Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1885-05-13
NOTES ON RUSsIA.
From the correspondent o, tho rrlbur


LONDON, April A.-Those who know
Russia best are divided In opinion a
to the probable domestic effects of tn
great foreign war she seems ready 4
undertake with light heart. 1t i
the surest means OF crushing discontep
at home, say the Imperialists. Tn
late Emperor Of the French thought tn,
same thing about france in 1870. L
will give Nihilism and other forms O
opposition q better chance than ever
say others. And they point to tn,
statement that appeared not long sine.
that within the last three years more
than two hundred officers Of the Rus
sian army have been arrested As Nihi
iIsts. Isan army homegrown bed with
Be ton likely to fight?" ask they, and
taey go on 10 tell you that Nihilism IL
FAR strO oyer in proportion TO mum bert
among privates than among Off GERS
which one may take leave to doubt,
Then there are people who predict that
Russia will be bankrupt in q twelve.
month; that she cannot even now float
u loan; that the commercial classes will
insist on peace as the sole escape from
ruin; that the army itself will speedily
feel the pressure for want of supplies;
and 30 ON.
These latter predictions are perhaps
more common among those who Judge
Of Russia from the Western point of
view. i heard yesterday An interestin ~
account from a source which thouoh
not Russian is Slavonic; from q man
~ 4 a OF N rioh
which the Pan-Slayonlc
movement, u 1t proceeds, is sure some
lay to absorb. This community, like
others, does not want to be absorbed,
but my friend Is enough of an Oriental
10 be u fatalist. "If ever" said he,
- Russia goes to Constantinople, you
will zee the Gar proclaim himself at
)nce Emperor of the SLAVE, or some
such title. The Pan .Slavonic move
nent is Pan Russian movement, pure
and simple. Not one of US could resist
Il; we should inevitably be swallowed
up in the vortex"
AS to the bankruptcy of Russia, he
was of opinion it did not matter, for
he purposes Of war. He did not RELY
)n the commonplace maxim that no
nation Is prevented from making war
~ want of money. But" said he.
: you do not understand how Russia
makes war; or how We ourselves make
I. When we entered on our Campaign
n Turkey we had not 500, 900 in the
Treasury. We fought at the instipa
ion of Kussia, but Russia sent us no
money.
What happened WAS this when NV
command arrived in village l sent
word to the chief persons that what.
,ver they had of food or clothing that
,ould be spared should be brought to-
he camp. 1t was brought freely. Il
gave the owners little tickets for their
property. These orders were, suppose,
paid by the Treasury when they got
my money;-loDg after of course. ,"
The Russians, he continued, will do tho
'ame thing; "oDly | do not know
y neither they would trouble themselves
o give the little tickets; or when the
title tickets would be paid. But you
nay rely upon 1t that the Russian
oldiers will be fed aud clothed"
The russian people, the common
people, would suffer he thought, but
mainly In one way. There are few
hings for which a Russian peasant
wants money. One of them is drink.
Food and clothing he can manage with
,ut paying for them in coin or paper,
,ut drink is only TO be had in exchange
or money. and there will be little
money In Russia II her ports are closed
md she can sell no more wheat to
Europe. Now the peasant cannot live
without brandy or spirits of some
shape. He drinks enormously, and II
his supply of drink is stopped he will
'ecome discontented being, likely tn
listen to Nihilist or to anybody else
who will refill his bottle.
The commercial classes In my Slav
friends opinion will be left to take care
of henselves, and 1t is not the Govern.
mont of the Gar that will concern itself
With their misfortunes. Public opinion
n Russia there Is none or none outside
he army and official circles. That tn
.rmy has been N ore or less eaten into
by Nihilism he thought probable,
)ut that 1t mattered little. The army
n time Of peace is one thing. There
IS little promotion and 1t goes by favor
tism.
But 1t is another thing In war. War
brings with 1t promotions, rewards,
everything which soldier
,ares for, and nobody cares more for
crosses than Russian;--no, not even a
A Captain who saw
never a chance Of becoming a Colonel
wonld be very likely to coquet with
Nihilism; ''surtout, sill n'avsit pas de
But the moment the road
% higher rank Is open, he will fling all
hat to the winds.
Nevertheless, the condition Of the
army Is believed here to be
but good from q military
point of view. The corruption, malver.
'ation, stealing, are beyond anything
known In any other service, the Turk
sh perhaps excepted. A Russian Colo
mel or General who did not levy . profit
IN army contracts would be, In Russian
ayes, q very singular person indeed
The stealing that emptied the French
arsenals and magazines during the lat
ter year of the Third Empire was q
.sifie to what goes on In Russis.
l once heard this subject discussed
by . man who had been tor many years
TO Russia. His opinion
was expressed In stronger language
than have used above, and he told one
Or two anecdotes, for which he vouch-
ri. A Russian engineer officer, of very
high rank had to keep in repair long
stretch of road. Payments were made
At so much verst, the distances on
this road were denoted by stones set up
by imperial authority, and an imperial
Inspector was sent down regularly to-
report on the number of versts repaired
The engineer officer Of very high
rank, being unable to square tho in
spector, moved the verst stones near IT
to each other, and got pay in I-opor-
ton. The other story Is perhaps more
typical. The Colonel of "a certain Rus.
sian regiment, large Landed proprie.
tor, managed 10 get his regiment station
ed near his estate. One day tho EN-
peror appeared on the scene without
notice and ordered parade of the