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(Many people gained their livelihood by the Board of Irrigation,

especially one highly conscientious and musical family: all the

daughters played on stringed instruments, and Alexey

Alexandrovitch knew the family and had stood godfather to one of

the elder daughters.) The raising of this question by a hostile

department was in Alexey Alexandrovitch's opinion a dishonorable

proceeding, seeing that in every department there were things

similar and worse, which no one inquired into, for well-known

reasons of official etiquette. However, now that the glove had

been thrown down to him, he had boldly picked it up and demanded

the appointment of a special commission to investigate and verify

the working of the Board of Irrigation of the lands in the

Zaraisky province. But in compensation he gave no quarter to the

enemy either. He demanded the appointment of another special

commission to inquire into the question of the Native Tribes

Organization Committee.