Part 41 (1/2)
FRENCH ORIGINAL.
Les destinees de la Providence nous ayant fait prendre en possession le Grand d.u.c.h.e de Finlande, Nous avons voulu, par l'acte present, confirmer et ratifier la Religion et les Lois fondamentales du Pays, ainsi que les privileges et droits, dont chaque cla.s.se dans le dit Grand d.u.c.h.e, en particulier, et tous les habitants en general, qu'ils aient une position elevee ou inferieure, ont joui jusqu'ici selon la Const.i.tution. Nous promettons de maintenir tous ces avantages et les lois fermes et inebranlables dans leur pleine force.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION.
Providence having placed us in possession of the Grand Duchy of Finland, We have desired, by the present act, to confirm and ratify the Religion and fundamental Laws of the Land, as well as the privileges and rights, which each cla.s.s in the said Grand Duchy, in particular, and all the inhabitants in general, be their position high or low, have hitherto enjoyed according to the Const.i.tution.
We promise to maintain all these benefits and laws firm and unshaken in their full force.
Two days later, at a solemn audience held in the Cathedral, the Tzar received the homage of the Estates as Grand Duke of Finland. The Estates took the oath of fealty to the new sovereign, and affirmed, at the same time, the inviolability of the Const.i.tution; the Emperor's declaration was read aloud, the doc.u.ment was delivered into the custody of the Marshal of the n.o.bles; after which a herald of n.o.ble birth stood before the throne and proclaimed: ”Vive Alexandre I., Empereur de toutes les Russies et Grand-duc de Finlande!”
The ceremony concluded with a speech from the Emperor, in the French language, bearing witness to the sentiments with which he had received the homage and oath of the country's representatives, and testifying that it was an _Act of Union_ that had just been effected.
The Emperor and Grand Duke submitted to the Diet propositions on the four following questions:--
1. The organisation of the Government of the land, or the inst.i.tution of a State Council.
2. Taxes and finance.
3. Military organisation.
4. Monetary system.
Thus was Finland's new destiny inaugurated.
The conqueror found himself in the presence of a people firmly attached to their political inst.i.tutions and their civil laws, the liberal principles of which had taken root in the minds and habits of the citizens. To have employed physical force in order to incorporate this country with Russia would not have accorded with the Emperor's personal views, nor conduced to the immediate pacification which the political interests of the Empire necessitated. Hence Alexander preferred an ”Act of Union.” He confirmed the old Const.i.tution, and summoned the representatives of the nation, so as to establish, conjointly with them, the new order of things.
The Finlanders, foreseeing the final issue of the war and the impossibility of a return to the past, could not hesitate to meet half-way the proposals of the Emperor Alexander, who had given them, as a security for the future, the most formal a.s.surance to maintain the former Const.i.tution. In Sweden the king had been dethroned; the Swedish government had no more power over Finland; the Finnish Estates, elected and a.s.sembled according to law, could alone at that moment represent with perfect right the Finnish people. Hence the authority they made use of in binding the inhabitants of the country by the oath taken to the new sovereign, on the basis of the Const.i.tution confirmed by him, was acknowledged both by the Emperor and the people. The Emperor expressed this in his manifesto ”to all the inhabitants of Finland,”
published at Borg, April 4, 1809. No protest was heard in the country.
The union thus established was clearly defined by the Emperor, not only in the above-mentioned speech of 29th March and his speech at the conclusion of the Diet, on July 18, 1809, but also on other occasions--for example, in the manifesto of March 27, 1810, concerning the militia, from which we extract the introduction:--
”His Imperial Majesty's Gracious Manifesto.
”From the moment that, through the Will of Providence, Finland's destiny was entrusted to Us, it has been Our aim to rule that land in conformity with the liberties of the Nation and the rights a.s.sured to it by its Const.i.tution.
”The proofs of devotion the Inhabitants have given Us since the Oath of Fealty, which they tendered to Us of their perfect free will through their Representatives a.s.sembled at the Diet, have only conduced to strengthen Us in that purpose.
”All the steps We have hitherto taken, with regard to the internal administration of the Country, are simply a consequence of and an addition to that fundamental idea. The maintenance of the Religion and the Laws, the summoning of the Estates to a general Diet, the formation of a State Council in the Nation's midst, and the inviolability of the judicial and administrative authority, afford sufficient proofs to a.s.sure the Finnish Nation (_Finska Nationen_) of its political existence and the rights appertaining thereto.”
As has been said above, one of the questions submitted by Alexander I.
to the Diet was the establishment of a State Council, to carry out the government of the country. The statutes for this Council were issued on August 18, 1809, and its name was in 1816 changed to Imperial Senate for Finland; in the manifesto, in which this change of name was effected, the Emperor took the occasion to repeat his ”a.s.surance of a separate Const.i.tution of the country, under Our Sceptre and that of Our successors.”
According to the Const.i.tution, the Emperor and Grand Duke is a.s.sisted in the work of governing Finland by the Senate, the Governor-General, and the office of the Finnish Secretary of State residing in St. Petersburg.
The Emperor and Grand Duke has the right, in criminal matters, to pardon, to commute the penalty of death, to p.r.o.nounce the rehabilitation of and to return forfeited property. He commands the military forces, provides for the defence of the country, declares war, concludes treaties of peace, of alliance, and so forth. He appoints to the higher offices of State. He has the right of conferring t.i.tles on persons who have particularly well merited of the Sovereign or of the country; he may also raise n.o.bles to the rank of Baron or Count. By means of naturalisation the Emperor may grant to foreigners and Russian subjects the status of Finnish citizens.
The Senate is composed of two departments--that of Justice, which is the supreme tribunal, and the Administrative Department, which manages the general administration of the country. The two departments, united, form the ”Plenum” of the Senate. The Governor-General presides both over the Plenum and over each of the departments, which is composed, generally, of ten members, including the Vice-President. The Administrative Department comprises the following sections--Judicial matters, Home Affairs, Finance, Control, Public Wors.h.i.+p and Instruction, Agriculture, Communications, Commerce and Industries. There should also be a section for military matters, but since the Finnish army has been disbanded, as we shall see later on, this section no longer exists.
Each of these sections has a Senator at its head, besides which, two Senators are deputy heads of the Home Affairs and Finance sections; the Vice-President and one of the members of the Administrative Department have no portfolios. The number of the Senators is not always, however, brought up to this full complement.
The Plenum of the Senate is composed of the President and all the Senators, or, according to the nature and importance of the business at hand, of four Senators from each department, besides the President.