CORRESPONDENCE.

PERSONALITIES IN THE DUMA.—IL THE "CADETS" AND THEIR DIFFICULTIES.

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR...I

STR,—The Centre of the Duma consists of the Constitutional Democrats, or, as they are generally called, the " Cadets." On the one band, they are the backbone of the Assembly ; and, seeing that the very concession of a Duma by the Emperor was hedged in by restrictions, and that it had to make its own position for itself, it was before all things essential that it should have a backbone. In almost any other National Assembly which has been born in so troublous a time, the preponderance has lain either with the Right or with the Left. Mr. Milyuk6ff and his friends may be congratulated on their achievement in making the Centre the dominant party in the Duma. On the other hand, the Cadets do not com- mand an absolute majority ; though they have carried almost every vote so far, they have done so only by accepting com- promises, now with the Right and now with the Left, and also by making attractive bids for the support of the non-party Members. Nearly all of these compromises have been clever, and some have been very far-sighted. And as long as the existence of the Duma as a whole is threatened by a hostile Ministry, and by the clique round the Throne, the very nature of things holds the Duma together, and saves it from irremediable mistakes. But how many difficulties threaten the new-built vessel ! how many storms have to be faced, and how many shoals avoided !

The pilot is not a Member of the Damn. Mr. Milyuk6ff is a spare, keen man, with a mind that is always working. As one of the earliest "Liberators," he was always close in touch with the ablest of the Zemstvo men ; and, as president of the Union of Unions, he was the acknowledged leader of the pro- fessional class. His ideas were those of the Zemstvo men; his methods were devised to secure the support of the mass of intelligent but uneducated opinion amongst the pro- fessions. This conjunction has given him the appearance of a very enlightened opportunist. It is not that there is any want of honesty; nor has the fact that he has twice been im- prisoned for the most reasonable Liberalism left any marks of bitterness upon him ; that would have been quite beneath his character and his intelligence. His political insight has seldom been at fault; in the darkest hours he was never taken in by the Witte subterfuge, and refused to join hands with any Minister till the whole principle of Ministerial responsibility was frankly acknowledged. Almost every move that he makes on the chess-board (for it is he who has been the chief player) shows purpose and decision. The discipline which be upholds in his party is almost that of a martinet, and has caused an unnecessary amount of

soreness amongst his supporters. But, strong as he has been, Mr. Milyuk6lf has been influenced by the conditions of his task,—that of turning a coalition into a party. The less responsible members have certainly been " educated," but somewhat at the expense of the prestige of their teacher.

There has been too much of the suggestion on his part that he may some day "advance" to the more extreme position which they would take up ; that it is better to wait and try moderate measures "first" ; that " if " so-and-so, we must, "of course," be ready to so on and so on. There is far too little suggestion of the rock resisting the storm. It would, I think, have been better to have said from the outset that such-and-such theories were not practicable ; that the principle of "all the land for those that cultivate it" is not necessarily the foundation of any Land Act (as the Cadets very well know that it is not going to be); that the Jews are not necessarily free from all blame in their struggle with the police ; that the abolition of the death penalty necessarily implies a condemnation of political murders. There would still be far more than enough left to say on the other side.

I have purposely picked out the weak side, as I see it ; and many saving clauses might be inserted in my description of it. One would not expend all this criticism on a lesser man ; and it is clear that for Russia's welfare Mr. Milyuk6ff's political influence should continue. The caricaturist who

attacks it still testifies to its importance :— " Milyukoff I'll go and see; Somewhere near the House he'll be,— Strolling just outside.

What to tell them, he'll explain :-

Whom to break with, whom to gain; He's our pocket-guide."

It must not be supposed that Mr. Milyuk6ff exhausts all the political ability of the Cadets. Rather let us say that a band of peculiarly able men have submitted to a temporary

discipline in a time of moral war. The best of the Cadets have all had the administrative training of the Zemstva or the Town Councils. The twin Princes Peter and Paul Dolgora- koft are large landowners, of a family more ancient in princely rank than that of the Emperor. They are singularly alike in person : both of them men of large frames and large natures. Both have very real practical ability. Prince Peter is an admirable Vice-President of the Duma, and Prince Paul a very effective chairman of his party. It was Prince Paul who, at the Zemstvo Congress of July, 1905, completely outplayed the intruding police. "Do not shout at these men," be said; "they are policemen executing their orders. But we have the affairs of the nation on our hands, and have other things to think of more important than police instructions. We shall be very glad to place a room in this house at their disposal, and let them make the fullest report of our proceedings. Let us now resume our sitting."

Mr. Petrunkyevich is the Father of the Zemstva. It was he who first (in 1878) tried to find a middle way between bureau- cracy and revolution. Though this resulted in a temporary suspense of terrorism, it brought about his banishment from Chernigoff in 1878 and from Tver some twenty years later, Persecution has neither cowed him nor galled him. He remains, at the age of sixty-two, the same sturdy advocate of Constitutional Liberalism. If anything, he has become more moderate ; but his voice is often the first heard when a bold issue must be frankly faced.

With him one closely associates his lifelong friend Mr. ROdicheff, a barrister and country gentleman, who at the Emperor's accession sketched the famous address of the Tver

Zemstvo. The address asked, "at the beginning of the Emperor's service for the Russian people," that "the popu-

lation should secure the same hearing as the officials," and that "both the population and the officials should have to observe the laws." These desires were characterised by the Emperor as "senseless dreams," and Mr. ROdicheff was

expelled from St. Petersburg. He is now the most eloquent orator in the Duma. His long, supple frame sways under the control of a strong spirit that seems to master him, and the words seem almost wrung from him in a tremulous passion ; but his speeches when read verbatim have a remarkable consequence, and are generally marked by reason and moderation.

Of the younger men, no man has made more of a reputa- tion in the Duma than Mr. Nabokoff. He is the son of a former Minister of Justice, and was expelled from a post at

Court for his Liberal opinions. He is a lucid and convincing writer and a singularly cool-headed and able speaker, several times saying the right word in the right way when passions were strained to their utmost. This young man, with square head and strong frame, has an easy nonchalance of manner, and moves quietly about the House from Count Heyden on the Right to the Labour leaders on the Left, arranging with a "smoking-room" simplicity the framing of some delicate formula. It is to be noticed that practically all his proposals are accepted unanimously.

I might also mention Mr. Milynk6ff's quick-witted editorial colleague, Mr. Hessen ; the agreeable and convincing ex- pounder of Constitutional precedents, Mr. Kok6shkin ; the fiery orators, Mr. Shchepkin and Mr. Lednitsky ; or the quiet and practical Secretary of the Duma, Prince Shakhovsk6y; but I should probably tire the patience of the reader before I exhausted the political ability of this vigorous party.—I am,