As an organ generally reflecting the views of the Government, the _Novoye Vremya_ served at that time as a source of political information for all dignitaries and officials.

The ministers, governors and the vast army of subordinate officials, who wished to ascertain the political course at a given moment, consulted this "well-informed" daily, which, as far as the Jewish question was concerned, pursued but one aim: to make the life of the Jews in Russia unbearable.

Apart from the _Novoye Vremya_, which was read by the Tzar himself, the work of Jew-baiting was also carried on with considerable zeal by the Russian weekly _Grazhdanin_ ("The Citizen"), whose editor, Count Meshcherski, enjoyed not only the personal favor of Alexander III.
but also a substantial Government subsidy.

These metropolitan organs of publicity gave the tone to the whole official and semi-official press in the provinces, and the public opinion of Russia was systematically poisoned by the venom of Judaeophobia.
When the Pahlen Commission was discharged, the Tzar having "attached himself to the opinion of the minority," [1] the Government had no difficulty in finding a few kind-hearted officials who were eager to carry the project framed by this reactionary minority into effect.

The project itself, which had been elaborated in the Ministry of the Interior under the direction of Plehve, the sinister Chief of Police, was guarded with great secrecy, as if it concerned a plan of military operations against a belligerent Power.