not been free citizens, and had not been subject to the general laws of the Empire, they would not have been required to take the oath of allegiance. The Imperial manifesto of March 1 exacts the oath of allegiance only from free citizens subject to the operation of all the laws of the State. The question now arises, "What am I; am I a free citizen?" My father was an hereditary noble of the Russian Empire, and my mother was my father's legal wife. According to Russian law I must inherit the rank of my father, and consequently the rights of a free citizen. The most important rights guaranteed by law to a free citizen are, first, the right to personal liberty [so long as he does not commit a crime], and, second, the right to protection for his family and for his property. I myself, however, am deprived of liberty; my family has been broken up; my property has been confiscated by the Third Section,[1] and I am forbidden to engage in the lawful occupations for which I have been specially fitted. I am not allowed to go a step outside the limits of the town of Kurgán; I have been transported to a distance of 3000 kilometers from my family, and I cannot send a letter even to my wife without previously submitting it to strangers for inspection. In view of these facts it is clear that I am neither a nobleman nor a free citizen.
My forcible detention in Siberia, then, raises the question, "Have I not been deprived of all civil rights and sent hither as a forced colonist?" I turn to the laws of the Empire relating to forced colonists deprived of all civil rights, and I find that their situation is precisely analogous to mine with one exception. A forced colonist may hope gradually to reacquire, by successive steps, a part of the rights that have been taken away from him. He may, in time, recover the right to go from place to place within the limits of his province, or even within the limits of Siberia.[2] I, however, can indulge no such hope. I am interned in the town of
- ↑ The Third Section of the Tsar's chancellery formerly included the Department of Imperial Police. That department, however, has since been put under the direct control of the Minister of the Interior.
- ↑ Russian law provides for an amelioration of the condition of poseléntsi, or forced colonists, who have, by continuous good conduct, shown a disposition to reform. After the lapse of more or less time they may obtain permission to move from place to place within certain prescribed limits, and may even attach themselves eventually to rural Siberian communes, and recover some of their lost rights of citizenship. The point made by Mr. Sidorátski is that he cannot be a criminal colonist because he is denied even the privilege, which is granted to the latter, of improving his condition and reacquiring civil rights. He is in an anomalous position not recognized or provided for by law.
