He was elected by the Moscow municipal Duma to be a member of the executive ("Uprava"), and took active part in the self-government of the city. During the Russo-Japanese War, he served in the Red Cross and in the Municipal Union for the organization of hospitals, and he was left to take care of the Russian wounded after the Battle of Mukden. When the Russian Revolution of 1905 developed, he took part in the meetings of Zemstvo representatives, but did not join the Cadets, whom he considered to be too doctrinaire and cosmopolitan.