Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-18
NEW CHIEF OF CARS Army
General suhomlinOff Chosen Because
He il a Fighter.
srOLYP1N MAKING MANY CHANGES
Russian Irritation over the UnreadI-
ness Of the Empire for war one
Cause of His Appointment-
still Another Cause.

-
ST. PETERSBURG. April l7.-Russla has
a new minister OF war. Her army, which
has for three years known General
Roediger OF Finnish extraction and Luth-
ersn upbringing. as chief administrator,
passes now under the official comman
Of General Suhomlinoff, formerly military
governor Of Kieff. Podolia and Volhynia.
and an vowed Russian nationalist.
This IL the fifth change that Premier
stolypin has made in his cabinet since the
year began He has already chosen new
administrators for the navy, the church.
the state railways and commerce. The
trend in all cases has been toward men
OF definitely slav extraction and sympa-
thies, and toward getting rid Of the school
OF administrator associated with Count
witte, whose relationship with immigrant
families was for some reformers a promise
of progress along western lines, but has
never ceased to be looked upon with sus-
pfcion by the Orthodox League Of True
Russian Men.
Both internationally and to the Russians
themselves the future OF the army Is more
important than any other public considera-
ton, In the first place, should the little
czarvitch, who is not yet 5. become SOW
ereign while he has still before him a
long minority in years, the army means
TO take charge OF him. to protect him from
the politics that it dislikes, and IL need
be to make up his mind for him. Then the
present change in the professional head
ship of the Russian army has some features
OF more immediate interest.
ROedIger Has Hard Task.
General Roedlger has been minister for
over three years. He took office after the
failure of General Kuropatkin's campaign
at Manchuria. He has previously been in
structor and examiner at the army head
quarters staff; his record was that Of a
well read authority and conscientious adj
ministrator; he had no career as a field
campaigner.
II was Roediger's first business to save
Russia from the moral debacle that was
feared when the defeated and DISCONTINUED
army returned home. and its members dis
:ersed among their families. When an
army returns from war without glory the
first social symptom is that the sons OF the
rich cease TO think 1T fashionable to be-
come officers. That happened in Russia,
and the military academies had not half
their complement of pupils the year after
the war.
General Roediger got the ready consent
Oh. Tie car anu the government IOT MS
first step toward improving the situation.
He raised the officers pay. Next. as a
means OF lettering the esprit de corps Of
the conscripts. he abolished the rule which
gave officers Of all ranks the pick of their
men to choose from for their personal
body servants.
Following on that he tried the effect of
enhancing the sttractiveness OF the uni
form nc n means ~ mr. Dula r'zt1u I'm n n y
Tbs trad tlonal dlrk trnlcs. loose trousers
and peasant knee bootv. VITA the rough
hoist Il 9Th ,v,rc. at, make The Russian the
least spectacular soldier in Europe. This
uaifcrm was insisted on by that plain liv-
inr, plain SPOKEN man, Alexander III.
Reform In the Russian cavalry
is represented this year by a new and
snowy outfit, General Roediger has not
been above taking lessons In tailoring
from the hatred Austrians. whose fashion
able regiments wear the r~rottiest clothes
in TIE world.
weapons Not Up-to-Datc.
In the matter of weapons tor w6r Cen
: 2oedi7er has less o n w II the wsy
.eform. As Re sayv, T. WIS hi first
concern u provide h'T'sl with men and
his second to provide them with guns,
Most OF the Infantry have stu only the
arms that served them through the Japan.
csc war. \ more serious defect. in view
OF the short life of quick firing artillery
when it has been freely used In warfare
is that the big guns are also the same
New batteries are due this summer from
the Krupp boundaries at Essen; but thu
fact that they are not here now has beer
a heavy grief to the militant patriots dur
ing the diplomatic struggle with the Ger
man-Austrian combination.
Roediger could show very promptly tina
the blame for this belong on other should