CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT. 36 1
electing these local representatives are constituted in a very peculiar manner. Every five houses have the election of one deputy for the communal assembly, and these again choose a dele- gate for the district assemblies, in the proportion of one man to every ten houses. These representatives elect their own parish officers and discuss and decide all parish affairs, such as the division of the fields, the arrangement of the tenancies, the proper distribution of the taxes, the audit of accounts, the supervision of the recruiting business, the admittance of new members into the commune, petitions and complaints to the Tsar and the ministry, and similar matters. As a rule, these communal assemblies take place regularly three times a year ; but they may be called more fre- quently if business of importance requires it. In conjunction with these assemblies are village tribunals, consisting of two elected members of the commune called ' conscience, people.' Injuries and offences of every kind, as well as disputes relating to property, not involving more than five roubles, come under the jurisdiction of these popular tribunals.
The grand-duchy of Finland, ceded to the Emperor of Russia by the treaty of Frederickshamm, September 17, 1809, has preserved, by special .crant of Alexander I. (renewed by the decrees of the Emperor Nicholas, of December 24, 1825, and of Alexander II., of March 3, 1855), its ancient constitution, dating from the year 1772, and reformed in 1789. This charter provides for a national parlia- ment, consisting of four estates, the nobles, the clergy, the burghers, and the peasants. The right of legislation and of general taxation is nominally in the hands of this assembly, though in reality it is exercised by a senate appointed by the ' Emperor Grand-duke.' This senate was created by an ordinance of Alexander I., of October 25, 1811, and consisted first of three members, called the 'Com- mittee for the Affairs of Finland.' Another ukase, of February 12, 1812, created a Governor-general of Finland, in whom was vested the whole executive power, as representative of the sovereign. In 1816, a consultative body, called the 'Imperial Senate of Finland,' was placed at the side of the ministerial council, as the ' Committee for the Affairs of Finland,' and denominated, after a while, ' the Senate.' The ' Imperial Senate,' originally consisting of fourteen members, then of sixteen, and finally, up to the present time, of eighteen, is nominated by the sovereign for three years, and chosen the one-half from the nobility of Finland, and the other half from among the classes of citizens and peasants. The organ of their communication with the emperor is a secretary of state for the grand-duchy of Finland, residing at St. Petersburg.
Poland, which had a constitution of its own from 1815 to 1830, and a separate government till 1864, was deprived at the latter date
