The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-04

a population twice that of the United States
almost as If that population were one
man?
But say Russia should become involved
in war. What could be done to her? She
has no great seaport to be destroyed by
bombardment. To reach Moscow, her in
dustrial center, would require a march of
one thousand miles from the nearest from
tier. But after Moscow is taken, what
then? Moscow could be annihilated and
four-fifths of the Russian people would not
be appreciably affected thereby. For, as
! have said, Russia is great nation of
farmers, but at the same time she is a ma
ton that asks little of outsiders in the way
of manufactures. Each village is almost
self-sustaining, not because the village pro-
duces so much, but because its members
consume so little
No victory gained over Russia would be
aught but a barren one Was any victory
ever more triumphant than that over the
Russians by Napoleon? Yet did any defeat
ever bring more ruin and destruction in
its path than that self-same victory? And
is there any nation to-day that would care
to undertake the invasion of this empire,
now many times stronger than when the
great Corsican found ruin in its conquest?
After all, 1T is the people themselves that
give Russia her great military strength.
about 80 per cent Of this people are
would be one of intoerable hardship to the
lowest class of people in the United States.
yet that to the mouzhik is one of comfort
and plenty The Russian peasant-and the
soldiers are simply peasants doing tempo
rary military service-lives on tea and black
ner and tea and black bread for supper.
This is his fare every day in the week and
every week in the year. And he likes IL.
His clothes are the toughest and fewest i'm
aginable. cotton shirt and trousers, a
pair of tall boots and cap make his sum-
mer costume. For winter he simply puts u
long coat of shecpskins over his cotton
clothes, substitutes felt boots for his leather
ones and buries his head in a fur cap. The
Russian soldier lives in content and joy on
what the English redcoat would spurn.
But aside from all these considerations.
there is one. quality possessed by. that
tawny-haired, blonde-bearded troop I
at Samara that would alone make Russia
dictator. That quality is obedience. One
of the greatest trials of the commander of
American troops is to teach them implicit
obedience. And that is more or less true
of the troops of all civilized powers except
Russia But there is no more need to teach
the Russian soldier obedience than there is
to teach a duck to swim The mouzhik
obeyS by instinct 1t is not even second ma
tions he has obeyed. He knows nothing
else, he expects nothing else he wants moth
The mouzhilS looks upon his employer as
his master. The owner of a large manufac-
turing plant who employs many hands in
St Petersburg told me that once a fire broke
out in his buildings near large oil tank.
An explosion was possible at any moment.
as unhesitatingly as If 1t were their regu-
lar daily work. He said that II he had
told one of them to cross burning plank
the man would have crossed 1t without hes
itation. He might have gone through ana
been killed, but that was a question for his
masters to decide; It is none of his bust
Thus it is with the soldiers. Russian Off
GERS can plan and work with the full con-
seriousness that no matter what orders tney
may give, no matter If the execution OF
command means the destruction OF every
man in the army, those orders viii be obeyed
absolutely.