The situation is, therefore, now an impossible one. Matters have come to a complete deadlock. The Emperor has promised by his Manifesto of October 17th, and has ratified his promise in his Speech from the Throne, that no laws shall be passed without the consent of the Duma. The Government has made a declaration that it will take legislation into its own hands, and the Duma has replied by demanding its immediate resignation. Therefore, the Government will pass none of the Duma’s laws, and the Duma will have nothing to do with the laws proposed by the Government. What can be the way out of this situation? The Government does not believe that the Duma is representative of Russia. The Duma believes that it is representative. The Government, I suppose, relies on the troops. They say the troops can be depended on for another two years.
St. Petersburg, May 28th.
The following is the translation of a speech made by a peasant deputy named Losev in the Duma on Saturday last. It was the speech which was certainly the most appreciated by the peasants:—
“Until to-day I was moved by a feeling of deep joy. I thought that the moment had come when the resurrection day of our tired-out country would dawn. I thought that the voice of our distressful country would sound throughout the land, and would reach the ears of our Monarch. He had said in his graciousness that it was necessary to learn the needs of the country. I have the good fortune to be a representative of the people. Until to-day my heart felt joy. Now, I thought, we shall do without that hour of ruin which threatens the whole country; now, I thought, has come the happy time when the worn-out and suffering eyes of the peasant shall smile through his tears, the time which shall see the bettering of his country and of his life, when he shall no longer fear the threats of a Police Government, when he shall no longer live in poverty and famine. But now I will say that my joy was not of long duration. To-day it disappeared. To-day from this tribune I heard the terrible words pronounced by the Prime Minister. In clear and brief words he said that the solution of the land question proposed by the Duma was altogether out of the question. What did the Prime Minister pronounce to be out of the question? The contentment of the starving country? It is that Ministry in whose hands we are like dumb animals. And that offended me deeply, and I think that not I alone, but the whole country, was offended.
“I was glad when I heard the answer to the speech of our Sovereign the Emperor from the Throne about the resurrection of the country. But I repeat that my joy lasted only until to-day. To-day, my dears, I again look upon our distressful country. She is once more threatened by a menacing cloud of gold uniforms. We see that a whole population, a hundred millions strong, lies under the yoke of a few individuals and can do nothing. Many express their sympathy for us on paper, but nobody can help us. They tell us that the fulfilment of our demands is impossible. I again put myself in the company of the poor peasantry, who, it is true, possess great strength. One can liken the peasantry to Samson, who possessed exceeding strength. By cunning they discovered what was the secret of his strength, and bereft him of it. They took us, too, by cunning, and by cunning they blinded us. I once more repeat therefore that it is a duty not to play tricks with a people a hundred million strong. When Samson felt the power of all the mockery of the Philistines he then said: ‘Lead me; let me uphold the columns which support the building,’ and, taking hold of one pillar with his right hand and one with his left, he said: ‘Perish, my soul, together with the Philistines!’ Who forced him to do this? If wicked Dalila had not blinded him, and had his strength not been impaired, he would not have wished to do this. They made a laughingstock of him, and he said: ‘Perish, my soul, together with the Philistines!’ And then what? Those who played with him perished beneath the crashing building.
“All the labouring peasantry is in even such a critical situation. They treat it like a toy; but, my friends, I cannot guarantee that the unhappy Samson will support it. He will say: ‘Perish, my soul, with the Philistines!’”
The Composition of the Duma
June 20th.
There are in the Duma thirty-five so-called “Moderates,” a hundred and seventy-six Cadets, eighty-one belonging to no party (mostly peasants, with one or two independent gentlemen), about a hundred and twenty belonging to the Extreme Left, who now call themselves the Labour Party. Besides these there are the Autonomists, consisting of twenty-six Poles, six Lithuanians, four Esthonians, four Letts, two Ukraine, and ten Musalmans. If we look into these parties we see that the most prominent members of the Moderates are Count Heyden, a Constitutional Monarchist, who corresponds more or less to an English Whig, and has all his life played a prominent part in the Liberal movement, and especially in the Zemstvo meetings last year, and M. A. Stachovitch, also a Constitutional Monarchist, a member of the noblesse and a prominent Zemstvoist and champion of the Liberal movement.
Besides these two there are prominent men such as Prince Volkonsky, also a Constitutional Monarchist.