New-York tribune., 1896-12-06

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ADMINISTRATIVE DGFFlCrLTIES
The difficulties Of centralized administration
are always i'm direct proportion to the extent and
territorial variety Of the country TO be GOV
erned, and in order to understand how slowly
and imperfccty IL works In Russia II must be
remembered that the whole Of the vast region
stretching from the Polar Ocean 10 the Caspian,
and from the shores Of the Baltic to those OF the
Pacific Is administered from ST. Petersburg.
The genuine burcaucrat has wholesome dread
of formal responsibility. and generally tries TO
avoid 1T by passing 1t on to his superior AS
soon. therefore. as affairs are caught up by the
administrative machine they begin To ascend,
and unless they get lost 10y the way. which
fortunately happens in at least forty cases out
of every hundred. arrive in course Of time In the
hands of the Minister at 81. Petersburg. or. ao-
cording to the recent usake. in the Cars hands.
The consequence is that the Ministerial depart
ments al 81. Petersburg have until now been
flooded with papers, many Of them of tn" mos:
trivial import from all parts Of the Empire,
the very number being sufficient to preclude the
possibility Of any prOpc- attention being given
TO them This, of course has the effect OF faci,i-
tatng dishonesty, venality and official corrup-
tiOn.
When Peter the Great one day announced his
intention of hanging every official guilt Of dis %
honesty the Procurator-General frankly replied
that if His Majesty IsIt his project into cxecu-
ton there would j." no officials left I'VE ali
stea" added the worthy official "Jhc only diff
ference is that some of us steal larger amounts
and more openly than others.
Sine" these words were spoken nearly two
centuries have passed But while Russia has
made progress in many respects there has been
practically no change i'm the moral character of
the administration. and To this day what the
Russians describe as "I'ezgreshniyc Dokhodi."
"sinioss revenues PLAY every bit as consider
able "A role in MuscOvit. ofcialdom "Bak-
sheesh' does in that of Turkey or Egypt. The
rulers of Russia have always been perfectly
aware of the existence Of these abuses. and have
srivcn to roOi them out. but without success.
In a centralized bureaucratic administration. =
which every official is to Il certain extent respon
siDe for the sins OF his subordinate IL Is al
ways extremely difficult to bring n cuprit to JUS
tice for he is sure to be protected by his su-
poriOrs And when the superiors are them
selves habitua offenders the culprt may rely
on being saved from exposure and punishment.
The Gar indeed. might do much toward expos
ing and Furnishing the guilty II he could venture
upon calling public opinion to his assistance.
Bu in reality he Is compelled to become Il party
10 the system Of hushirg up official delnquencies.
He himself is the first official of the realm and
he knows that the abuse OF power By his sub
ordinatcs has a tendency To produce hostility
toward the fountain or all official power. More
over. it Is held that frequent punishment OF
officials would diminish public respect for the
Government and deterIorate discipline. in conse-
ouence Of which II Is considered expedient to give
official dishonesty as little publicity as possible
The efforts that have been made until now to
put stop to administrative abuses OF the kind
have been mainly In the creation OF safeguards
such as vouchers certificates. inspectors and
auditors that merely serve to ccmpIicate ad-
ditionally the system Of government and to
create fresh means OF peculation.
THE ONLY EFFECTUAL REMEDY
The only effectual remedy for those official
abuses which lie at the root Of everything that is
evil in Russia and constitute n bar 10 her de-
veopment and prosperity lies in placing the
administration under popular and constitutional
control. All the efforts Of the former Cars to
check the evil by means of ingenious bureau
cratic devices have proved entirely fruitless.
Even the iron will and the gigantic energy OF the
first Nicholas were insufficient for the task II
is therefore. to be feared that in spite Of the
honesty Of purpose. and the excellence of In
he too. will find himself equally powerless to