Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/87

Rh KUSSIAN EMPIRE.] U S S I A 71 included, with powers which are the more extensive as they are totally undefined. There is also in each government a special gendarmerie under the "chief of gendarmes," who usually is also the head of the " third section " of the Imperial Chancery. The name of the third section has been recently abolished, but the institution still continues. It has charge of the secret police of the state, and has most varied functions, such as the arrest of supposed political offenders, their exile to Siberia, the delivery of separation papers to spouses desiring divorce, and so on. Several governments are placed under special governors- general, whom the recent law on the "state of siege" invests with almost dictatorial powers. The higher administration is represented by the emperor, who unites the supreme legislative, executive, and judicial powers, and is surrounded by four distinct councils the committee of ministers, the council of the empire, the senate, and the Holy Synod. The ministers, who are con- sidered as executing the will of the czar, and are nominated by him, are invested with very extensive powers ; their circulars for the interpretation of laws have greater weight than the laws themselves. The council of the empire, which consisted in 1884 of 64 members, nominated by the emperor, besides the ministers and several members of the imperial family, is a consultative body for matters of legis- lation. The senate, also nominated by the emperor, has two distinct functions. Seven " departments " of it are administrative ; they promulgate the laws, examine the acts of governors, adjudicate in their conflicts with zemstvos, and, in theory, can make remonstrances to the emperor, in fact they merely register and promulgate laws. Two other " departments " are courts of cassation. A special department, reinforced by representatives of nobility, pro- nounces judgment in political cases. The Holy Synod, consisting of metropolitans and bishops who sit there in turn, has the superintendence of religious affairs. Justice. The judicial system introduced in 1864 was conceived in a very liberal spirit, which, unfortunately, has not been main- tained. Thus a "preliminary instruction," made by the "third section " in political cases, ipr by the police, has been subse- quently introduced. The "judges of instruction," irremovable by law, have not yet been nominated, their functions being discharged by substitutes entirely dependent upon the ministry. Elective justices of the peace decide in all cases involving less than 500 roubles, or less than six months' imprisonment. Their decisions can be brought by appeal before the district gathering of the jus- tices of the peace, and thence before the senate. All criminal cases involving severer penalties are tried by juries, whose verdicts can be set aside only by a court of cassation, but are not respected incases having a so-called "political" aspect. Political offences are tried by tribunals composed ad hoc. Civil cases in which more than 500 roubles are involved are tried by courts of justice, with appeal to chambers of justice. Crime. In 1879 in European Russia, exclusive of six Lithuanian and White Russian governments, 42,530 persons were tried before the courts, and 59,600 before the justices of the peace, the convictions being respectively 27,397 and 36,742. The aggregate number of condemnations pronounced in 1882 was 46,018 in European Russia, that is, 5 '9 condemned in each 10,000 ; only 4836 of them were women. On January 1, 1882, 93,108 persons were in jail ; 530,307 men and 66,073 women (the latter with 30,769 children) were imprisoned during the year, while 625,280 prisoners were liberated or exiled, and on January 1, 1883, the number of prisoners in jail (excluding those of Saghalin and Caucasus) was 97,337. More than 20,000 are annually transported to Siberia. Adminis- The empire is divided for administrative purposes into govern- trative ments (guberniya) or territories (oblast), of which there are 50 in divisions. European Russia and 10 in Poland. Each government, or territory, is divided into eight to fifteen districts (uyezd). The Asiatic dominions are divided 1 into one lieutenancy (namyestnitchcstvo'), that of Caucasia, and four general governments Turkestan, Stepnoye (Kirghiz Steppes), East Siberia, and Amur. They com- prise thirty-three governments and territories, besides a few dis- tricts (olcnifj, otdycl) in Transcaucasia and the Transcaspian region, regarded almost as separate governments. In Siberia the governors and governors-general are assisted by councils which have a consultative voice. The Baltic provinces have some peculiar institutions. Finland is a separate state, having its own finances, army, and representative institutions, with limited rights, but its ministers of war and the exterior are those of the empire, and its institutions are not always respected by the emperor. The emperor is not the head of the church, all decisions in theo- The logical matters having to be given by the Synod. His influence, church, however, is very great, as the nomination of the bishops rests with him. In 1882 there were in Russia 40,569 Orthodox churches and about 14,000 chapels, with 37,318 priests, 7009 deacons, and 45,395 singers. There were also 6752 monks and 3957 aspirants, 4945 nuns and 13,803 female aspirants. The church budget was 18,974,887 roubles in 1884. The monasteries and churches are possessed of great wealth, including 2950 square miles of land (a territory greater than that of Oldenburg), an invested capital of 22,634,000 roubles, an annual subsidy of 408,000 roubles from Government, and a very great number of inns, shops, printing establishments, burial grounds, &c., with Avhole towns covering an aggregate area of 10 square miles. Their total annual revenue is estimated at 9,000,000 roubles. Much still remains to be done for the diffusion of the first Educa- elements of a sound education throughout the empire ; unhappily tion. the endeavours of private persons in this field and of the zemstvos are for political reasons discouraged by the Government. There are seven universities Dorpat, Kazan, Kharkoff, Kieff, Moscow, Odessa, and St Petersburg to which may be added those of Warsaw and Helsingfors. In 1883 the seven Russian universities had 605 professors and 10,528 students, and there were 81 pro- fessors and 1228 students at Warsaw. The standard of teaching on the whole is high, and may be compared to that of the German universities. The students are hardworking, and generally very intelligent. Mostly sous of poor parents, they live in extreme poverty, supporting themselves chiefly by translating and by tutorial work. Severe measures have been taken in 1885 in regard to the universities. Explicit regulations for the interpretation of science have been issued, and restrictions laid upon the teaching of philo- sophy and natural science generally ; comparative legislation has been excluded from the programmes ; teaching in Russian (instead of German) has been ordered at Dorpat. The students are placed under rigorous regulations in regard to their life outside the uni- versity. About 950 students in theological academies and 2500 in higher technical schools must be added to the above. The state of secondary education' still leaves very much to be desired. There were in 1883 180 gymnasiums and progymnasiums for boys in European Russia, and 24 in the Asiatic dominions, and 27 and 10 respectively for girls ; there were also 73 " real " schools in European Russia and 8 in the Asiatic dominions, and 48 normal schools in Russia and 10 in the Asiatic dominions. To these must be added the 14,800 pupils in 53 theological seminaries, and about 3000 in various secondary schools. The steady tendency of Russian society towards increasing the number of secondary schools, where instruction would be based on the study of the natural sciences, is checked by Government in favour of the classical gymnasiums. The aggregate number of schools for second- ary instruction in European Russia in 1882 was 456 for boys and 384 for girls, with 107,930 male and 79,625 female scholars. Of these, 355 schools (45,303 boys and 3199 girls) give professional education. For primary instruction there were in 1882 in European Russia proper 28,329 schools, with 1,177,504 male and 362,471 female pupils. Of the 6,231,160 roubles expended on primary schools only 747,772 roubles were contributed by Government, the remainder being supplied by the zemstvos (2,512,113 roubles), by municipalities, or by private persons. Sunday schools and public lectures are virtually prohibited. A characteristic feature of the intellectual movement in Russia is its tendency to extend to women the means of receiving higher instruction. The gymnasiums for girls are both numerous and good. In addition to these, notwithstanding Government opposi- tion, a series of higher schools, where careful instruction in natural and social sciences is given, have been opened in the chief cities under the name of ' ' Pedagogical Courses. " At St Petersburg a women's medical academy, the examinations of which were even more searching than those of the ordinary academy (especially as regards diseases of women and children), was opened, but after about one hundred women had received the degree of M.D., it lias been suppressed by Government. In several university towns there are also free teaching establishments for women, supported by subscription, with programmes and examinations equal to those of the universities. In 1882 the students numbered 914 at St Petersburg, about 500 at Moscow, and 389 at Kazan. The natural sciences are much cultivated in Russia, especially Scientific during the last twenty years. Besides the Academy of Science, the societies. Moscow Society of Naturalists, the Mineralogical Society, the Geographical Society, with its Caucasian and Siberian branches, the archaeological societies and the scientific societies of the Baltic pro- vinces, all of which are of old and recognized standing, there have lately sprung up a series of new societies in connexion with each university, and their serials are yearly growing in importance, as