THE VICEROY OF THE FAR EAST.
TS the Czar by any chance copying the British Govern- ." Ment in its method of providing for the government Of India? The creation of a Viceroyalty of the Far East at least suggests that thought. The British tenure of India, with its continuousness for more than a Century, attracts much mere attention among the statesmen of the Continent than it does here; where habit partially blinds is to -the unique :character of the great dependency as a vast military Monarchy. safely controlled by a veiled Republic; and Many circumstances hi Russia just now. may make the spectacle unusually attractive. His difficulties must be pressing , heavily upon the Czar, who, however much he may depend upon his chief Ministers, must still be aware every day and all day that., he is the supreme Referee and Arbiter. He has to face a movement extend- ing all Over his Southern provinces which, though at present economic or industrial, may, if his agents blunder, become revolutionary almost in a moment. The workmen are in revolt against'their employers, and may soon, if the Cossacks hit to hard, be also in revolt against himself. Loud complaints are already heard as to the inattention Of the central Government to the grievances of the toilers, and their indignation against the officials has become so audible in St. Petersburg that Spacial Commissioners are being "despatched to the Southern cities to see What really is the matter. It is While many of his cities are in wild commotion that the. Czar is called Upon in urgent cir- cumstances to devise a policy which shall overawe Turkey, postpone a fresh outburst of the Eastern question, yet soothe away the rage-of ordinary Russians at the thought that their brethren in the faith are being massacred and tortured wholesale by the Mahoininedaiis whom they have for centuries looked upon as their natural foen. And it is While both these burden's are pressing mast heavily that he is bound: to give' general directions for a policy in the Far East which if it fails may cost him Manchuria, bring on a most dangerous striiel e with Japan, arid irritate beyond bearing both" branches of the English speaking race. Alreadythat policy-his Coat hini the friendship of America, which every Russian Used. to regard as a counter- poise to British opposition. The total responsibility must he positively crushing, especially . to an autocrat who is nut, like 'Nicholas I., almost crazy with self confidence or, like Alexander III., convinced that is God had placed him in a position to which he was inadequate, He would inspire him with the necessary wisdom. To shake off, or at all events reduce, even a portion of that responsibility must be a most welcome relief; 'and the effort to shake it off is accordingly to be Made.
Admiral Alexieff, as we understand the recent decrees, is to occupy a position in the Far East 'analogous to that of Lord Curzon within- India. He is to be Viceroy over the valley of the Aniur, that is, practically all Eastern' Siberia, • and over all the territorial dependencies ' of Russia is far at the Pacific. Within that vent region, which will include Manchuria as soon as the position Of Manchuria is settled, Ala to wield the whole authority of the throne, is to dis- pose of all troops, said to number three hundred thousand men—though that number must .include, we fancy, many thonsands of auxiliaries—and even to hold the supreme command. over the Russian Fleet in the Pacific. It follows without argument that the Viceroy must have a general control of all negotiations with China and Japan, which implies a great • fluence, at all events, in dealing with the European negotiators in the Far East. It is useless to control armies and fleets without controlling diplomacy ; nor could Lord Curzon work for a week if the Foreign Office upset his policy in Afghanistan or Persia. This is, taken altogether, an immense position, one quite transcending any office hitherto created in Russian dependencies, for the Governor-General of the Caucasus, though he has such special powers that he is often a member of the Imperial family, has nothing like so weighty and varied a responsibility. It is true, of course, that the new Viceroy is as subject to the Czar as Lord Curzon is to the Cabinet ; but he is subject to the Czar alone, a fact emphasised by the appointment of a Committee of experts, from whom the Sovereign is on Far Eastern questions to obtain advice and information. This ommittee raay yet develop its functions till it approxi- mates closely to the Council which at home advises, though it does not Control, the Indian Secretary of State. This part of the scheme supports the idea that it is the Czar's own, for the Ministries, more especially the Asiatia division of the Foreign Office, are not likely to have approved, much less suggested, a plan which may in the end so seriously diminish, not only their importance, but the resources over which at present they have control. The Viceroy of the Far East will be too great a personage for them to control except through the Czar, and we take it that the first idea of any Ministry in Russia is to avoid when possible the necessity of appealing for a supreme fiat. If the Czar intends his Viceroy to be to a 'certain extent in- dependent, the Viceroy will, we think, be little fettered comparatively by the Departments.
What, then, will be the general effect of the new departure ? That must depend, first, upon the Czar's intention, and secondly, upon the character of the men at first appointed to the office. Granted, however, that special care is taken in their selection, and that St. Peters- burg is consistent in dealing with them, the plan may work much better than suspicious outsiders are ready to anticipate. There will be trouble, no doubt, with the European Ambassadors at Pekin, who in the first instance will always be faced by a Government which is Russian, but is not the Russian Government ; and there may be considerable delays. On the other hand, the Ambassadors will at last have a responsible man to deal with, and a man with a reputation to lose, instead of the half-invisible "Asiatic Department" at St. Petersburg, which has un- doubtedly, through the tradition of years of dealing with Asiatics, imbibed something of Asiatic ideas and morale. Its assurances are very different things from those given by the Czar, or even by the European Minister for Foreign Affairs. That will be a relief to the Legations, which at present when dealing with " Russia " find it necessary to be very captious, and sometimes to study agreements very carefully, an carefully, indeed, as if they were drawn up by very astute but not very scrupulous lawyers. On the other side, no doubt, is the fact that the Viceroy will be ambitious of renown, and may press forward towards terri- torial expansion a little too recklessly. Admiral Alexieff, for example, will wish to annex Manchuria, and so make his dominion solid, and is believed to be ready to fight Japan for the acquisition of Korea, The Viceroy, how- ever, cannot act in, a question like the annexation of Manchuria, or a war with Japan, without his master's consent ; and there will be two strong checks operating in the direction of moderation. One, which may be inter- mittent, will be the reluctance of the War Department to give him troops which may be wanted in Europe ; and the other, which must be permanent, will be the difficulty of finding -funds. Much of the strength of the Government of India is derived from the fact that it pays its own expenses, and is not, when it has a project on hand, com- pelled to draw its means from the British Treasury. The RUssian Viceroy of the Far East will not be governing a sell- supporting territory, and will find that to be independent at all lie must provide new and local sotirces of revenue. That will no doubt stimulate him to obtain cm:tip/eta possession of Manchuria, where there is a large taxable population ; but then it will also induce him to shrink from expensive war, to maintain order rigidly, and to encourage trade, which will not grow fast if he shuts foreign merchandise out of his dominion. He will want, in his own interests, more colonists, especially Chinese colonists, more commerce, and more European and Chinese merchants ; and he will find that none of these blessings are compatible with h policy of frequent war. No doubt the temptations presented by Northern China to a Russian 'Viceroy of the Far East will be many and constant ; but still he will be responsible to St. Petersburg. where they think of other things besides North China, and he will greatly desire to show a "prosperity Budget" for his vast dominion. He will, perhaps, desire it the more because it is not the Russian custom to change the great officials very often, or to believe, as we apparently do everywhere except in Egypt, that for a Governor great experience is in some way a disqualification. Russia would keep Lord Curzon in India for twenty years. We make a fuss over a reluctant assent to keep him seven.
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