Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-02-21
Russia Ruled by Corruption.

Writing of the qualities in the make
up of the Russian nobility that arouse
distrust in those who know them at
near range. a contributor of repute TO
the Grand Magazine of London. said.
among other things:
Anyone who knows the country ar
all is aware how il is honeycombed
with all sorts of corruption-from the
sentry TO the general. from the railway
porter TO the minister of finance: they
all take brides: all squeeze some one
or other.
The naval commanders run the
military pretty close. Up to October
1903. the Russian ships in the far east
were supplied mainly from Nagasaki;
and the coal contracts are equivalent
10 gold mines to the purchasers In
the coal contractors OF Nagasaki the
Russians had men after their own
hearts, whose audacious plundering
was such as to astOund even those
hardened sinners, as one of them ad-
mitted to me himself The usual and
easiest method was to have the ac-
counts made out for so many tons
more than were actually put aboard
the ships. but, in some cases. where
Welsh coal was sent ont from Cardiff
they exchanged it for the cheap Japa-
nese stun and poclleted the difference
''As a matter of fact. when the war
broke out there was an immense guam
tity of coal in Port Arthur which stool
on the books as the best Cardiff: in
reality IL was only inferior Japanese.
To what extent this fact has contrib
uted To the poor performances of the
Port Arthur squadron only Russian
naval officers are aware.
The higher up in the social and
official scale one goes the more strik-
ing does the corruption become. until
we come To the grand ducal syndicate.
4 syndicate has been defined as a
body of men entirely surrounded by
money but if there is a considerable
portion of colossal debts in the sur
roundings OF these worthless. il certain
~ is not from any scrupulousness or
want of enterprise in their rapacity.
One Of the latest devices of this
precious syndicate was the eXploita-
tion OF the timber concessions near
the I-alo. and this was one OF the real
causes OF the present war. Through
pressure brought TO bear on the ear
by the intermediary OF VI. Bezobrasoff
his majesty himself was induced To
take shares in this very discredtabie
and plundering venture.
The malign and sinister influence
of this ring is not confined 10 the com
mercial sphere only, however The
Crank Duke Alexis. assisted by his
French mistress. specializes on the
navy. and the Wrand DuGe Constan-
tine on the army. whilst the Grand
Duke Sergius, under the Euise of re
ngious ardor. squeezes and persecutes
the Jews.
Another of the gang took charge
of some immense funds collected 10,
build church and levied ducal COM
mission. while the Grand Duke AIexan-
der Mikhailovitch. by his influence
over the car. has done as much harm
as any two of them put together.
"Equaled only by the gross corrup-
ton Of the highest in the land is their
extravaganza. dissipation and immor-
ality. Prince Cyril and Prince Boris
may both be taken as typical examples
OF the giIded youth of Russia, II was
said in Russia that the country had
suffered triple misfortune the day
the Petropavlosk was sUnk-a battle
ship was lost. the admiral OF the fleet
drowned aid Prince Cyril saved He
and Prince Boris have made them
selves notorious in more than one part
Of the world.
The latter is a pastmasteT in the
art Of painting things red. From a