a
Pointer dispatch from the Russian cap
i,a; The department which had been
regulating the affairs of the press has
been abolished.
! committee of arts and letters. head
ed by Maxim Gorky, has been formed
to insure the safeguarding of palaces
and artistic property.
| Nearly all the district governors and
| ,fticials in Finland voluntarily resigned
| when they heard of the revolution, and
little opposition was shown anywhere
toward the new order of things ac-
cording to a Copenhagen dispatch to
reuters quoting the Berlingske I'll
the new governor of Finland is sa id to
have proved popular, as he is known as
a stanch advocate of Finnish aspira- :
l,ions The prisoners in the fortress at
I ITieabors have been liberated and the
governor and police dismissed
| Grand Duke Nicholas will not after
all. be commander-in-ch chief of the Rus
sian armies, according to the Petrograd
correspondent of the Times, the new
government having found it necessary
in order to checkmate the mischieyous
propaganda. to appoint a generalissimo
not connected with the Romanoff family
The correspondent does not state who
the new appointee will be, nor does he
indicate whether Grand Duke Nicholas
is likely to continue to hold any subordi-
nate command.