THE MEN WHO GOVERN RUSSIA

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3067, 1 May 1917, Page 5

THE MEN WHO GOVERN RUSSIA

NEW MINISTRY REVIEWED MODERATE RATHER THAN EXTREME ! ' . Mr. George.Kennan, in the Amert can "Outlook," gives an interesting review of the men who now covern Russia in the namo of the Revolutioiary movement. The Provisional Government which! now rules Russia, and which will continue to rule until a constitutional sembly shall have decided upon permanent institutions, is' composed oE very strong and ablo men (he says). Rodzianko, who is at the head of the Executive Committee., is ; President of the Duma and has long enjoyed the confidence, not only of the body over which he presides, but of the country at largo. He is prudent, sagacious,, and experienced, and may. be trusted to use his power with iris© discretion.

Prince Lvoff, the now Premier, is i man of great administrative and executive capacity, whe since the beginning of the -war has been at the head of the strongest popular organisation in the Empire, namely, the. Union of Zemstvos. This'powerful body, acting in conjunction with the Union of Municipalities, has been for more than two years the mainstay of the Russian armies, and has carried" on. a- colossal work in establishing hospitals, supplying the troops with food, clothing, and munitions, and. succouring millions of refugees driven back into the interioi of Russia by the advancing forces of Germany. Up to Ootober, 1916,' it had established more- than 3000 military hospitals on lazarets, with accommodations for 200,000 men; had provided 50 hospital trains, with 22,000 berths, for the transportation, of sick or wounded soldiers; had furnished-food for-300,000 labourers engaged in work behind the trenches; had spent 7,000,000 rubles in .taking care of destitute fugitives from the western provinces; had established in the rear of the fighting lines a thousand-mile .chain of vaccination stations, disinfecting stations, tuberculosis stations,. bath-houses, laundries, dental cabinets, small manufactories, shoe-cobbling booths, and soldiers' shops; and had supplied the armies in the field with 3,000,000 tents' and more than 35,000,000 articles of clothing, at a cost of 125,000,000 rubles. This gigantic work —which shows incidentallj what the carrying on of a greatwar involves —was under the supervisory and controlling' direction . of.. Prince Lvoff, the new Russian Premier. '.' Professor Miliukoff, Minister, of Foreign Affairs, is the fearless and aggressive leader of the Constitutional Democrats, who forced the retirement a: few months ago of the reactionary and proGorman Premier, Stunner. _ Miliukoff is so well known in the United States that it is hardly necessary to give his record. He is a scholar of distinction; an eminent historian, _ an effective speaker and an accomplished linguist, and few men surpass him in knowledee of the international relations and the diplomacy of Europe. • jGuchkoff, the. Minister of War (and temporarily of the Navy), was long a member of the Duma and was at one time its presiding officer. Ho belongs to the strong party of the Centre known as the Octobrists, and, although he has no, special or technical knowledge of military affairs, he is a- skilful organiser and a man of conspicuous all-round ability. > Tereshchenkor the Minister of Finance, is one of the most influential and best-informed members of the Dun.-.a Finance Committee, and is preeminently qualified for the post that he is to fill. Shingaref, the Minister of Agriculture, is a Constitutional Democrat, a distinguished political economist, and a- recognised authority on all questions relating to fond, finance, and taxation. Ho will probably have to deal with the high cost of living and the problem of food distribution, and is almost ideally qualified to do this successfully. Professor Maunilloff, Minister of Public Instruction, was formerly President of the Moscow University, but he was forced out by the reactionary Minister of Public Instruction, Kaeso, and has since been editor-in-chief of tho "Rnsskiya Vcdomosti," one of tho oldest Liberal journals in Moscow.' _ Kerenski, the Minister of Justice, is tho leader of the Labour group in tho Duma, and has been for years an uncompromising onponcnt of tho whole bureaucratic regime- Hft ha<% been particularly conspicuous as a denouncer of tlie severity and injustice of tic courts in their dealings with labour organisatons and free-thinking workmen. He is a Socialist in nolitical faith, and -will brine to tho Provisional Government the co-operation and support of the Social Democratic party. . The Ministry, as a whole, is moderate rather than extreme-in its political views, and may bo said fairly to represent tho flower of Russian knowledge, experience, and culture. .:.