566 



The Review of Reviews. 



December 1, 1906. 



ARBITRARY ARREST. 



" So far, so good," I said ; " but what about per- 

 sonal liberty? Is Russia to have a Habeas Corpus 

 Act ?" 



General Trepoff replied : '' A Habeas Corpus Act 

 is admirable for England, and for similar coun- 

 tries : but in Russia it would be premature. Our 

 political life is not sufficiently developed. We have 

 vast arrears, centuries of development to overtake. 

 Institutions that suit more advanced nations would 

 not work well with the Russian people." 



" But," I objected, " what is the use of conceding 

 all the other liberties of association, free speech and 

 free press, if you retain the power of arbitrary ar- 

 rest? Who will dare to speak freely under a law 

 which permits him liberty of speech, but leaves him 

 equally free to be clapped under lock and kev by 

 any policeman who dislikes what he said ?" 



'■ Oh," said General Trepoff, '• during the electoral 

 period there will be as little arbitrary arrests as 

 possible. Even now I am restraining myself with 

 the utmost efforts from locking up manv mauvals 

 sujets because I hear they are going to stand for the 

 Duma. 



" You must understand,'' General Trepoff went on, 

 " that there is a great defect in the Russian law. 

 All our laws only pre.scribe punishment for the man 

 who commits a crime after the crime has been com- 

 mitted. What we ought to have is a law that would 

 prevent the crime being committed." 



" Which means in practice that you would give 

 every policeman right to lock up on suspicion every 

 man whom he chose to imagine might at some future 

 time commit a crime. In other words, you make 

 the police the sole law, and the length of the police- 

 man's foot the only standard." 



" You are mistaken," said General Trepoff, " in 

 thinking that any man can be locked up bv any 

 policeman. If any policeman suspects anv man of 

 an intention to break the law he makes a report on 

 the subject to his .superior officer, who is then bound 

 to make independent inquiries. His report then 

 comes before me, and it rests with me to say whe- 

 ther or not the man shall be arrested. After his ar- 

 rest his case is examined into privately, and if he 

 is found to be innocent he is dismissed." 



HOW ABOUT inLYt'KOFF? 



" Well," said I. " what about Professor Milvu- 

 koff?" 



" I have not yet got the report I have ordered. 

 But that also followed the ordinary course." 



" Can you tell me," I asked, " what crime Milyukoff 

 has committed ? ' 



" No," said the General, " it is so serious that I 

 cannot even tell it to you." 



" Well," I said, " you have not even told it to 

 Milyukoff himself, and the gendarme- told me that 

 they were keeping him in prison until thev had 



discovered what crime it was he was intending to 

 commit." 



'• Professor Milyukoff," he replied, " knows very 

 well on what charge he is arrested. If the report 

 is favourable I hope I may be able to release him 

 on bail in two or three days. But mind, he will 

 have to be tried." 



" Of course," I replied. " Try him, and if he is 

 found guiltv punish him — hang him if you will. No- 

 body will object to a judicial sentence passed after 

 fair trial in open court. But what plays the devil 

 with everything is the arrest and imprisonment with- 

 out trial — especially when, as in this case, the man 

 is so well known throughout the world." 



" I know Professor Milyukoff's books," said Gene- 

 ral Trepoff. ■■ He is a clever man, but he must obey 

 the law." 



" Well," said I, " you say you cannot tell me what 

 contemplated crime it was that justified you in lock- 

 ing up Professor Milyukoff. But I will tell you that 

 even if he had perpetrated the worst crime of which 

 vou can accuse him, he would have done less harm 

 to Russia and to the Tsar than you. General Tre- 

 poff, have done by locking him up untried." 



" How do you make that out ?" said the General. 



" The Tsar," I said, " had painted a beautiful pic- 

 ture and hung it up for the admiration of the 

 whole world. He called it ' The Duma.' We were 

 all admiring it as symbolising the dawn of !ibert\- 

 in Russia, when up comes General Trepoff with a 

 blacking-brush called arbitrary- arrest, and smudges 

 out the whole beautiful picture which the Tsar had 

 painted. Now in England and America people no 

 longer see the Duma anv more ; they only see the 

 arrest of Professor Milyukoff." 



Trepoff laughed. " I could let Milyukoff out at 

 once — that rests with me." 



TREPOFF DICTATOR. 



" General Trepoff," I replied, " I have learned 

 some things since I came into this room. I now see 

 that in Russia there is no law-, there is no judge, 

 there is no Tsar ; there is only General Trepoff." 



I think he took this rather as a compliment. I 

 told him of the proposal that I should hold confer- 

 ences on the Duma from the English point of view. 



He replied : " I regard it as a great kindness that 

 you should hold such conferences. I will give the 

 authorities directions to aflford you full facilities to 

 hold your conferences wherever you please." 



" The Emperor," I said, " thought that in view of 

 the excited state of public feeling, it would be bet- 

 ter if I held only private conferences." 



" Oh," said General Trepoff, " that belongs to my 

 department! You may hold as many public confer- 

 ences as you please. I wiU see that the authorities 

 afford vou everi,- protection. When do \ou propose 

 to begin ?" 



" Answer me another question," I replied. " When 

 do you propose to release Professor Milyukoff? Be- 



