A Herzen Reader

My attention is already directed to the upbringing of young people. I have given instructions to the effect that it be organized in the spirit of religious truths, respect for property rights, and observance of the fundamental principles of the social order, and that in educational institutions of all types no overt or clandestine preaching will be allowed of those destructive concepts which are equally harmful to all aspects of the moral and material well-being of the people. But instruction which meets the true needs of youth would not bring the benefit expected from it if in private family life there was teaching not in accord with the rules of Christian piety and the obligations of loy­alty. For this reason I have the firm hope that my views on this sub­ject will be fervently acted upon in the sphere of domestic education.

No less important for the true benefit of the state in its totality and for every one of my subjects is the complete inviolability of the right to property in all its aspects, as determined by the general laws and by the Statutes of February 19, 1861. Independent of the legality of this right, one of the most fundamental principles of well-functioning civil societies, it is indissolubly tied to the development of private and

national wealth, which are tightly linked to one another. Any doubts about these relationships could only be raised by enemies of the social order.

The affirmation and preservation of these principles should be the aspiration of all those invested with the rights and responsibilities of government service. In a proper state system the first duty of all those called to serve me and the fatherland consists of precise and active fulfillment of their responsibilities without any deviation in any branch of government. The authorities' excessive behavior and their lack of action are equally harmful. Only with the steadfast fulfillment of these responsibilities can the unity of government actions, which is necessary for the realization of its views and the achievement of its goals, be guaranteed.

I am aware that some people in government service have participated in the disclosure of harmful rumors or judgments about the actions or intentions of the state and even in the dissemination of those teachings, contrary to social order, whose development should not be permitted. The very rank of civil servant renders, in such cases, greater weight to their words and in the same way facilitates the distortion of the state's views. This type of confusion cannot be toler­ated. All those in management positions must keep track of the actions of their subordinates

and require of them the direct, exact, and un­swerving fulfillment of their assigned responsibilities, without which harmonious governance is impossible, and by which they themselves must set an example of respect for authority.

Finally, for the decisive success of the measures being taken against the ruinous teachings which have developed in the social sphere and which seek to shake the most fundamental bases of faith, morality, and social order, all heads of the separate branches of gov­ernment are required to keep in mind those other healthy, conservative, and reliable forces with which Russia has always been richly endowed, and which, to this day, thanks be to God, it has in abundance. These forces consist of all the classes in which property rights are valued, the right to landownership, guaranteed and defended in law, social rights founded in and determined by law, principles of social order and social security, principles of state unity and sound organization, the principles of morality and the sacred truths of our faith. In view of their important properties these strengths must be utilized and preserved when officials are appointed in all branches of govern­ment. In that way we will be saved from ill-intentioned reprimands in all levels of society concerning their confidence in the governing