HOW RUSSIA IS GOVERNED

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3030, 17 March 1917, Page 9

HOW RUSSIA IS GOVERNED

lIS 16-YEAR-OLD CONSTITDTION

THE RISE OF DEMOCRACY

Tho Government of Russia since the Year 1905 is a constitutional hereditary, monarchy. On August 6 (19), 1905,; the first step towards a representative government was made, and an elective body of representatives of the country* empowered with consultative power only, and named the State's Duma: (Gosudarstvennaya.. Duma), was created. A few months later, on October 17 (30), a new law was'promulgated, conferring on tho State's Duma legislative powers. At the'same tunc tha principles of the inviolability of tha person, and of freedom of conscience, speech, assembly, and association, wera promulgated by the Eraperpr; and it was established as ah unalterable nil; that no law should como into effect without tho approval of tho Duma and the Council of the Empire (Gosudar. stvennyi Sovyet) [established 1810], and that to the elected of the people should he guaranteed the. possibility, of a roal participation in the control of the legality of the acts, of suchauthorities as arc appointed by the. Emperor. Under - a Manifesto pub-, lished on February 20 (March 5), 1900, the Council of the Empire was transformed into a legislative council. The election of the deputies is indirect, and is made by electoral-'bodies of tha chief towns of governments or pro* vinces and of tho greatest cities, conw posed of delegates chosen by tho dis«, trict or town elective assemblies. < Itf towns all lodgers- occupying for 1Z months lodgings let to them may vota in these assemblies, also salaried clerics of State, or of municipal or railway l administration; in the country, all owners of a determinate area of land, different in different districts, or oB non-industrial estate more than 00,000 roubles in value, are .electors; tha volosts or peasant communities and; manufactories with,more than 50 workpeople are represented in the electoral assemblies by delegates, two for each: volost, and one. for each thousand! workmen. Students, soldiers, govern, ors of provinces_(iii provinces governed by "them)'; -and' poliij'e-oflicerS:. (in tha localitios.for AvhiclC.tliey act)/ may noti "■.vote;.. Members,of:-the Duma .-,are paid 10 .roubles'/per day during session, and once a year travelling expenses, to a,n4 ,from St. .Petersburg. '<%>

.The"Couiiciif. of. Empire,

The yCouncil.-"of- ; the.;. Empire consists 'of an equal 'immber of elected members and members nominated by the Emperor, "and- will.be and prorogued "aimually'Tiy.,.lmperial Ukase. The elective 'members of tho council will bd eligible'for r nind.years, a third of the number, being elected every thrfco years.'. Each assembly of''the Zemstvo of each'-gpy-ernnient will elect ono member;' ' Six /members will bo returned by the~'"SyhVd,-;b'r v tho -.'Orthodox Church, six by the"' representatives' of the 'Academy o| .Sciences and the-Universi-ties, 12 by -the representatives of tho bourses of commerce aiid of industry, 18:Ay/;tlie;;-rnpriBsontatives..'of the nobility ,-.•: mid. six by the' representatives •of tho-landed:proprietors of Poland, Assembled ill • do'ngrcss j«fc AVarsaw. Tho ;.Congress''.of tlie Representatives of tho .iicadeniy'of 6cichc.es,''!tho nobility, and : ?"tTie co'nunprcial and industrial communities fon tho olectipn ; of their, members to.-the ."Council of the Einpiro will meofc in. [In, those provinces of ' European Russia . which .have na . Zemstvo. a\congress, of the representatives, of .tho- landed proprietors will assembio; in' the chief-town of'their province. to elect. one member for each province'to the Council of the Empire. All;\iiiember'sof tho Conned mustdiavo -attained- their '10th -year and -havo an degree. The President and Kviirb'eiippointed by the ,Tsar-.- -The-,.elective members of the ■' Council-.will" receive an honorarium of 25' roubles'. (£2- 135. : )..- a day during the :• .session; .; - : .■ ■

:.-?'Th'o':.Go'uuciLof'tlie Empire and the Duma' have equal' legislative powers and tho same right of initiative in legislation and of addressing questions to Ministers. Every measure before being submitted for the Imperial sanction niust be passed by both the Duma : .iaha.:■ tlie Council: of' the Empire, and all such as aro rejected by one of the twto legislative institutions will not be-laid".beforo-.the Tsar at all. .Both .•:the Duma." and tlie Council have the : right'to annul the election of anv of their members. The sittings of both the Duma and the Council of the Empire will be public. The closure of a debate may bo-voted by a simple majority. Neither the Council of the Empire ' nor tho Duma is empowered to 'receive deputations-or petitions. Ministers will be eligible for : the' Duma and, in "tho capacity' of elected members, qualified to vote. h'.Eaws voted .by the .two. Houses will :b'e submitted for. the Imperial sanction 'by the President of the Council of the ■Empire. ■ Tho members of both insti-tutions-will have the privilego of pcr- . sonal immunity during tho session. :.They will only be liable to arrest" with -the' permission of the Duma or tho Council of tho Empire,., as the case l.niay IV, exegjjit in cases qf. flagrant of- - fences or' offences committed in ,tlio exercise of their duties. The Ukases further provido that Bills rejected by the Tsar cannot be brought forward again in the course of the samo session, while Bills, rpjebted by ono of the legislative .bodies; cannot bo brought forward again -■wjthqut: the Imperial consent. '.ThVadniinistration. of the to great , boards, -. or;, councils,' possessing sepa.'>ate\ functions'..

--" One of the great colleges or •boards of -jioy.errtmfinlr is the Ruling Senate or .-.Prayitclstyuytishchiy' Senat,' established by 'Peter I'"in"the year 1711. ■The functions of the Senate are partly .of.a deliberative and partly of an executive charaoter. To be valid a law must be promulgated by the Senate. '-It'i's' also 'the high court.of justico for the Empire"; '-The. Senate is divided into six. departments or sections, which all sit at St. Petersburg, two of them being Court's-of'Cassation. Each department." is "authorised to' decide in the last resort upon certain descrip-,tions.-of ease's'/'J'.The. Senators are mostly,persoiis'of high rank, or who fill high ' stations; hut ;a; 1 la wyor of\.eminence -presides over each department, who represents the Emperor, and without whoso signature its decisions would .•have no'force in the'plenum, or gen- ' eral meeting of several sections, the Minister of Justice takes' the chair. 'A special department.is entrusted with disciplinary judgments against officials of tho Crown.

Another is the college, established by Peter I in the year 1721, the Holy Synod, and to it is committed the superintendence oFthe religious affairs of the Empire.... It is .composed of the three metropolitans (Petrograd, Moscow) and Kiev), the Archbishop of .Georgia (Caucasus), and several I'ishops sitting in turn. .. .All its decisions run in the Emperor's name, and have no fcrce..tijl approved by him. The President' o'f the Holy.- Synod is the Metropolitan of Petrograd, Vladimir. Die General Procurator, Actual Privy Councillor Sabler.

•A third board of-government-is the Committee of Ministers, reorganised by a decree of October 19, 1905. The Fourth Board of Government, decree for its reorganisation in 1905 is the Council of Ministers, which consists of all the Ministers,.-iand-qfr;thq general''directors of the" most '''important administrations .

T^ArGOVERNMSXT I' ADMINISTRATIVE AND ELECTORAL | ;■ SYSTEM DESCRIBED . § T&*e Russian Empiro is divided into ■j/ 1 government ; and provinces . -(oblast), jjsjthe subdivisions oij which are districts V;j or circuitS""(uy6iSlVin tlie government!; fcand okrug—in W provinces); •• Tliere Jare 78 governments . {49 in European If Russia pj'nperf lO iiM'oland, 8 in Fin- ' |i ' an d> 7in Caucasus, -t ; in Siberia); 21 f,!.:; provinces (1 in European Russia, 5 in ■ !:; Caucasus, in Central Asia, V?six in Siberia, and•" tivo cirZakataly in "«•:Caucasus. -Sonic-- of . tho govern- £ merits": <Jr 1 provinces : ar'e" : united .viinto general governments. At the jji b&diqE oaib is a :£j goverhoij'genefal/.ihe .'representative of d;thevEmp6r6i',"who 'as Such has tho supreme controlvand; direction of all iif-' vv': ; fairs, whether civil or military. In iii l Siberia'the* Gov'eriio'rs-Cfrheral are cach ■f a council,-which-has a deP- liberatiye voice. A, civil gqvernor as,i: sisted" by a- council of regency, to which S all ■ measures' must :b6'-' submitted, - is established in each-government, and a j military .governor ,jn_twonty-ptio prov.••i ince's. " A vice-governor is appointed to ■ fill the- place of- this civil 'governor when v the. latter is absent or unwell. • There is also, in each government, a council .-.I of control "'iiiufdr this- presidency of a '.'i special officer,- depending- directly on i; the Department .of control. ,-Each gov'j! eriiment or province is divid'ed into ; : from 'o districts "(Slo in all tho V Russian Empire), -having- each - several administrative institutions. The townj'Sship- (grad'onachalstvo) ' of Petro--i grail, Moscow,' Sebastopol, 'Odessa, Kerch, Nikolayev, Baku, and Rostov-' ,: oil-Don, are administered by special '}:■ governors (gradonac'l.alnik); Kroni' stadt. is. under a soparato military gov'J- ernor. In European Russia- the government i|;of the parish, in so far as the lands of !?• the 'peasantry: are concerned, and part ''■of the local .administration, is cntrusted to the peoplo._ For tbis purposo |' t tho whole country is divided into 17,075 £ cantons (volosts among the Russian ii; population, gniinas ih Poland, stanitsas ii in Cossack Lands, tiius'in territories' j'i, peopled by natives, etc.), which arc if! presided over by an cider (volostnoi |y starshina in the volosts), elected at the II cantonal, assemblies, whicbj areyppinpos-,- % cd of*t]ilrdeleg;Tfes of ■ ! tlib ! '?nlfag6-c6m-' | lnunities in. thi>^reportioi»of one. niau %to every ten housed:--M'lio village-com-niunities elect air .-elder (stnrosta) or C)iecutive....Q.ftice.r_of. .e.ommun.e,. and -aito'a; taS''cblleclor" All.'.theso officers are oleoted at cominiinal assemblies

("Mir") by the. poastnts, and from among themselves. The communal assemblies are constituted by all tho householders in the villago, whodisouss and! decido all communal affairs. ;Theso communal assemblies aro held as business requires. The canton assemblies decido tho same cUss of affairs as do the communal assemblies, but concerning each its.respcetivo canton. The] peasants havo thus special institutions of their own, which aro submitted also to special colleges "for peasants'' affairs," instituted in each government. In Poland the "Volost" is replaced by j the "Gmina," the assemblies of which : are constituted of all landholders—nobility included, the clorgy and the polico excluded —who havo each but ono voice, whatever the area of land possessed. The "Gmina" has,_ howover,.loss autonomy than the "Volost," being subject directly to the "Chief of the District." The Zemstvos. The administ: -tion of the economical affaire of tho district and province are, to some extent, in the hands of zemstvos, or tho district and provincial assemblies (law of January 1, 1864), composedi of representatives elected by the peasantry, tho householders in tho towns, and' the landed; proprietors. Their-executive power is entrusted to provincial and district "T%avas." The president of the nobility o! the district, or of the province, presides ex officio over, the zemstvos of the district, or of tho province, and, in bis default, tho president of the local tribunal presides. Important modifications, increasing tho powers of noble landowners in the affairs of the zemstvos, suppressing the rigbts of peasants to elect deputies to the zemstvo (they present candidates out of which tho governor of tho province name a deputy), reducing tho numbers of representatives, and .limitiii"- their powers, were introduced by the law of •Juno 12, 1800. ... Tho towns and cities have municipal institutions of their own, organised on nearlv the same principles as the zemstvos' (law of Juno IG, 1870). All houseowners nro divided into threo classes, each of which represents an equal amount of real property, and each class elect's an equal number of representatives to. tho Dumas; tho latter elect their executivo the Uprava. Tho law •of Juuoll, 1892, reduces tho powers of' the Municipal Government and places, it almost entirely .-.under tho .Governors nominated by Emperor. In 1894, '..municipal institutions, witn still more limited powers, were introduced in several towns in Siberia, and in 1895 in Caucasia. Tho institutions of tho zemstvo aro in force in 3-1 provinces .(361 districts) of European Russia.