The Czar has, by decree, removed General Ignatieff from the
Ministry of the Interior, replacing him by Count Tolstoy, for- merly Minister of Education, and a reactionary obscurantist of the deepest dye. The official reason assigned is that. General Ignatieff is out of health, but that is an etiquette in Russia, and the true reasons are understood to be- that General Ignatieff has not suppressed the Revolu- tionary Committee, that representations have been made against him from Berlin and Vienna, and that the Finance Minister attributes to him the Jewish disturbances which have affected the revenue, and the chances of procuring a loan. According to the Paris correspondent of the Times, the Russians are delighted at the change, but we suspect he and the Russians,. too, exaggerate the effect of these personal fallings and risings- of different men. The Czars control their own policy, and the meaning of the change is only that Alexander the Third has decided not to seek an escape from his domestic troubles in war, and that he still hopes to put down Nihilism by simple repression. We fear that he will find that war on the students. and the modern spirit will only increase the number of. Nihilist, agents, who still keep the Emperor virtually imprisoned.
Previous page
