Whilst maintaining in full force the now prevailing statutes which concern the promulgation of local laws touching exclusively the internal affairs of Finland, We have found it necessary to reserve to Ourselves the ultimate decision as to which laws come within the scope of the general legislation of the Empire.  With this in view, We have with Our Royal Hand established and confirmed the fundamental statutes for the working out, revision, and promulgation of laws issued for the Empire, including the Grand Duchy of Finland, which are proclaimed simultaneously herewith[240].

[Footnote 240:  The Rights of Finland, pp. 6-7 also in Pour la Finlande, par J. Deck, p. 43.]

The accompanying enactments made it clear that the Finnish Diet would thenceforth have only consultative duties in respect to any measure which seemed to the Czar to involve the interests of Russia as well as of Finland.  In fact, the proposals of February 15 struck at the root of the constitution, subjecting it in all important matters to the will of the autocrat at St. Petersburg.  At once the Finns saw the full extent of the calamity.  They observed the following Sunday as a day of mourning; the people of Helsingfors, the capital, gathered around the statue of Alexander II., the organiser of their liberties, as a mute appeal to the generous instincts of his grandson.  Everywhere, even in remote villages, solemn meetings of protest were held; but no violent act marred the impressiveness of these demonstrations attesting the surprise and grief of a loyal people.

By an almost spontaneous impulse a petition was set on foot begging the Czar to reconsider his decision.  If ever a petition deserved the name “national,” it was that of Finland.  Towns and villages signed almost en masse.  Ski-runners braved the hardships of a severe winter in the effort to reach remote villages within the Arctic Circle; and within five days (March 10-14) 529,931 names were signed, the marks of illiterates being rejected.  All was in vain.  The Czar refused to receive the petition, and ordered the bearers of it to return home[241].

[Footnote 241:  The Rights of Finland, pp. 23-30.]

The Russian Governor-General of Finland then began a brisk campaign against the Finnish newspapers.  Four were promptly suppressed, while there were forty-three cases of “suspension” in the year 1899 alone.  The public administration also underwent a drastic process of russification, Finnish officials and policemen being in very many cases ousted by Muscovites.  Early in the year 1901 local postage stamps gave place to those of the Empire.  Above all, General Kuropatkin was able almost completely to carry out his designs against the Finnish army, the law of 1901 practically abolishing the old constitutional force and compelling Finns to serve in any part of the Empire—­in defiance of the old statutes which limited their services to the Grand Duchy itself.