NEWS OF THE WEEK.
FOR the moment the fog of uncertainty has lifted in Russia. The autocracy has exercised its power, and chosen the path of forcible repression. Last Sunday a Ukase by the Emperor was published dissolving the Duma, and ordering the convocation of a new Assembly on March 5th, 1907. M. Goremykin is relieved of his post, to be succeeded by M. Stoly- pin, the Minister of the Interior. Large bodies of troops have been concentrated in St. Petersburg, in order that the capital, in official language, may be placed in a state of "proper protec- tion," and a number of the Opposition newspapers have been suppressed. On Sunday the Duma buildings were closed, and the entrances guarded by police,—the visible sign of the end of the quasi-Constitutional regime. The Czar in his Ukase cites the reasons which led him to summon the Dunia, and declares that he has been cruelly disappointed. "The repre- sentatives of the nation, instead of applying themselves to the work of productive legislation, have strayed into spheres beyond their competence, and have been making inquiries into the acts of local authorities established by ourselves, and have been making comments upon the imperfections of the fundamental laws, which can only be modified by our Imperial will. In short, the representatives of the nation have under- taken really illegal acts, such as appealing to the nation." The result has been a general state of unrest, and reform is only possible "under conditions of perfect order and tran- quillity." This mischief-making Duma is therefore dissolved, and the Czar calls upon all classes to "unite for the regenera- tion of our holy Fatherland." The Ukase is, of course, the Government's reply to the Duma's agrarian policy. Unless the lessons of history are of no account, the Czar will find that he has taken the precipice path.
