THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 1907. THE DUMA

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8469, 20 June 1907, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 1907. THE DUMA

I Some months ago a correspondent of The London Times stated that it was the intention of the Russian Goverri- ' ment to dissolve the Duma and to resume the old systettj of unqualified autocracy. The Russian official organs vehemently denied that there was any such intention, but the events of the last two or three days justify the statement. M. Stolypin asserted that a plot to establish a democratic republio had been promoted by members of the Duma, and demanded the suspension of certain deputies. The Duma naturally refused to stultify itself by taking this extreme course without being in possession of any proof of the official allegation, and was promptly dissolved. St. Petersburg is being overawed by the display of mili* tary force, evidently prepared beforehand, and the Czar is once more sole master of the Russian situation. We are told that a new Duma will be elected in September, but even a bogus election must be regarded as quite doubtful,. while no bona-fide election can possibly give an Assembly which will be subservient to the Government. That this coup d'etat will seriously affect Russian politics is very improbable. There outbreaks in various centres, and the assassinations of obnoxious officials will certainly continue uninterruptedly, but there is no great evidence that Russia really wants a Duma. That body was convened by the Czarocracy entirely to ;ide itself over an extraordinary emergency, created by a variety of lauses. The national humiliation at ;he result of the Manchurian adven;ure; the general reaction against :he criminally brutal administration if the police department; the universal suffering induced by bad harvests, crippled trade and crushing axation; were more responsible for he summoning of a Duma from /hich the populace expected relief han any inherent Russian passion or a representative institution. M.

Stolypin presumably considers that the crisis has been tided over and that the Duma can now be dispensed with. Only time can show whether he is correct in this opinion, but the probabilities are now decidedly against any genuine reform in the political administration of the Russian Empire.