Bisbee daily review., 1905-02-19

sential point is that a public official must not permit himself to be de- tected in the act of appropriating pub lie money.
 Deficiencies Exist Throughout. The result of all this corruption, eX- pressed in plain figures. is that when S5. .00O, 900 is granted to the ministry of the marine for the construction of new first-class battleship, not more than $4,O00, 900 is really spent on the battleship, and often not more than s. .0OO.O The balance finds it's way into the pockets of numerous officials concerned in all the transactions con nected with the construction of mod ern battleship.
 The inevitable consequence is that the battleship turns out to be a less valuable article than it was originally intended to be. It's armor is of in ferior quality. its steel is not the best in the market, it's wood is not fire proof. it's boilers are defective; in brief. it shows numerous traces Of un- wise economy. Even it's guns are not
  class articles, bought at reduced prices. As a result of the criminal economy practiced, the battleship can be more easily disabled through the enemies shells piercing its defective armor, while at the same time it's sec ond rate guns cannot hurl destruction at the foe with the necessary force and speed.
 The same thing in different forms is to be found in all departments of the Russian navy. When Russian battleship is marked in books of naval reference as able to steam sixteen knots an hour, it may be safely as- stunned that its actual maximum speed is twelve knots an hour. This differ ence between theory and practice has been amply demonstrated in the naval operations in the vicinity of Port Ar thur, by the performance of the Baltic fleet and the results of recent naval maneuvers in the Black sea.
 Another important case of cors;ruc' tive deficiencies in Russian warships is the fact that all the Russian ship building yards are full of workmen who are secret adherents of the ex- treme revolutionary party. In pursu- ance of their destructive principles. these workmen deliberately introduce defects in the construction of war ships. This is only possible to linn tied extent, owing to the supervision which is necessarily exercised. New ertheless, the damage done is the most dangerous because it remains
 Il, -.,. F,- |. solutely immovable are left so loose as to endanger the solidity of the whole structure. and armor plates whish should be fairly riveted too the side of the ship are so caTelessly at tached that their defensive properties are considerably decreased. Boiler pipes are purposely constructed so badly that they must inevitably begin to leak soon after the ship puts to sea. thus largely reducing its speed or disabling it altogether.
 Ridiculous MuddIes at ManeuVers.
 Mistakes of administration and de- fleets of construction might be com pensated to some extent by unusual efficiency on the part or officers and men of the Russian navy. So far from this being the case, the gross incom- petence of Russian officers and sail ors only add to the general worth lessness of the Russian fleet
 great sensation has been caused in St. Petersburg by a report drawn up by Admiral Tchuchnin, who com mands the Russian Black sea fleet, on the subject of the recent naval man. euvers. The Admiral writes:
 T have found that the naval officers under my command are entirely with. out love for their profession and with out interest in their work. have found that incompetence prevails throughout the fleet. When maneu- verIng the officers were unable to handle their ships smartly. The most appalling muddles occurred. Some times. when the ships of the flee1 were supposed 10 be in cicse forma- tion. several would be found to be missing altogether. and cruisers had to be detached to search for them. The signals from the ships were eith- CT misunderstood or purposely dis obeyed Many officers were totally ignorant of naval regulations"