A minority of the members of the Committee favored the limitation of the number of Jewish aldermen to one-half, but the majority staunchly defended the old norm, which was one-third.  The representatives of the majority, in particular Count Cherkaski, the burgomaster of Moscow, argued that the Jews constituted not only a religious but also a national entity, that they were still widely removed from assimilation or Russification, that education, far from transforming the Jews into Russians, made them only more successful in the struggle for existence, that it was inadvisable for this reason “to subject the whole Russian element (of the population) to the risk of falling under the domination of Judaism.”

The curious principle of municipal justice by virtue of which the majority of house owners and tax-payers were to be ruled by the representatives of the minority carried the day.  The new Municipal Statute sanctioned the norm of one-third for “non-Christians,” and reaffirmed the ineligibility of Jews to the post of burgomaster.

The law of 1874, establishing general military service and abolishing the former method of conscription, proved the first legal enactment which imposed upon the Jews equal obligations with their fellow-citizens, prior to bestowing upon them equal rights.  To be sure, the new regulation brought considerable relief to the Jews, inasmuch as the heavy burden of military duty which had formerly been borne entirely by the poor burgher class, [1] was now distributed over all estates, while the burden itself was lightened by the reduction of the term of service.  Moreover, the former collective responsibility of the community for the supply of recruits, which had given rise to the institution of “captors” and many other evils, was replaced by the personal responsibility of every individual conscript.  All this, however, was not sufficient to change suddenly the attitude of the Jewish populace towards military service.

[Footnote 1:  On the “burghers” see Vol.  I, p. 308, n. 2.  Concerning the military duty imposed on them see above, p. 23.]

The formerly privileged merchantile class could not reconcile itself easily to the idea of sending their children to the army.  The horrors of the old conscription were still fresh in their minds, and even in its new setting military service was still suggestive of the hideous horrors of the past.  Those who but yesterday had been dragged like criminals to the recruiting stations could not well be expected to change their sentiments over night and appear there of their own free will.  The result was that a considerable number of Jews of military age (21) failed to obey the summons of the first conscription.  Immediately the cry went up that the Jews evaded their military duty, and that the Christians were forced to make up the shortage.  The official pens in St. Petersburg and in the provincial chancelleries became busy scribbling.  The Ministry of War demanded the adoption of Draconian