' 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 Ministry 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 resolved to take efficacious measures to put an end to this sad state of things, and it hopes that you will aid it in discovering the method of doing this without injuring the revenue."
' The first resolution of our experts, which was carried with only five dissentients, was in favour of giving to the communes the right to open communal public-houses.
c The second point decided by the commission was in favour of a reduction of the number of public-houses. It was resolved that the Zemstvos and municipal councils should have the right to decide the number, the size, and the type of public-houses in their locality; the right to issue licenses for commissions to be reserved to a special licensing board, composed of justices of the peace, members of the delegates of the Zemstvos, marshals of the noblesse; and the normal proportion of publichouses to population to be 1 to 1000, which is equivalent to closing about two-thirds of the existing places of sale. The Zemstvos are to have the right of increasing or decreasing this proportion by 25 per cent. They are also to have the right to close them altogether, or open more than the normal number with the assent of the Minister of Finance and the approval of the provincial assembly. * They decided in favour of confining the sale of spirits in the rural communes to two descriptions of shops. The first are those with the right of sale for drinking on the premises, as you say in England, which answers to your ordinary public-house. The license is only to be given to them on condition that they also provide tea and food for their customers.
' The second description of shops are those for the sale of liquor in corked bottles for consumption at home. Hotels and railway buffets are to be left as they are. Restaurants where drink is sold are to be limited in number by the municipal councils.
' Every three years lists of localities where public-houses can be established are to be drawn up by the Zemstvos, with the assistance of the excise officers. A proposal to permit the local commissary of the police to assist in drawing up these lists was defeated after a very animated dispute.
' Another important decision was that which interdicted any member of the Zemstvos or municipal councils to hold a license for the sale of drink, and the owners of the houses where drink is sold are not to be permitted to vote in the settlement of any questions relating to the drinkshops. They are only allowed to have a consultative voice — a very necessary stipulation*
' It was also decided to forbid the opening of any drink-shop within less than 40 to 100 sagenes (from 90 to 230 yards) from any church, school, or other public building in towns, or within less than 100 to 200 sage'nes wi villages.
' Communes and individual proprietors are to be allowed to forbid the opening of drink -shops upon their own land.