CORRESPONDENCE.
PERSONALITIES IN THE DUMA.—I. THE RIGHT.
[10 TIM RDITOR Or TUB "SPHOTAT011.".1
Sin.,—There is one common characteristic of nearly all the more eminent Members of the Duma and of very many of the more obscure : they have alike suffered for their political opinions. But though the punishment always came from the same quarter—namely, from the Government—the opinions which were punished were of the most diverse character ; and these wholesale chastisements only prove once more bow utterly unrepresentative the Ministers were, and how com- pletely they set themselves at variance with the whole nation. Of course it is in the Right Wing of the Assembly that we should least expect to find victims ; so let us begin from that side.
None of the seven Absolutists are men of political import. ance. Mr. Yeroghin did indeed try to organise an Absolutist Party, by arranging that any non-party peasants who did not find lodgings should be grouped together in No. 52 Kirochnaya ; but his plan has entirely broken down. The massing of these men together only made them an easier prey for the able organisers of the Labour• Group, who, of course, could not be kept out ; and when once the breach was made the fortress practically fell. Some twenty of the seventy-eight inmates of No. 52 joined the Labour Group, and left the building; and the rest, for the most part, fought very shy of the leadership of a priest Deputy who was quartered along with them. A mood akin to panic reigns in Klrochnaya, No. 52. Absolutist friends have kindly encouraged the ridiculous idea that all Absolutist Deputies will be killed,—" not by dynamite, perhaps," said one to me, "but behind street corners." In consequence, when Yeroghin and company drew up in Kirochnaya " minority Reports " to counteract the decisions of the Duma, even in this sacred retreat the peasant Members would not sign them. One peasant trembled all over (my report is from an Absolutist) when he had half written his name, and drew back in fear of death.
It is very seldom that an Absolutist speaks in the Puma. Only one vigorous protest was made by a priest, Father Kontsevich, who, when the claims of Polish autonomy were being put forward, proposed the ironical Motion that " the name of Russia should altogether disappear." This same Father Kontsevich told me that he was once punished by the Government for his "liberal opinions," because he had dared to criticise the actions of some local officials.
The first important conservative element which we reach in our progress from the Right is to be found in the sixteen Octobrists. This is the party of the country gentry. Its real leader, Mr. D. I. ShipOff, was defeated at the elections, and sits, as an elected member, in the Council of the Empire. He is one of the ablest men in Russia, and no patriot has a better record. It was he who first united the County Councils (Zemstva) of Russia for the satisfying of the economic needs of the country, and by his protest against the present regime set the whole reform movement going. Personally he still enjoys a very great authority, and is one of the men most likely to be offered the post of the first Constitutional Prime Minister. The Government has already forgotten that it cancelled his re-election as President of the Moscow County Council in 1903 on the ground that he was a " dangerous man."
Last year I had a long and detailed conversation with Mr. Shipoff. He has the views of an enlightened English Con- servative. A great gulf separates him from the " bureaucracy." He is far more in accordance with the views of the Consti- tutional Democrats; but there is this very important difference, that what they would demand as " rights" he would claim as " responsibilities." Of course there must be a National Assembly, and of course the Sovereign must be put into the closest touch with it ; but the best argument of all for these reforms is that they are necessary for the political education of the nation which claims them, not because they would satisfy its ambitions, but because they are the only real road of loyalty and progress. I was greatly impressed by the simplicity, the breadth, and the loyalty of this able man. In the storm of passions he has never really changed his attitude ; he has never tried to seize a momentary chance of supremacy ; and, when invited to join in the false compromise of Count Witte, he frankly put himself in the background, and answered that be did not at that time represent the majority of the nation. There will be nothing to surprise us if some day he does. At present he may easily have the chance of office again and refuse it.
Mr Shipdff's place in the Duma is worthily filled by Count Ileyden. This Russian nobleman, who is a large landowner, is even more closely identified with the Zemstva Congresses of 1905. In the great Moscow Congress of July 19th-21st he was in the chair. He there upheld the dignity of the Congress when the police intruded, and, on the other hand, successfully dissuaded it from extreme measures, ultimately leaving the chair at 1 a.m. on the plea that he had done " more than his eight-hour day." I remember in particular a speech of his on the question of violence. " I can quite understand," he said, " the psychology of these gentlemen ; I look upon political murderers as rather better than ordinary murderers; but I would myself work for reform, not by hysteria, but by reason ; and if any organisa- tion makes itself responsible for such measures, I for one cannot remain in touch with such an organisation." His long frame is bowed; his beard is nearly white ; but with unfailing vigour and irrepressible wit he stands firm in the Duma for all those principles of real authority which the Government that has disfavoured him so often transgresses. Count Heyden is now often mentioned as a possible, or even probable, Minister.
Of scarcely less importance is Mr. Michael Stakhdvich, Marshal of the Gentry in Orel. He is a strong man in the prime of life, with a peculiarly attractive personality. He fell into disfavour for two ardent and vigorous speeches, one on the anniversary of the poet Mishkin, and the other in condemna- tion of all religious persecution. He too was prominent in the Congresses of last year. In the Duma he has made two really great speeches, advocating the extension of the demand for a general amnesty to the police themselves. The Duma was most unwise in refusing to endorse this public condemnation of political murder. The force of Mr. Stakh6vich's oratory lies most of all in the strong note of personal conviction.
Prince Unisoff also belongs to this party. He was Governor in Bessarabia. and in Tver ; he resigned the latter post when General Trepoff was put at the head of the political police. He served under Witte as Assistant Minister of the Interior, but again resigned on the discovery of the infamous " Massacre Department " (as it is now generally called); and his speech denouncing all such methods has made it almost impossible for the present Ministry to secure the dissolution of the Duma. The speech was delivered in a low, restrained voice, and was characterised by the greatest moderation and accuracy throughout. A conversation which I have since had with him made it clear that be might easily have been even more definite in his charges; but it would have been hard to make them more effective. He is all for Ministerial responsi- bility.
This small party, then, has an importance in the Duma altogether out of proportion to its numbers. When the numerous non-party peasants (seventy-eight) definitely range themselves, they may easily pass into this camp. The gentry in no way oppose the almost inevitable principle of partial expropriation of land with compensation ; and it is very doubtful whether the Constitutional Democrats will ever secure more. More than that, there is in the country a great mass of reasonable and orderly instincts which may tend to make some of these men the natural leaders of the nation, and even in the near future.—I am, Sir, &c.,
BERNARD PARES.
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