Polish provinces--the Prussian
Emancipation Edict of 1812 the memorandum very shrewdly passes over in
silence--and on the system of compulsory schooling adopted by Austria.

Taking its clue from the West, the Council delineates three ways of
bringing about "a radical transformation of this people":

1: _Cultural reforms_, such as the establishment of special secular
schools for the Jewish youth, the fight against the old-fashioned
heders and melammeds, the transformation of the rabbinate, and the
prohibition of Jewish dress.

2. _Abolition of Jewish autonomy_, consisting in the dissolution of
the Kahals and the modification of the system of special Jewish
taxation.

3. _Increase of Jewish disabilities_, by segregating from their
midst all those who have no established domicile and are without a
definite financial status, with a view of subjecting them to
disciplinary correction through expulsions, legal restrictions,
intensified conscription, and similar police measures.

In this manner--the memorandum concludes--it may be hoped that by
co-ordinating all the particulars of this proposition with the
fundamental idea of reforming the Jewish people, and _by taking
compulsory measures to aid_, the goal of the Government will be
attained.

As a result of this _expose_ of the Council of State, an imperial
rescript was issued on December 27, 1840, calling for the establishment
of a "Committee for Defining Measures looking to the Radical
Transformation of the Jews of Russia." Count Kiselev, Minister of the
Crown Domains, was appointed chairman. The other members included the
Ministers of Public Instruction and the Interior, the Assistant-Minister
of Finance, the Director of the Second Section of the imperial
chancellery, and the Chief of the Political Police, or the dreaded
"Third Section." [1] The latter was entrusted with the special task "to
keep a watchful eye on the intrigues and actions which may be resorted
to by the Jews during the execution of this matter."

[Footnote 1: See p. 21, n. 1.]

Moreover, the _expose_ of the Council of State, which was to serve as
the program of the new Committee, was sent out to the governors-general
of the Western region [1] "confidentially_, for personal information and
consideration." The reformatory campaign against the Jews was thus
started without any formal declaration of war, under the guise of
secrecy and surrounded by police precautions. The procedure to be
f