Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1904-04-25


ago from business mission in the Or
lent. He came home satiate with the
political and war gossip Of the seaport
cities from Nagasak to Shanghai.
With packet Of contraband letters
rom Russian Naval and Army officers
in his grip, he comes pretty near hav-
ing foundations for the beliefs he ex-
presses regarding the issues Of the con-
flict now in progress in the Yellow Sea
and fast approaching in the Yalu
basin.
THE cause Of the disasters to the
Russian feet" said DR.. Russell. is found
In the fact that the Russians are pro-
japanese. The people of Russia are
|pro-Japanese because the japanese are
fighting In a just cause. They are
pro-Japanese because the Russian side
is the wrong side. Russians are gen.
orally more sensitive to principle than
any other people in the world.
THE second reason why the Russians
are pro-Japanese. is that they con-
slider the worst enemy Of theirs to be
the Russian Government. History
shows that only after unsuccessful
war campaigns Of the government have
the people Of the interior country, ac-
CURED certain liberties and rights.
They therefore are inclined to look
upon Japan more as an ally than as
an enemy. This same feeling Is in
the army and in the navy, among the
soldiers and commissioned officers. And
II they fight 1t is because they cannot
do otherwise. At any rate they have
no heart in the war.
| "The basis Of my belief is my per-
sonal correspondence with numerous
people in the army, both In Siberia and
Russia. From all that have learned
In these letters see that a pro-Jap-
anese sentiment pervades the armies
OF the Car. From correspondent in
Office in the central government l
learn automatically that the original
Russian policy was to procrastinate the
settlement Of her differences with Japan
one year more, during which prepara-
tons for the conflict were to have been
pushed. When ready, Russia would
have declared war with the purpose Of
debating the terms of peace. My in
| formation is most authentic that such
| were the intentions of the Russian gov
eminent.
YES" replied DR.. Russell, men in
the army or navy who correspond with
a political refugee take serious chances;
they render themselves liable to severe
penalties.
There are additional remote causes
for the Russian disasters in this war.
Russian government is an organized
Bureaucracy. There is constant strife
between bureaus. One bureau is ar
rayed against another through jeal-
ousy. The army is at strife with the
navy. Jealousy abounds everywhere.
There is no harmony or cooperation.
The Gear does not dominate the gov
eminent machinery. He is simply a
blind instrument in the hands of a
camarilli. Again the corrupt condition
In the various bureaus Is not unlike
conditions in China. Especially in the
commissary and naval bureaus cor
ruption Is rampant. Finally, with the
complex conditions of the present time
the bureaucratic system is utterly in
adequate. 1t might have been good
enough when life was simple, but now
the social structure Is so complex that
no bureaucratic system can grasp II
The principle Of bureaucracy is to sub
stitute the will, the energy. the genius
OF a handful Of officials for the will
energy and genius Of the whole ma.
ltion.
"The apathy and half-heartedn
that comes from the conditions I have
described account for the Russian nava
disasters, even to the sinking Of thu
Admiral's flagship. Perfect indiffer
ence In the cause, is at the bottom o.
1t rather than incompetence or ignor
ance on the part Of men and officers
The Russian does not lack experience,
ol knowledge In seamanship. The Rus
|sian navy is recruited from the fisher
men along the shores Of seas, who ar,
as familiar with seafaring life as thu
English. AS for officers, Russian nava
aspirants pass through excellent nava
schools and competent If they choos'
to be. There may be something II
lpcor generalship. The heads of tn,
inavy are ground out through loni
Years in the bureaucratic mill and ma,
arrive at the top a perfect ignoramus
remember when the Russian Admira
lSchmidt of the Pacific Squadron aske,
me in San Francisco II California ex
tended as far as the Atlantic ocean
But | think 1t is apathy rather thai
Incompetence that accounts for tn
Russian disasters at Port Arthur.
1.-THE reason why Admiral Skrydlofi
NOW in command Of the Port Arthu
fleet, was not appointed before. Is tina
the central government decided t.
maintain defensive attitude an
Skrydloff is not that sort. He is Rus
slas most aggressive fighter. hav
no doubt he will Immediately take tn
defensive, no matter what the odds ma
be, He will probably make an effor
at once to combine the Port Arthur an
Vladivostok fleets and go to Japanes