Office of the Historian

Chargé Eddy to the Secretary of State.

American Embassy,
St. Petersburg, November 17, 1905.
No. 277.]

Sir: I have the honor to inclose to you herewith a translation of an imperial manifesto, which appeared in to-day’s Official Messenger, granting the peasants facilities for the payment of arrears due for land and to purchase more land through the assistance of agrarian banks.

I have, etc.,

Spencer Eddy.
[Inclosure.—Translation.]

imperial manifesto.

In a manifesto the Emperor expresses his deep grief at the troubles under which the country is laboring and notes that now the peasants are beginning to rise and seize lands and commit other crimes. The manifesto proceeds: “Nothing is to be gained by disorders, and they may bring the country to great misfortune. The only way to improve present conditions is by a peaceful and legal method of procedure, and we have always made it our first care to improve the position of the present population.

“We have lately given orders to gather information and present it to us with regard to those measures which might be immediately taken in favor of the peasants.

“In considering the matter we have decided:

  • “1. That the purchase or redemption payments (Auskaufs payments) due from peasants to former proprietors of estates (Gutsbesitzer), as well as to the government and district, shall [Page 783] be reduced, beginning January 1, 1906 (Russian style), by one-half, and that from the 1st of January, 1907, these payments shall be stopped altogether.
  • “2. That the Peasants’ Agrarian Bank is to be enabled more successfully to assist those peasants who possess little land to extend their land possessions by purchase, this to be done by increasing the funds of the bank and establishing more favorable regulations regarding the issuance of loans.

“We have issued a special ukase regarding the introduction of the above measures.

“We remain in the conviction that by the mutual work of ourselves and the best men chosen by the people of Russia and the peasants it may be possible to satisfy the further needs of the peasantry without any injury to other landowners.

“We hope that the peasant population, dear to our heart, following the teachings of the Christian love and goodness, will listen to our imperial call to preserve peace and quiet everywhere and will not break the law and infringe the rights of other people.

“Given at Tsarskoé, etc., 3–16th November.”