The new Duma met in St. Petersburg on Thursday amid
the general unconcern of the nation. The new and more narrow Electoral Law has Undoubtedly done what the Czar and his Government -wanted; the Times correspondent says that for the first time the seats of the Left were nearly empty and those of the Right were full. The majority called for the National Anthem, which was sung four times, with intervals of wild cheering,—so that at least there was enthusiasm some- where. The Deputies, we are told, were better dressed, and seemed more cultured. than those in the two previous Dumas. Peasants were noticeably absent, but there were many priests. Roughly speaking, the Duma is composed of sixty Constitu- tional Democrats, a hundred Octobrists, a hundred and twenty members of the so-called Right, and seventy Monarchists. The only hope now is that if a party of reform arises in the Dama it will be more potent than its predecessors, because it will presumably be less mistrusted.
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