308] FOBEIGN HISTOEY. pm.
that it was for him alone to decide what matters were of interest to the whole empire and what were of interest to Finland sepa- rately. This manifesto produced a general feeling of alarm among the people, as it seemed to foreshadow the withdrawal of all the constitutional privileges which they had hitherto enjoyed. They had a regularly graduated and autonomous system of administration, of taxation, and of justice. With the exception of the governor, no Eussian official had legal power in Finland; and no official, administrative or judicial, could be deprived of his office, except for misconduct proved in legal form. Similarly no Finlander could be deprived of life, liberty, or property, except in due course of law. He could not, as in Eussia proper and Eussian Poland, be arrested by " ad- ministrative decree" and deported to Siberia; nor could his house be entered and his papers and property seized without lawful warrant.
All these rights and privileges were, it was felt, imperilled by the high-handed action of the Government in the question of the new military law, and a commission was accordingly appointed by the diet to report upon the whole subject both from a military and a constitutional point of view. In its report the commission declared that the proposed treatment of the Finnish Army was inadmissible alike in substance and in form, but suggested that the diet should as far as possible accept the new military burdens now sought to be imposed, by raising the Finnish Army from its present peace footing of 5,600 to 12,000 men. The Eussian demand was for 36,000 men with a service of five years with the Colours, whereas the com- mission recommended that the present three years' service should be retained. It was part of the Eussian plan to draft the men into the Eussian Army for service in distant parts of the empire under Eussian officers, whereas the Constitution declares none but Finnish citizens to be eligible as officers, and prescribes their retention at home for the defence of Finland, except when in time of war their services may not be required at home and may be called for to aid in general defence. It was also part of the Eussian plan to garrison Finland with Eussian soldiers who would in fact be an army of occupation and an instrument for stamping out the Finnish nationality; and the commission accordingly reported in strong terms against these features of the scheme, which was finally rejected by the diet. Deputa- tions from the diet and numerously signed petitions protesting against the violation of Finland's constitutional rights were sent to St. Petersburg, but in vain, and a deputation of eminent foreigners who came to the Eussian capital in June with this object was refused an audience. The result was that a very large proportion of the inhabitants emigrated to Canada, Aus- tralia, and the United States, most of the newspapers of the country were suppressed on account of articles on the consti- tutional rights of the Finns, and the right of public meeting
