NEWS OF THE WEEK
THE Emperor of Russia has apparently made up his mind to a course of action, and it is not a wise one. Nihilism is to be met by repression alone. The Emperor himself will, it is said, retire to the Tyrol for three months to recruit, and he has issued a ukase or decree creating a Commission of Public Safety. General Loris Ifelikoff, the able Armenian, will appoint the members of this Commission and preside over it, and is invested with absolute authority, even that of decreeing what sentences are to be inflicted for any offence. All depart- ments, -even the military, are ordered to obey him ; and he is to be responsible only to the Czar himself, to whom he is accorded unlimited personal access. He is specially invested with direct authority over St. Petersburg, and General Gourko is removed from the Governor-Generalship, to allow free scope for Melikoff's authority, which, again, is, by separate clauses, extended throughout the Empire. No such appointment has ever been made in Russia, and the extent of the powers con- ferred indicates the kind of desperation into which the Emperor has fallen. The choice made is an excellent one, as the General is a successful administrator, and, as an Armenian, has no party behind him, but he will be powerless to attempt those measures of enfranchisement without which the struggle cannot be brought to an end.
