THE CZAR'S UKASE.
IT is of little use to discuss the reports, rumours, and narra- tives now coming in daily from St. Petersburg, many of which are clearly inventions, and many more based upon the gossip of a much frightened society. No one, for in- stance, can know that the Czar receives threatening letters at breakfast every morning, or that he is in a mood of high religious exaltation. The Nihilists, or the Secret Society within their ranks, are clearly endeavouring to increase public terror to the utmost, by threatening unheard-of catastrophes, such as the destruction of the Winter Palace, of the whole Imperial Family, or even of the entire city of St. Petersburg ; but no outsider is able to form even an opinion whether their power of destruction is equal to their readiness to resort to it. It is probable that it is not, the watchfulness being now excessive, and the popula- tion in a mood in which any new outrage would probably be punished by an outburst of lynch-law; before which even Nihilists may shrink. The military are obviously with the Czar, and without military aid no outburst on the grand scale has even a chance of success. Foreigners can only wait and watch for the next step that may be taken in this extraordinary duel, the end of which appears to be as far off as ever. It is, however, open to them to form an opinion on the public acts of the Go- vernment, and we fear it must of necessity be an unfavourable one. The Imperial ukase of February 24th is a startling, but cannot be a wise measure. The idea of the Emperor's advisers evidently is that if the task of repression is confided to a Committee of Public Safety, released from all laws and invested with supreme power, while the Emperor himself recovers strength and serenity in the Tyrol, where he is to reside for three months, the Secret Society will be baffled, and time allowed for the terrible agitation in the public mind to subside a little. The Emperor therefore, while hiring a Tyrolese castle for himself, has appointed General Loris Melikoff, the able Armenian soldier and administrator, head of a "Supreme Commission," which the General himself will select, and which is to be obeyed by all departments, officials, and military officers throughout Russia. The extent of authority vested in the Commission is practically limitless ; the Ukase, as translated in the Standard, containing the following sentences :—"Independently of the foregoing, the Chief of the Supreme Commission shall promulgate all orders, and adopt all measures, which he shall consider necessary for the preservation of State order and social tranquillity at St. Petersburg, and other parts of the Empire ; and it shall rest with him to define and exact the penalties to be inflicted for non- compliance with and non-execution of such orders and mea- sures. The orders of the Chief of the Commission and the measures adopted by him shall be unconditionally complied with and executed by each and every one, and shall only be abrogated by him, or by special Imperial Decree." General Melikoff is, in fact, for the purposes of the struggle with Revolution, appointed Vicegerent of the Empire' and can give any order for that purpose which the Emperor himself could give.
We see very little to hope for in this policy. The General selected is undoubtedly a very able administrator, and a calm and moderate man ; but his life is no safer than that of any- body else, he is evidently charged to pursue a policy of ex- treme repression, and he will be, as Vicegerent, absolutely powerless even to commence those political reforms which are indispensable to the cure of the disease in the Russian State.
No one, except the Emperor, could grant power to the local Diets, or pass a law securing individuals from arbitrary arrest, or summon a Consultative Assembly, or, in fact, do any act limiting the autocracy or increasing the amount of personal freedom ; and without some such change, order in Russia can- not be again made secure. The effect of the Nihilist plots upon the popular mind has been too deep, and the irritation caused by severity is too great, for mere repression to succeed.
Indeed, it has been already pushed to an extreme, and it has failed. Unless, therefore, some new policy is tried, the duel will proceed, and we can see in the appointment of the Commission no evidence even of a desire to try any new method. The Czar has selected a wiser and abler Chief of Police, and that is all ; and against a policy of assassination the wisdom or ability of any individual, however highly placed, is no security whatever. Indeed, it may be doubted if General Melikoff will be as competent as the Emperor, for though an abler man, he will not be aided by the semi- religious respect paid to the Czar, or by the deep devotion of the lower classes, or by the uncriticising obedience with which the highest officials treat any order emanating from the monarch himself. Nothing is so difficult as the devolution of absolute authority, and the General will find himself ham- pered—as, for instance, by the Senate—where the Emperor would remain free. The main difficulty in his way, however, is the one we have indicated, and it is insurmountable. A Vice-Emperor can, in the nature of things, liberalise nothing.
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