The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1917. THE OUTLOOK IN RUSSIA

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3009, 21 February 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1917. THE OUTLOOK IN RUSSIA

_ On a_ number 'of grounds exceptional interest attaches to the session of the Russian Duma which has just opened. It will bo remembered that the reassembling of ■ the Duma was postponed for a month in connection l with the appointment of a,new Prime Minister and a partial reconstruction of the Cabinet A number of /important political issues are visibly open, fyid it is not unlikely that the session may witness a demand for political reforms which the Government will find it hard to resist.' It is true that a recent message from Petrograd stated that the party leaders had agreed :,to, the formation of a non-political Government, but the statement carries no plain meaning. The existing Government of Russia is non-political, since it is not responsible to the representatives of tne people in the Duma, nor dir.ectly amenable to their will, and the aim of the Liberals and o/oher reformers is not to secure a 'non-political but to substitute political and responsible government for bureaucratic control. An occasional hint has been given of latq that extreme tension still reigns in the political field. I For instance, the action, of M. ■Pkotopopoff (Minister of the Interior) in ordering 'the arrest of eleven member's of the Workmen's Group of the Central Military Industrial Committee at Petrograd is reported !to have disclosed a sharp division of opinion inside as well as outside the j Cabinet. It is orjie of the peculiarities of Russian politics that M.: Peotopopokit, who was formerly regarded as an advanced Liberal, has taken .up a'distinctly 'reactionary attitude sincehe assumed his present important office in October last year. It is possible that the Government which is headed by; - ' Prince Nicholas Galitzinb 'may' find, itself in sharp conflict with the Progressivo'-bloc in the Duma. Such a conflict would give no.particular cause for uneasiness. It would not' necessarily imply that any serious fault is found with the general war policy of tho Government, but would rather suggest that the Progressives in me Duma are bentupon securing 'internal reforms, and if possible a further reconstruction- of the ''Ministry. The creation of a responsible to the Duma is an aspiration not likely to be speedily realised, but much would bo done to satisfy the demand for a Ministry enjoying public confidence if such men as PROFESSOR Miliukoff, M. R6dzi-. anko, M. GutchSoff, and other leaders of the great political parties were called to the Cabinet. In the words of a recent writer, the conditions'are ripe; for such a change not merely of men, but also of the system, and the military and economic needs of , the moment urgently demand it. i "Of course," the same authority adds, , "not everything that is-ripe and is urgently wanted.always happens; but in this, case the claims of political evolution are powerfully backed by the army, which is a personal, factor of first-rate importance that would also seem to, exclude the' possibility of a coup d'etat such as cut the knot of Russian domestic politics manytimcS' in the past." One point upon which there is. general agreement is that any ' political changes' which„occur in Russia will be likely to strengthen and not weaken the nation In the prosecution of the war. It has been said that .while, every Germanophil is a reactionary the reverso is very far from being the case. Still less is it the case that every bureaucrat is a reactionary. On the othor haiid the Progressive elements in tho Duma, the great unions of urban and rural local bodies with whom they are in immediate touch, and the army are absolutely united and whole-hearted in supporting and. demanding .the vigorous prosecution of .the .war .to ,a point- of decisive victory.' . Polir tical reform may or may not make rapid headway in Paissia'in the immediate future. "Tho rapid progress of reform is not necessarily essential to a whole-hearted effort in the war. But tho success of the reformers would give an additional, guarantee of united concentration upon tho task of winning the war. This estimate of the situation is arrtply borne out by a survey of recent political events and changes in Russia. _ Tho Progressive bloc, though it commands an overwhelming majority in tho Duma, is far from being able to control the administration of tho Government. But the bloc lias compelled many changes in tho constitution of the Government, and thougb tho progress cf domestio and political re-

forms has been slow, tho power of the bloc has told with potent effect in securing the Suppression of those "dark forces" which run counter in Russia, as in other Entente countries, to the national will and purpose. At tho time of tho political crisis in November last, for instance, two distinct issues were raised. One concerned the presence of. known or suspected Germanophil influences in tho Cabinet, and the other the question of internal food supplies. Related to both issues was the demand for a Ministry enjoying ; public confidence, which sooner or later will bo expanded into a. demand for responsible government in the full senso of the term. So far- as the attack on tho Germanophil influences.in tho Cabinet was concerned, the outcome was an unqualified triumph for the Progressives. An interesting description of the event is givon bv Phokessou ,1. Y. Simpson; in an article lately contributed to the London Xvm.es:

the first session of,tho Duma oh W Timbw W (N.S.) will ever bo memorable (He remarks) for the fierce attack of ProfessorMiliukoff in particular on the thou Premier. It was simply a marshalled series ot data wbose value no mere outsider could gauge, beginning with . a number of quotations from German and Austrian- newspapers tending to show that they considered that they had a sympathetic friend in 11. Stunner. After each recital came the refrain, "Either this is stupidity or it is ill-will." The speaker's final judgment was that a great part of theso! proceedings was stupidity, but that there was also a certain measure of ill-will, and '"if there is any illwill ho 'must go." Very often at a'Kussian meeting, if the speaker is saying really interesting things which, his hearers do not wish .to miss, those in the furthor-ba.cfc'seats or benches will crowd up the. aislea and 6tand round the speaker or sit at his feet. I havo seen that dono even in tho staid and sober Council of tho Empire, when, e.g.; M. DourIVovo was speaking. That day in tho Dnma was just such a. day. i\l". Miliukoff w.as "saying things," in spito of ■violent interruptions from tho Eight. In the sequel ■M. Sturmeu resigned, and pro-German influences in Russia suifered a defeat from which they are not likely to recover. Other questions upon which tho Progressives, and the bureaucrats are still at variance—notably that of food supply—may be more difficult of settlement, but they are not in the : same degree vital where the prosecution of tho war is concerned. It may seem extraordinary that food problems should exist in. a country like Russia, which is teeming with food, but they arise in part from transportation difficulties—aggravated, of course, by military demands upon tho railways—and in no small degree from tho absence of >an efficient control of supplies/ In European Russia only nine per cent, of crops is directly in tho hands of tho large landowners. The rest is controlled -by the peasants and small proprietors, and as conditions were described at tho end of last, year many of tho peasants preferred to hold their grain, partly becauso they stood in no need of money, having saved much as the result of the vodka prohibition, and partly because; .ovon if thoy had wished to buy, there was no great outlet for expenditure. Food scarcity arising out of such conditions should not be difficult to remedy, but it is in such matters that the Russian Government has up to tho present, or until very recently, shown a serious lack of ontorpriso. Whethor th'o Galitzine Government has effected any material improvement in internal conditions has not been* reported, but recent news seems to suggest that both' internally and in its arrangement for outside supplies of munitions for tho prosecution of tho war increased activity is being shown by tlio Government along lines * which should lead to improved results.