Wichita eagle., 1888-07-21
THE RUSSIAN REAR.
lNFERIoRITY OF THE MuScoWTE
AS AN ALLY.

As AN ALL
Tho Great Unknown Quantity in Russia-
Defensive Strength Of the Country.
Risks of Franco-Russiaa Alliance.
Military Point of View.
So much for France and her army; what is
the Russian situation! 1t was not the French,
but our deplorable military administration
that beat US in the Crinea, say the Russian
generals. And the scandals revealed during
the Turco- Russian war of 1878 show that
not much Improvement in that quarter had
been made in the q years which separate
Sebastopol from Pievna- The car Is the
sworn enemy of peculation and corruption,
but. alone at the summit OF the bureau
cratic pyramid, Alexander cannot reach
the legions Of 6hbusters who swarm
around its base He may make examples
of colonies and some Of generals, but abuses
continue In spite of imperial efforts at their
suppression. 1t was ascertained very re-
Gently that in some of the cavalry regiments
neither the men nor the horses received their
proper radons; the guilty parties are medi-
Eating in the Oural over their misdemeanors,
put there is no assurance and there can Do
none that with the same INSTRUMENTATION,
the imperial troops will not suffer from the
Same shortcomings OF quartermnsters and
cou,missaries that disgraced the last cam
paign in Bulgaria It is wofui pity, too,
for otherwise Russia would be the first OF all
military powers. She has numbers and she
has quality; her infantry soldier y IN
eoualed: to the steadiness OF she German and
the dash of the Gaui he unites the sobriety OF
the Soaniard and the resignation of the
Turk: he is enduring and be is ingenious;
and to these splendid footraen Russia can
add an interchangeable and innumerable cav
airy. her sotr.as Of Ccssacks, these centaurs
of the sueppes which, hike the hordes OF At
tia. can inundate the territory Of her enc
,r,ies. although the thickly wooded and
rnarshv frontiers Of European Russia are
less appropriate than is commonly imagined
to the movements and deployuent OF
mounted troops
RUssIA'S INFERiORITY.
But Russian generals know not the value
of their men. Many of them learned the
practice Of the art OF wal In Bulgaria. AL
are educated officers, bold and brave. Their
Off GERS are confident, and inspire confidence
and vet it must be admitted that neitne,
Russian generals, nor Russian officers, mol
the Russian staff possess the same cohesion,
the same science or the same experience a
those of Germany. AND supposing them &c
be their EQUALS, slpposing an analogous unity
of command there would still always exist q
double iuferiorisy-that arising from de
fectiya administration and defective or il
sufficient means of concentration. This last
po;nt. given a general European war, is Of
capital importance, especially Tor Russia;
eyentUal allies.
( In France and in Germany the time neces
/ sary for the mobilization of ], COX, 900 OF Iner
can be estimated TO within four and twenty
hours In Russia that time is the unknown
quantity of the redoubtable problem, ane
without that unknown quantity 1t Is lmpos
sible to calculate the real value OF Russian
co-operation How many days may De re
CURED or how many weeks or even months
how many hundred thousand soldiers cal
he mustered in the first line, how many il
the second, how many in reserve. nobody cal
answer. for nobody knows how to answer
and only one thing is absolutely certain, ant
this the Russian newspapers confess, Rus
sia's mobilization must be incomparably ant
aeighbors Nor could it be otherwise, will
distance infinitely greater, with railway
less numerous less well appointed and man
aged. of which the majority have only
single track, and very few have special plat
forms for the eInbarkation and landing o
horses, troops and material These disad
yantages cannot be contested, and they alon
are sufficient to explain why, in provision O
events, the imperial government should hav
taken those precautions along the frontier
which have so exercised the susceptibilitie
of Austria-Hungary.
This urdeniable inferiority Of Russia
especially dangerous to her future allies A
home Russia is safe; she may be invaded, a
she was by Charles VII and by Napoleon
but Russias invaders generally fare badly
and to get out Of her vast territory is easie
than to get into it, and what would be tn
fate of western ally not prudent enough {
adjourn its action until Russian mob.liza
ton be entirely completed. True. Russia
enemies will scarcely allow her allies to selec
their moment
THE RISKS NOT EQUAL