Railways; in 1894 he was Chief Railway Inspector. Councillor of State Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Khilkov was appointed Director of the Ministry of Communications by imperial decree on 4 January 1895, and on 2 April of the same year was confirmed as Minister of Transport and Communications. He was in this Ministerial post during the decisive years of the "Great Siberian Way" construction and also during the Russian-Japanese War. Khilkov delegated relationships with labor to his deputies, who also lacked the will to reform the system. Basic labor and employment standards, discussed since 1902, were not implemented until 1907. Instead of raising wages, Khilkov and his bureaucracy settled for paying only periodic bonuses to a minority of employees. Revolution of 1905 At the outbreak of the Revolution of 1905 the railroadmen appealed to Khilkov peacefully. Khilkov passed these concerns to the tsar and proposed introduction of a very limited workers' representation through elected shop elders. On 8 February 1905 Khilkov decreed nine-hour working day and offered other concessions, although only temporarily. Half-hearted response fell on deaf ears, and the railroad system was paralyzed by a creeping general strike. In March Khilkov held another conference and again offered nothing more than abstract "fair approach" to workers' grievances. On he proposed a creation of a national railroad workers' pension fund managed by elected representatives of regional railroads. The strikes continued throughout the summer and in October 1905 erupted in a national general strike demanding a democratically elected government. Khilkov tried to mediate the crisis with labor representatives in Moscow, but only enraged them with anecdotes from the past. It turned out that he was unaware, or pretended to be unaware, of the martial law imposed by the Imperial Government upon the railroadmen. He had to return to Saint Petersburg by a horse carriage: his flagship railroad was paralyzed by a strike that he could neither subdue nor appease. Unable to stop the strike, Khilkov resigned on . Honours and awards : Order of St. Alexander Nevsky : Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class : Order of St. Anna, 2nd class : Order of Saint Stanislaus, 1st class : Order of the Legion of Honour : Grand Cross of the Order of the Iron Crown (Austria) : Grand Cross of the Order of the Rising Sun : Order of the Saviour : Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus - July