The Duma has prolonged its life by passing the Govern-
ment's Conscription Bill for increasing the number of recruits.
There was a long and stormy debate in secret on Monday, and it seemed possible that the Socialists might talk over the peasant Deputies to their side. The rejection of the Bill would certainly have meant Dissolution. "You must give the soldiers," said the Minister for War, and an uproar was the result of what the greater part of the Duma considered hie hectoring and disrespectful manner. Doting the uproar, according to the Times correspondent, Ministers telephoned to M. Stolypin that the Army was being insulted and that the President had made no protest. M. Golovin, however, succeeded in satisfying the Government, and the Bill was passed on Tuesday. The Constitutional Democrats have strengthened their position as against the Socialists, and it is more than ever desirable that the Government should recognise and co-operate with this strong moderate element.
