The Czar’s Decree

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 22, 1903

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 29, No. 16.

The Czar’s Decree

The Czar’s proclamation of religious freedom to the inhabitants of his realm has given great satisfaction throughout the Christian world, and there has been quite a universal sentiment that the decree would be carried out. It was at first stated that this would apply to Jew and Gentile alike; but later advices from Jewish sources in Russia indicate that the Jews do not expect any amelioration of their condition because of the decree. Baron Gunzberg, of St. Petersburg, states that “the decree means nothing special for the Russian Jews.” Sokoloff, a Warsaw publisher, states that “the Jewish question remains unchanged.” It is their belief that the discriminatory laws which have worked such hardship among the Jews are still in force. Prince Krapotkin, a Russian revolutionist, in an article in the London Daily Mail, declares that the decree is the work of the minister of the interior and the procurator of the holy synod, and is designed to reduce to a minimum the reforms loudly demanded by the Russian populace. It seems unquestionable, however, that the decree is a step toward religious freedom in Russia.