Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-07-23
Had Hoped to Be Permitted to Tske Part
in the War.
HELD IDLE WHILE OTHER SHIPS FIGHT
RevOlutiOnists Take Advantage Of 0ppor.
tunity to Spread Their Ideas.
ENTIRE FLEET MORE OR LESS AFFECTED
Beat OmceFs and Men Called to
the Front, while Dregs Begin
TO Feel Themselves
Abused.

The Bee. THE inquiry int tn, Black sea
mutiny and the condition Of affairs leading |
up to the rebellion of crews of the bat
tleships Kniaz PotemL and its companion |
battleship, the Georgei Pobiedonostsef, is
progref ing slowly. There appears to be |
'ome ground for the assumption that the |
NJ tiny the outcome Of a carefully de- |
vised and far-reaching plot If this was |
the case the organizers Of the conspiracy |
must have been somewhat discouraged at
the final results, though It appears to be
one Of the characteristics of your true Rus |
sian revolutionist that he never grows dis
couraged. At the outset II was feared that |
the whole Black sea squadron might be in |
fected with the germ of treason, that all |
of the crews might take part in the insur- !
rection and that sympathetic uprisings at
Baltic naval stations might give the reyo-
lutionists control of what is left Of Rus
| sas power.
Considerable shrewdness was evidenced
by the projectors of the movement, be the
plan narrow or broad in scope. when they
| selected for the initial explosion the bat
teship Kniaz Potemkine, by far the most
formidable vessel remaining under the Rus
sian hag.' The ignomonous failure of Ad-.
miral Kruger to suppress the revolt and
the almost simultaneous decision of the crew
on the Gcorgei Pobiedonostseff, the next
| most powerful battleship in the feet, to
! join the mutineers. were auspicous events
! for the insurgents and the government
| prospect of reassertng it's authority seemed
| hopeless when the remainder of the squad
ron was dismantled at Sevastopol
ChuknIne is Popular.
| Admiral Chuknine, the real commander
Of the Black sea fleet, has been something
Of hero in Russia. He is an officer of
whom great things have been hoped but
he has not had an opportunity of winning
! fame in the present war, though the
wastage of admirals has been very heavy
in the far east Since Admiral Skrydloff
was withdrawn to go TO Port Arthur Ad-
miral Chuknine has been in command of
this force. which has been of secondary
Importance since it is confined to the Black
sea by treaty obligations. 1t is in existence
on the sufferance of Europe. and certainly
the English the French, the German and
other governments would not long remain
silent provided II became the rule rather
than the exception for pirates to capture
Russian battleships and endanger the ship
ping belonging to merchants flying the flags
of these different governments. The Black
sea feet came into being in 1871, when
France and Germany were too busy to pay
much attention to external affairs and
when England also had its hands full,
Then II was that Russia revived its claim
Of the right to have armed ships in the
Black sea. This demand, as is we'll known,
was subsequently acknowledged provided
they never passed through the Dardenelles.
Consequently this Black sea fleet in the
past two years, while stirring events have
been happening has felt itself neglected
and forgotten from the admiral in COM
mand to the youngest officer hoping to win
promotion by actual service, and 1t may be
that chagrin at their own misfortune has
not made them particularly tactful in their
treatment OF their men, Besides, the dis
position has been to draw the better ma
terlal for the other fleets, leaving the dregs
both as to officers and men here in the
Black sea.
Might Have Accomplished Som HlethinE.
The later developments tend to show that
had the two mutinous batteships acted to-
/. gether, instead OF separately, one remain
ing idly at Odessa. the other going to the
Roumanan port Of Kustendje, they might
, by a threat Of bombardment have forced
, the garrison of Odessa to surrender or
raise the revolutionary flag; or the mutt
l neers themselves, having replenishel their
| supplies. might have proceeded to Batoum or
Poti where their presence would doubtless
have acted like a torch on the accumulated
> material for conhagration In the Cauca-
r sus. That the mutiny in the Black sea fleet
/ did not have more serious results must be
4 attributed in large measure to the fact
that the officers still remain loyal to the
existing government. The Russian peasant
on land or on sea, does not make the high
T est type of a soldier. He is a fatalist and a
good fighter, but he lacks the power to take
= the initiative. the power to plan and devise
V0V.N frs. . HEa R.,.A
ment OF Russia would have ended long age
so far as it's existing autocratic form is
concerned.
o Inquiries show that the position of both
g the officers and the men since the outbreak
a OF the war with Japan has been one OF
! great perplexity and difficulty. Life or
!, the Black sea is dull at best and the con
/. scripts have no love for sea life such as
Il can be provided by these enclosed waters
e The more adventurous spirits among those
d OF the quarter deck and the lower deck ha6
e been encouraged TO hope that the restric
d tions combining the fleet to the Black sea
j. were about to be removed Widespread
= were the reports to the effect that tn,
: admiralty had decided that the men-of- wal
l. should break through the Dardenelles a
Y the risk OF the consequences no matter
s what they might be. Unfamiliar with tn,
irst-class warships possessed by the power
in the Mediterranean. the crews Of tn,
: various ships did not recognize the madness
q this action, which they too readil,
ascribed TO the authorities Of pitting tn,
Russian ships with two exceptions OF tn,
poorest hghting qualitieO against the splen
did men-of-waT OF the nations who wer
parties TO the treaty OF Paris
> Hopes Were Dashed.
le 1t was soon found that the Russial
u admiralty naturally did not entertain thi
of idea. Instead, the more promising OfHeer
l. and crews were withdrawn, and there sue
s. ceeded a feeling Of discomfort with the III
III OF inaction ana uselessness, and this wa
aecentuated when raw eOnscripts wer
he drafted aboard 10 replace those who ha
NJ been withdrawn for war service Thes
Of men went ahOat full OF discomfort. and the
e.