Mo[scow]. 24. VII. The government's countermove. If the information supplied to me from a reliable source expresses the tsar's serious intentions, then it may be thought that the revolutionary plan of campaign adopted by the zem[stvo] con[gress] will be parried by an equally rev[olution]ary action on the part of the authorities. They are planning something in the nature of a plebiscite on the Buly[gin] con[stitution], hoping cleverly to influence the peasa[nts] by a promise of land allotment. The authors of this countermove against the zemstvo men are Bulygin and Goremykin. They propose that the tsar should send his adjutants to every town, who will summon representatives of each estate (class) and ask them to declare whether they prefer estate-based elections (on class basis) to the State Duma or not. The peasa[nts] meanwhile will be informed through the land captains that the tsar, who emancipated them, will give them additional land.

"The result will be, regardless of how the people declare themselves, in favour of the Buly[gin] con[stitution]. The tsar's promise to satisfy the peasants' land hunger will make them indifferent, if not hostile, to the zemstvos' demands. The question, however, is whether the bureaucracy will be able to combine sufficiently to carry out this idea. All symptoms point to growing disagreements among the minis[ters]. Mr. B[uly]g[i]n, whose influence is growing, is busy revoking Trepov's orders. It is said that Trepov ordered the pol[ice] to ar[rest] the members of the con[gress], but General Kozlov, acting on B[u]l[y]g[i]n's instructions, refused to carry this out. Mr. B[uly]g[i]n was not against the con[gress], for the criticism of his con[stitution]al project by the con[stitution]alists only strengthens his position at court. On the other hand, Mr. B[uly]g[i]n is against the publication of strikes and disturbances, while General Trepov is for it. Mr. B[ulygin] has now sent a strict order to the newspapers on this matter."

St. Petersburg. 24. VII. 05. The Buly[gin] project is being examined by the tsar. It (the project) has been revised by the Council of Minis[ters] and is now much more liberal (the project) than before.

The T[imes] Wed[nesday] 19. VII. 05. Mo[scow]. 18. VII. The con[gress] opens tomorrow. Three p[oints] on the agenda (on the summons of the Org[an]iz[a]t[ional] C[ommittee]): 1) The Buly[gin] con[stitution]; 2) "the attitude of public figures to the forthcoming introduction of popular representation; 3) measures for the implementation of the basic ref[o]rms worked out at the con[gresses] of zem[stvo] and town figures."

The Org[an]iz[a]t[ional] C[ommittee] has drawn up draft res[o]l[ution]s.

p[eople]: ad 1) "The B[uly]g[i]n project and any project on similar principles, which does not ensure popular rep[resenta]tion in the true sense of the word, cannot bring pacification to the country, prevent the dangers threatening it, and lead it out of its present state of anarchy onto the path of proper, peaceful development, based on l[aw]fulness and order."

Deficiencies of the Buly[gin] project: 1) property qualification and estate[-based] elect[ions]; 2) excl[usion] of w[ork]ers from elections; 3) abs[ence] of guar[antees] of personal fr[ee]dom; 4) abs[ence] of parliamentary immunity; 5) div[ision] of the Duma into sections; 6) abs[ence] of publicity of debates; 7) sub[ordination] of it to the State Council; 8) abs[ence] of leg[islative] initiative; 9) ins[ufficient] control over st[a]te exp[enditure]; 10) rem[oval] of q[uestions] of foreign pol[icy] from its competence; 11) abs[ence] of minis[terial] resp[onsibility].

Ad 2) The Org[an]iz[a]t[ional] c[ommittee] is against boycotting the Buly[gin] con[stitution], — for part[icipation] in the elections, election of a comm[ission] group and fighting there for fr[ee]doms etc. etc.

"The manuf[acturers] had a second meeting today and adopted a series of resolutions in favour of con[stitution]al ref[o]rms, while insisting that the gov[ernmen]t should not lose time and should publish the Bulygin project."

The Times. Thurs[day]. 20. VII. 05. Mo[scow]. 19. VII. Today after d[inne]r the con[gress] opened. A stupid police prank.

"The conf[eren]ce of manuf[acturers], also banned by the authorities, but adopting resolutions in favour of the con[stitution] in private houses, expressed a desire to join the con[gress], and its ch[airman], Kovalevsky, personally appeared with this request, but the Org[an]iz[a]t[ional] C[ommittee] rejected it: it would be unfair to admit the masters without the workers."

Mr. Golovin, ch[airman] of the Org[an]iz[a]t[ional] C[ommittee], opened the con[gress]. Kozlov, the gov[erno]r gen[eral], was for the con[gress]. Shuvalov — against.

... "The persec[utions] (of the con[gress] by the pol[ice]) continued; they went as far as a pol[ice] raid on Golovin's house and then a written request from the gov[erno]r to inform him whether it was true that the con[gress] wanted to declare itself a constituent assembly. When Mr. Golovin reassured the gov[erno]r on this point, the gov[erno]r decided to refrain from active inter[ference]."

Apparently, the 3 main points of the con[gress]'s work:
(1) Attitude to the Buly[gin] con[stitution]. Boycott? The m[a]j[ority] is for. The Org[anizational] C[ommittee] against. Postponed.
(2) Draft con[stitution]. The Osvobozhdeniye one.
(3) Appeal to the p[eople]. Peace[ful] means. Pass[ive] resist[ance].

The Times [21 VII 05.], of 20 VII from St. Petersburg.
"Today's session marks the starting point of a new movement 〈current〉 away from the throne to the people, from words to deeds. The mood of the congress was revealed in the speech of Ivan Petrunkevich, who said that all hopes of reforms from above had now vanished. Revolution is inevitable, and it is their duty to prevent bloodshed, if possible. These words were met with thunderous applause.

"Yesterday evening the con[gress] decided to boycott what is facetiously styled the Bulygin con[stitution]. The Org[an]iz[a]t[ional] C[o]m[mittee] proposed participating in the elections under the gov[ernmen]t project, but in the end the matter was compromised, namely that the q[uestio]n would be left open until the publication of the Bulygin project, and then the con[gress] would be summoned by telegraph.

"Today the C[o]m[mittee] introduced a draft con[stitution], printed in the Russkiye Vedomosti"...
The draft was adopted in the 1st reading [7 against 1st reading, 1 against sending the project to the zemstvos and dumas].

The Times (22. VII 05. Sat[urday]) Mo[scow] 21. VII.
De Roberti for a petition to the tsar. Against: Petrunkevich, Novosiltsev, Rodichev, Shakhovskoy: useless, they say. For the petition only ab[out] 6 p[eople].
From Pet[r]un[k]e[v]i[ch]'s speech:... "When we went to P[e]t[e]r-g[o]f on 19 VI, we still hoped that the tsar would understand the terrible danger of the situation and do something to avert it." Hope collapsed. "Every hope of this m[ust] b[e] abandoned. Only one way out remains. Until now we hoped for reform from above, henceforth our only hope is the people (loud appl[ause]). We must tell them the truth in simple, homely words. The incapacity and powerlessness of the gov[ernmen]t have promoted revolution. This is a fact which everyone must recognise. Our duty is to use every effort to avoid bloodshed. Many of us have devoted long years to service to the fatherland. Now they must boldly go to the p[eople], not to the tsar" (loud, prolong[ed] appl[ause]).

21. VII. Almost unanimously adopted: an appeal to the p[eople] and "a resolution on resistance to arbitrary and unjust actions of the gov[ernmen]t."

"The resolution declares that, in view of the arbitrary actions of the adm[inistra]tion and its constant violation of the rights of soc[iet]y, the con[gress] considers it the duty of all to defend the natural r[igh]ts of m[a]n by peaceful means, including resistance to the actions of the authorities violating these r[igh]ts, even if such actions are based on the letter of the law."

"The appeal to the p[eople] is a simple, restrained outline of the history of Russia since the XI* con[gress] of zemstvo men. The account of broken promises, dishonest delays, cynical indifference of the gov[ernmen]t is written convincingly."

Mr. Nabokov introduced an amendment to the resolution, insisting on the justifiability of any resistance short of absolute force to unjust authorities. A delegate from Astrakhan evoked l[ou]d appl[ause] by saying that if General Trepov obtained the tsar's signature to an unjust measure, they would refuse to obey. In the end Nabokov's amendment was adopted.

P[e]tr[un]k[e]v[i]ch, defending the appeal to the p[eople], said:

..."We must break the narrow framework of our act[ivit]y and go to the p[easan]t. Until now we hoped for ref[o]rms from above, but, while we waited, time stealthily did its work. Revolution, helped on by the gov[ernmen]t, has overtaken us. The word 'rev[olu]tion' so frightened 2 members yesterday that they left the congress [Kasatkin-Rostovsky and ?], but we must courageously face the truth. We cannot wait with folded hands. S[o]me have said that the app[eal] of the zemstvos and dumas to the p[eople] might be regarded as agitation sowing unrest. But are the villages calm? On the contrary, unrest is already present, and in its worst form. We cannot hope to hold back the storm, but in any case we must try to prevent too great a shock. We must tell the p[eople] that it is useless to destroy factories and homesteads. We must not look upon this destruction as mere vandalism. It is the peasant way, a blind, ignorant way of helping the evil which they instinctively feel but cannot understand. Let the authorities answer them with the knout. Our bounden duty nevertheless is to go to the people. We should have done this earlier. The zemstvo existed for 40 years without coming into close and intimate contact with the p[easan]ts, and they must not lose time in correcting this mistake. We must tell the p[easan]t that we are with him."

The Times, Mon[day] 24 VII 05. Mo[scow] 23. VII. The con[gress] closed yesterday at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The next one, probably in September. After the con[gress] — a private meeting on the creation of a p[ar]ty ("con[stitution]al-d[e]m[o]cr[atic]"). Muromtsev against ("many waverers should drop out") Mandelstam — for. Its[h]kov — for a union, not a p[ar]ty. Milyukov — for the Osvobozhdeniye group) — for ec[onomic] and soc[ial] ref[o]rms. A c[om]mission was elected to work out a pro[gram]me together with the union of unions.
Report by Pyotr Dolgorukov — on the con[gress]. 216 rep[resentati]ves, including for the first time from the towns. 4 from Siberia, 4 from the Caucasus. Some, they say, feared the word rev[olu]tion, confusing it with bomb-throwing. 3 y[ears] a[g]o they feared the word con[stitution]. To org[an]iz[e] meetings throughout Russia, to discuss the con[stitution].