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Show Russia's Longest Step for Freedom. St. Petersburg, Jan. "23. The imerial ukase ordering the assembling of government conferences under the presidency of the governors of the various vari-ous provinces where the rural authorities hold of-hVe of-hVe and in the governments of Kieif, Volhynia and Tadolia in order to elaborate the new peasant laws, monopolizes attention here, relegating the far eastern east-ern crisis to secondary place. The press enthusiastically enthusias-tically hails the new reforms, which are based on the manifesto of March 11, 1903, the newspapers reit-crating reit-crating that this is the greatest step for the betterment better-ment of the conditions of the -peasantry since he emaneipaion of the serfs. The ukase is welcomed by the liberals, although the Novosti remarks that ''it is a pity the peasants themselves are not cui-powered cui-powered specifically to send elelegates." The drafting committee proposes that tho laws shall be guideel by the following aims : First To harmonize the? existing peasant legislation leg-islation with modern requirements. . Second To reorganize the courts in order to es-' es-' pedite the settlement of village, disputes. Thirel To define individual rights regarding communal lands. Fourth To discover means for stimulating individual in-dividual . enterprise . and the adoption of modern., methods Fifth To settle disputes between the peasants and neighboring land owners. . . Sixth To institute, in the pe-asants respect for the laws and rights of property. . The new laws will only be' applicable to the provinces prov-inces of European Russia where reliable statistics and data arc available, without which the drafting . committee declines" to undertake the task. |
