in her external relations. All international treaties, including
matters relating to the conduct of war (though laws on the liability of
Finnish citizens to military service fall under the competency of the
Finnish Diet), are matters common to Russia and Finland as one empire,
one international unit, and are dealt with by the proper Russian
authorities. This is admitted by all Finlanders. But M. Stolypin
extended Russian authority by making it paramount in all matters which
have a bearing on Russian or Imperial interests.

The attempt to curtail Finnish constitutional liberty has taken
different forms. Early in 1908 the Russian Council of Ministers, over
which M. Stolypin presides, drew up a "Journal," or Protocol, to which
the Czar on June 2d gave his sanction. The chief provisions of this
Protocol were briefly as follows: All legislative proposals and all
administrative matters "of general importance," before being brought to
the Sovereign for his sanction, or, as is the case with Bills to be
presented to the Diet, for his preliminary approval, as well as all
reports drawn up by Finnish authorities for the Czar's inspection, must
be communicated to the Russian Council of Ministers. The Council will
then decide "which matters concerning the Grand Duchy of Finland also
have a bearing on the interests of the empire, and, consequently, call
for a fuller examination on the part of the Ministries and Government
Boards." If the Council decide that a matter has a bearing on the
interests of the empire the Council prepare a report on it, and, should
the Council differ from the views taken up by the Finnish authorities,
the Finnish Secretary of State, who alone should be the constitutional
channel for bringing Finnish matters before the Sovereign's notice, can
do so only in the presence of the President of the Council of Ministers
or another Russian Minister. But in practise it has frequently happened
that the Council send in their report beforehand, and the Czar's