2 NOVEMBER 1907, Page 17

According to a Reuter telegram published on Friday, the new

elections for the Russian Duma have so far resulted as follows : "Monarchists and other members of the Right, 166; Octobrists and Moderates, 103; Party of Peaceful Regenera- tion, 3; Constitutional Democrats, 26; Polish Nationalists, 9; Mohammedans, 6; Social Democrats, 9; Left, 20; Indepen- dent, 1." Though the Government, by a change in the law and by administrative pressure, have secured a Duma which is apparently far more in accordance with their wishes than those previously chosen, we by no means feel sure that in the end they will find that Assembly so amenable as they expect. Representative Assemblies, when once formed, are very apt to develop a will of their own; but if the present Duma does so, it will be extremely difficult for the Government to coerce it on the ground of being revolutionary. It must be remem- bered that the Octobrists, who can by no possibility be dubbed disloyal, and who will probably control the Duma, are by no means prepared to accept the autocracy or the bureaucracy on the old lines. They demand reforms on all sides, though reforms of a moderate character.