684 



RUSSIA, THE CRIMINAL CODE OF. 



this penalty is transformed into military ser- 

 vice, will not be furloughed nor dismissed un- 

 til they have returned into the bosom of the 

 Orthodox Church. The same penalty will be 

 imposed on sectarians who, in fanatical infatu- 

 ation, venture to revile the Orthodox Church 

 or its ministers." 214: "He who issues old 

 religious books (that is to say, works on ortho- 

 dox theology), in any other way than through 

 the Moscow Synodal printing-office, sells such 

 books, or disseminates them, or uses schismat- 

 ical books at church, will be fined, in the first 

 instance, from 100 to 200 rubles; in the 

 second and third instance, twice as much ; 

 and, in the third instance, imprisonment for 

 from three to six months will be added to the 

 fine. The books will be confiscated and de- 

 livered to the ecclesiastical authorities." 215 : 

 " He who establishes convents or retreats for 

 schismatics, erects or repairs a building de- 

 voted to schismatic worship, constructs altars 

 in such buildings, or makes a prayer-house of 

 a peasant's house, will be imprisoned for from 

 one to two years. All such buildings will be 

 demolished, and the materials will be delivered 

 to the local committee of general welfare." 

 Finally, 217 says : "If the owner or manager 

 of a private estate or the tenant of a crown- 

 estate receives into his house a Jew in a place 

 infected with Jewish heresy, and which he 

 has been ordered to leave, he will be fined, in 

 the first two instances from fifty to one hun- 

 dred rubles : in the third instance, however, 

 the private estate is placed in the hands of a 

 public administrator during the lifetime of the 

 guilty owner, or the manager is declared in- 

 capable of taking charge of any estate. If 

 peasants or commoners aid and abet such a 

 Jew in the aforesaid manner, they will be im- 

 prisoned, for the first and second time, for 

 from three weeks to three months ; or, if they 

 are not exempt from corporal punishment, 

 they will receive from twenty to thirty lashes ; 

 for the third time, however, they will be im- 

 prisoned for from six months to one year." 



The retention of these Draconic paragraphs 

 in the penal code excited much dissatisfaction 

 on the part of the more enlightened opponents 

 of the Old Russian party, especially the so- 

 called German wing of the Liberals and even 

 a large part of the Conservative nobility, while 

 the extreme wing of the Old Russian or Na- 

 tional party was rather delighted with it ; the 

 latter, on the other hand, was somewhat dis- 

 appointed at the reappearance, in the revised 

 penal code, of all the rigorous paragraphs of the 

 code of the Emperor Nicholas in regard to the 

 so-called "state crimes." At the head of this 

 part of the code stand the " crimes against the 

 sacred person of the Emperor and against the 

 members of the imperial house." Capital pun- 

 ishment will be inflicted upon all who attack 

 the lives of the Emperor, the Empress, the 

 Grand-duke hereditary, and the other mem- 

 bers of the imperial family, or enter into crim- 

 inal plots for the purpose of murdering them, 



or killing or wounding them in the execution of 

 some unlawful scheme. All attempts and plots 

 to dethrone the Emperor, to deprive him of his 

 liberty, to limit his sovereignty, to do violence 

 to his person, are punished with death. The 

 same penalty will be imposed upon all those 

 who attempt " to commit crimes against the 

 Emperor's honor," and even on " those who 

 know of the intentions of the criminals to 

 make such attempts, and fail to inform the au- 

 thorities thereof" (285). 267 says: "He 

 who gets up and circulates written or printed 

 compositions or pictures, for the purpose of 

 reviling the Government or the person of the 

 Emperor, will suffer the penal penalty of the 

 second class, fourth degree. The same punish- 

 ment will be inflicted on those who assist in 

 getting up or circulating writings or pictures 

 of this description." Imprisonment for from 

 seven days to three months will be imposed 

 upon those who possess such writings or pic- 

 tures without the permission of the authori- 

 ties, and they will, moreover, be placed under 

 the surveillance of the police. 268: "He 

 who dares to utter impertinent and insulting 

 words against the Emperor, even in his ab- 

 sence, or intentionally injures, disfigures, or 

 destroys his statues or pictures in official build- 

 ings or on public places, will be sentenced to 

 suffer the penal penalty of the second class, 

 sixth degree. He who permits himself such 

 impudent words or actions, while in a state of 

 intoxication, without premeditation, will be 

 sent to the house of. correction for from six to 

 twelve months." Imprisonment for from three 

 weeks to three months will be inflicted on 

 those who witness these words or actions, and 

 neither hinder them nor bring them to the 

 notice of the authorities. The same penalties 

 will be imposed upon those who violate the 

 majesty of the Empress, the Grand-duke he- 

 reditary, or any other member of the imperial 

 house. 



No less Draconic are the paragraphs relating 

 to " sedition, riots, and resistance to the su- 

 preme power of the Government." 272 et 

 seq. begin with the following words: "He 

 who gets up and circulates written or printed 

 proclamations, manifestoes, or pictures, for the 

 purpose of exciting riots, sedition, or resistance 

 to the supreme power of the Government, will 

 be transported to Siberia for from eight to ten 

 years, imprisoned at hard labor in a fortress, 

 and colonized for life. The same punishment 

 will be inflicted on him who maliciously cir- 

 culates such writings and pictures without 

 having got them up himself, or who assists in 

 the perpetration of this crime in any manner 

 whatever, and, likewise, on him who delivers 

 public speeches for the same criminal purpose." 

 Even those who do not directly incite others 

 to sedition and riot, but only deny and ques- 

 tion the authority of the Government, or try 

 to contest the existing form of Government or 

 the order of possession, do not escape trans- 

 portation to Siberia, and the same punishment 



