Duma’s attacks upon the “dark forces” in Russia, and appealing for a more ideal form of government. It is not he, however, who has become Premier, but his elderly cousin. Prince Nicholas Galitzin, of whom nothing is known save that he has filled the post of governor in more than one Russian province and is an extreme Conservative and reactionary. M. Trepov, despite his excellent work in completing the Murman railway and improving the chaos in Russian communications, never succeeded in winning the confidence of the Duma, which, therefore, has greeted his fall with indifference. But the removal of Count Ignatiev from the position of Minister of Education, which he had held throughout all the changes of the war, has caused general regret and depression; for, though a staunch Conservative, he seemed positively radical by comparison with his associates. It is significant that the Times correspondent, who is always reserved in his political comments, in announcing Count Ignatiev’s retirement, remarked that till then his continuance in office had constituted “the one bright spot which seemed to justify a hope of better days.” It is already evident that the chief power in the new Cabinet will rest with the Minister of the Interior, M. Protopopov, who, though very recently a leader of the Liberal bloc, has been repudiated and attacked with the utmost violence by his former colleagues in the Duma. It is still too soon to estimate their future relations, just as it is impossible to judge how far the fall of Trepov represents the vengeance of the “dark forces” for his failure to prevent the assassination of the infamous Rasputin.
The Future of Bohemia
The reference to the liberation of the “Czecho-Slovaks” in the Allied Note to America may have caused some surprise among insular circles in this country; but France, who has, ever since the days when a Bohemian king fell at Crecy, shown keen interest in and sympathy with the Czech national cause, was already prepared for some such declaration. The Temps of 2 January contains a notable leading article on “Bohemia and the Entente,” which ought to have received some notice on this side of the Channel. After remarking that it is a mistake to pass over the sufferings of Bohemia in silence, the Temps writes: “Little is said of Bohemia, because everyone is agreed upon her rights and her hopes; because in each of the Allied countries it is considered that victory will restore independence to that vigorous nation which, under the German heel, has given such fine proofs of vitality, alike in the economic and the intellectual sphere. There are so many disputed points which cry out for comment, that those which are a matter of course are neglected. This is a mistake, for Germany neglects nothing.”
The writer goes on to discuss the repressive régime established in Bohemia during the war and the tendency of the new Austrian Premier, Count Clam-Martinitz, to tempt the Czechs into submission to the House of Habsburg by promising a milder régime, and holding out a vague prospect of concessions à la polonaise. It is not enough to urge the Czechs to stand firm on the difficult and isolated path which they have chosen. “It is also necessary that in their sore trial we should bring them the succour of a definite statement (le concours
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