Russia.

Manawatu Herald, 31 December 1904, Page 2

Russia.

PUBLIC OPINION AROUSED. ST. PETERSBURG-, Dec. 28. There was an excited sitting of the Moscow Zemstvos on Tuesday and serious street disturbances. The committee of the Moscow Bourse congratulated the municipality on the reform resolutions. .■: Six hundred Decembrists, journalists and professional men, on the occasion of the anniversary of 1825, • at St. Petersburg, unanimously da-’ manded a constitution and the cessation of the war. The Times says: “We see the leaven working, but not whether it has leavened mass. The decree Inay help to -make matters clearer, but t can satisfy nobody except the re- ■ actionaries and may stimulate the . reformers to openly declare their strength.” The. Daily Telegraph, commenting favourably on the situation, expresses the belief that M. de Witte will be ■ the Council’s chief adviser. A humane monarch, backed by a powerful reforming Minister, may do much to appease the disappointment and despair which the vague decree evoked. , The Daily News says the official warning of the Zemstovs, after the ■ ill-starred decree, shows the pendu- , v lum has already swung back to , ’ coercion. . : The Paris journal Le Temps says < the decree comes too late, and • promises will hot suffice. Public , opinion will insist upon immediate guarantees, and there are indications-.,-that the reformers are determined to" “i continue the agitation. ' ;