Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-10-10
COURT FAvoRITEs.

is euualed only by their theoretical ig-.
nordDCe.
COURT F.NNoRITEs.
These officials in turn give all the
bess places to their favorites. men
whose sole interest in life is the CON
start pursuit of pleasure and who
openiy use the funds intended for the
army on themselves This system or.
dishonesty runs all through the army,
and the. two reasons for such deplor-
abs state of affairs given by the Of
ficers themselves are, first. their very
small pay, and, second. the system Of
supplying the army with food. horses.
fodder, etc. by means OF factors.A Rus
sian officer cannot live on his pay At
the same time he usually is the son or
parents belonging to Il class OF oniclals
aud small landowners who nave no
EmoTey to spare for their sons. His life
is spent in some more or less provincial
town where lie has nothing to do but
drink and gamble. 1t is a notorious
fac. that officers Of the line and artil-i
+ lery.all draw their salaries in advance
and generally to such an extent that by
the first of the month when pay day
comes they get nothing but their re-
sceipts for money already paid Their.
ionly resort is to brides and factors.
SEEK FOR BRIDES.
re- l3rlUeS are OF =lWo SOL ~, anu CoiliG
from the sons OF well-to-do people who
have to serve III the ranks, or from
those who wish to supply the regiment
with necesSaries. The consequence OF
the first kind of bride is that the SOL
der who is able to supply money to
the impecunious officers need never APP
pear on parade attend drill, or get
up early in the morning TO attend the
rjdin;. school. He can come III when
Ia pleases and 20 out when he likes
His uniform Is better made and his
boots more comfortable that those OF
| his poorer comrades. He eats different
food, brought from q good restaurant,
because he can pay for 1t, and Is per-
,nittet to do so by his superior officers.
| When his time is up he either stays on
as an officer-having had no training
| sWhateyelS-or goes into the reserve, q
lyuseless adjunct of the army only call
| ed upon in case of war, and made up
of men, who, although they may nave
! seen service have learned nothing but
| the color of their uniform or the length
! of tl,eir swords, bur although this scam
\ dalousa state of affairs Is recognized
| generally among those In command
| nobody says anything, because IL Is
| convenient that each regiment should
| have its number of well do recruits
| N,ho ca,l supplement the officers pay.
1 The second source of brides to OIL
GERS comes from the factors who are
| ready at hand To the unscrupulous Of
| f1cer in search of money. me factors
| know their business we'll. They supply
the regiment with everything, food,
/ clothing fodder and even ammunition.
/ Their contracts depend chiefly upon the
/ colonies of the regiments, and are re-
| newcd annually. The result of this
/ system is that the colonies are each In
receipt of yearly brides, ranging from
/ 500 to 81. 600, from each of some half
4 dozen factors--amounting in the agsre-
| gate TO a very fat purse.
i The colonel is not the only one, how
| ever. who gets his little bit, The UNI
der officers take good care that they
! also get their share The lieutenant
colonel gets half the amount Of the
4 col,nel.s brides, and gives some OF ii to
4 the captains, who again remember the
4 needs of the subalterns. And as this
4 wholesale sharing makes the bride
money melt like snow before a summer
sun they have other resources,
4 SQUARE MEALS ON PAPER.
/ THE factor who supplies the regiment
4 with meat should, as a matter of fact
4 send enough TO allow every soldier 10
4 Rave one pound of meat boiled up With
his so,lp. That is the regulation ra-
4 zion and the Russian soldier gets it
i ~, naper. As a matter of fact he gets
4 less than three ounces. Why? Be
Il cause the factor arranges With the col
1 mel that instead of sending AGO pounds
| OF meat day for q regiment Of tna'