THE JEWISH POPULATION. 209 



are most excellent. Both Tichomiroff and Labsine are 

 men of very deep religious feeling, devoted to their 

 country, genuine enthusiasts. The former has taken an 

 active part in the Commission of Experts, and his speech 

 impressed his audience with his simple and fervid 

 eloquence. His invectives against the drink-shops were 

 exceedingly vigorous, and really made him a very 

 valuable ally in the temperance reformation. 



' It was very fortunate that neither the Government 

 nor ^the experts shared the extraordinary theories held 

 about the usefulness of drink-shops ; on the contrary, the 

 prevailing* opinion is positively opposed to them. The 

 initiative, as is generally the case in Russia, has been 

 taken byj.the Government. One of the first acts of the 

 new reign was the appointment of a committee at the 

 Ministry of Finance to decide what steps should be taken 

 to prevent the abuse of spirituous liquors. 



' This committee, after eleven sittings in August and 

 September, drew up a scheme of temperance reform 

 which, in accordance with the excellent rule adopted by 

 the Emperor, was submitted to a special commission of 

 experts, selected from the Zercstvos of the empire for 

 their special acquaintance with the subject to be discussed. 



' There were thirty-two members of this commission, to 

 whom two were subsequently added by vote of the 

 commission under the title of special experts. The session 

 of this temperance reform parliament was opened by 

 General IgnatiefYon the 24th of September at the Minis- 

 try of Finance. In his address, after explaining the 

 desire of the Government that the representatives of the 

 Zemstvos should be consulted before any legislation was 

 undertaken, he referred to the question of intemperance 

 as follows : " The sale of spirits in Russia, under the 

 existing conditions, tended rather to the abuse of liquor 

 and to the ruin of the people than to the satisfaction of 

 any of the needs of the latter. The Government is 



