Iron County register., 1885-04-23
Russia's Weak Spot.

There is a certain plausibility in the
suggestion that Russia would giady
avoid the war which her holiness has
+ made almost inevitable, because of the
| wretched state of her treasury and the
| well-nigh impossibility of replenishing
| il. Russia has great advantage over
| England in numbers, and measure biy
| i'm position; aud in the absence of mon
ey her officers would be satisfied to
| Fl hit for glory, and her men perhaps
| for plunder. But neither men nor pos
| ition would count for everything in
| such costest as war with England
would prove. An even greater dispari-
ty of numbers existed during ths-
Crimea, and though frances help Was
OBJ; aimed, the allied forces were scarcely
a handful in comparison with the NOM
inal army of Russia. But though
England could put barely $4,000 men
into the field at the start, she grew
stronger each year, while Russia emerg-
ed from the. war almost bankrupt, and
has never recovered from the blow.
She has struggled along, borrowing
wherever there could be found lend
er, getting steadily deeper in debt, and
never for year being able to show an
honest surplus.
Money is as necessary as men to the
successful prosecution of modern war
fare, aud Russia has none. The Ma
poleonic war left her prostrate, flooded
by paper currency which pushed the
silver ruble to a premium of 32O per
cent. The Crimsa LETT Russia over
$500, 900 900 deeper in debt, and the
Turkish war as much more. lndeed,
Russia has in the last twenty-five years
borrowed over ST. 900. 900, 900; her cur
rency is circulating at a discount of ov-
er 80 per cent, and even in times of
peace the country is running behind
hand at the rate of from SIS, 900, 900 to
S1s, ,OOO, 900 year. How long can a
country keep up such tremendous bor-
rowing? Russia has been practically
shut out from the English money
market since the war with Turkey;
the Continental markets have been
gradually closing to her, and lately it
has seemed apparent that the bankers
of msterdam and Frankfort and Ber-
lin hesitate to trust further a country
whose great natural resources have
been left undeveloped, and whose people
have been ground to the direst poverty.
The enormous extension of the Rus
sian domlnions in late years has thus
far been only tax upon her. 1t would
add immensely to her wealth, of course,
III SuG COuiu SSaS out AZ 1hS
coming contest it will be a serious
weakness. Setting aside the difficulty
of conducting military operations at
such great distances and the danger
that the line of communication may be
attacked in the rear, the expense of
conducting operations at such distanc-
es will be vastly increased. And in
view OF the great army that would be
needed to excite even hope of suore So,
the awful costs of prolonged stru.-
gle might well make a poverty-strick-
en- ma ton hesitate. Even the numbers
are not SO largely in Russia's favor now
as they were in the Crimea. England
is vastly stronger in men and wealth
and organization than she was then,
and can throw the whole strength of
her empire against an enemy on the
Afghan frontier, as she could not thir-
ty years ago. Yet Russia doubtless is
ready to force the contest. She has
much to lose but enormously more to
gain, and though the Government is
the most despotic of modern powers, it
seems to be helpless to withstand any
importunate demand from it's army
Globe Democrat.