CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN RUSSIA.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LII, Issue 9188, 7 September 1906, Page 2

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN RUSSIA.

There was a very stormy scene at the meeeting of the Duma on July 2. The question under discussion was (days The Times correspondent) the abolition of capital punishment, and certain representatives of the Ministry resisted tKe proposal. The Minister of Justice and' the Chief Naval Procurator were listened to. 1 The House, however, assumed a vexy different complexion ac soon as General Pavloff the next speaker, appeared. General Pavaloff'e share in the recent hangings of youths in uhe> Baltic provinces has not been forgotten, and bio unpopularity has been increased by has reversal of the sentence of hard .labor passed by a courtmartial at Warsaw on a youth named Papai and the imposition of the death penalty, which was immediately carried' into effect. It is whispered that in doing so he merely obeyed orders from Peterbof, but to the extreme Left he is a man whose hands an© stained 1 with, youthful blood, j The whole of the Left) m& part of tihe Centre at once arose and created a great uproar, hurling epitbeie such as- "Hangmato,!" "Mjuiderer !" J'Cainrt" General Pavloff visibly quailed. His tall figure bent, his hands trembled, and a greenish hoe overspread the unhealthy pallor of ins face. He stood hesitating for some minute© while M. Mouromteeff, the President, rang this bell and tried desperately to make himself heard above the uproar. It was a hopeless task, the noise only grew, louder. One member in the centre of the House thumped his desk, others shook their fiats ei> the Procurator. M. Mouromteeff finally left the chair, and General Pavloff retreated into the hemicyole behind, but the uproar continued. It was evident that the Howe would not be quiet until he left. This he dad some minutes later, forgetting ibis cap in the haste of his exit, which called forth a ■renewed storm of execrations. When the sitting was resumed the Duma resolved that a bill abolishing capital punishment should be passed through all ate stages before the House xose. The authors of the uproar betray symptoms of uneaßineee regarding the wisdom of their behaviour. The Minister of the Interior has received an address from 9000 Siberian peasants protesting against the abolition of capital punishment, and denouncing tiie Duma for failing to enact the death penalty against cattle thieves, and for taking an extreme stand on the agrarian question. They artlessly deokre that there is plenty of land.