As the advanced section of our bourgeoisie consolidates itself into a "Constitutional-Democratic Party," – serious obligation falls upon the conscious representatives of the proletariat to follow carefully the policy of this party and to enlighten the people concerning this policy. We have already noted more than once the haggling of the zemstvo fraction with the autocracy, – and of the "Liberation Union" with the zemstvo fraction. Now we must record a new fact of this haggling. Rumors about Mr. Shipov's candidacy for the post of Minister of Internal Affairs have long been circulating in the foreign press. Now the correspondents of the most influential bourgeois newspapers of France and England – *Le Temps* and *The Times* – report on this in detail.

Here is what the first of these newspapers reports from St. Petersburg dated July 7th, new style: "If proof were required of the sincerity of the Tsar's desire to carry out reforms, such proof would be the fact that Mr. Shipov was offered the portfolio of Minister of Internal Affairs. Mr. Shipov, who belonged to the zemstvo anti-constitutionalist minority and drew up a project for popular representation, which was extensively used by Mr. Bulygin, declared at the May congress that he was joining the opinion of the majority, i.e., the constitutionalists. Thus, this is a man of the golden mean, who could satisfy both extreme parties and who at the same time would be able to adapt himself to those extraordinary police powers with which the Minister of Internal Affairs Trepov is invested.

As they say, Mr. Shipov makes the sole condition of his consent to take this post that the Tsar grant freedom of the press."

The *Times* correspondent telegraphs: "The latest news, which displaces all other events today, is the offer of the portfolio of Minister of Internal Affairs to Mr. Shipov. The possibility of such an offer was indicated earlier, but nevertheless this event is a complete surprise. In recent times Mr. Shipov made peace with the zemstvo majority, and therefore it was quite natural to think that his candidacy for the ministerial post was impossible. The Tsar's sudden decision to transfer to him the inheritance of Mr. Bulygin after the almost-concluded appointment of Ignatiev indicates a serious change in the Tsar's plans. It is thought that the Tsar was influenced by the recent tragic events in southern Russia, which eloquently testify to the spread of revolutionary ideas even among the most reliable defenders of Tsarist power.

However, it is also pointed out that the choice of Mr. Shipov was made not without ulterior motive: perhaps, with the aid of a liberal figurehead, the old order will acquire some semblance of popular popularity. Perhaps, at least, Bulygin's electoral law, borrowed essentially from Mr. Shipov's first project, will not then encounter the irrevocable opposition of the zemstvo. There is a grain of plausibility in this reasoning, for it would be too much to expect that the bureaucracy would suddenly abandon its policy of obstruction and pretense.

But the fundamental question connected with Mr. Shipov's candidacy consists in this: is it possible to reconcile his appointment with the preservation of police dictatorship? Mr. Shipov himself put an end to all speculation on this account by declaring that he is ready to obey the will of the Tsar on one condition, namely: that his majesty would guarantee freedom of the press. Mr…[143]

Written in June, later than the 25th (July 8), 1905.

First published in 1931 in Lenin Miscellany XVI

Printed from the manuscript