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 CHAPTER XXII

T may be interesting if I put down here a few of my own recollections of three of the most distinguished Prime Ministers of Russia: Count Sergius Witte, the creator of the 1905 Constitution and of the first revolution; Peter Stolypin, the author of the Bill intended to transform the peasant into a small bourgeois, and the propagator of the civilised suppression of the revolutionary spirit in Russia; and Ivan Goremykin, the last Imperial Premier. The three personalities were powerful enough to mark a distinct epoch in the history of Russia.

Witte, a former book-keeper of the South-Western Railway, who became a Minister of State, received the title of Count, and became almost an autocrat in government, was an exceedingly forceful, energetic, and wise man.

The main characteristic of this statesman, and one which gave him a peculiar power, was his absolute amorality. To him there was only the aim, and all means to reach an end were equally good, if they were practical. An episode during the Russo-Japanese peace negotiations in Portsmouth is very illuminating in this