Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-23
Military
Reform.

full control OF whose oe-
Military partment is henceforth to
be vested in the minister
ASAV1mS' of war The latter is pre-
pairing far-reaching notifications. which
render necessary the aforementioned sum.
After this expenditure the annual sum re-
quired will be $5.OO0OOO for the following
two years. The duma likewise passed a
bill providing for the military training OF
the Inhabitants of the Amur and adjacent
regions
1t was disclosed in the debates in the
duma that the navy, unlike the army,
was not In good shape. There was unac-
countable delay in the construction In
Russian yards Of the four Dreadnoughts
by reason of lack of material. Two
tnirds OF the grant of 22,O0O.OOO rubles
nave been expended on the equipment OF
the yards and the committee Is dissatis-
fed. The government works, which were
to supply the ships within two years, now
declare that it will be two years before the
turretS and plates can be furnished. In
order to hasten completion Of cOnstruc-
ton the admiralty may deem 1t necessary
10 call upon foreign builders for aid in the
emergency. and this fact may serve as an
indication for the American ship con-
structor. A British firm is already super
intending the building Of the turbines. In
this connection 1t may be added that Sir
Arthur Nicholson, British ambassador at
ST. Petersburg, at the English Club few
evenings ago, speaking of the Anglo-Rus-
sian agreement. said that it had contrib
uted nightly to the cause of peace, and
he was confident there was IAN enormous
future for British commerce In Russia.
In Russia, as In Germany, there is q
Polish question. There is also In the
future perhaps Polish question for the
United States. very remote for fact.
1 H. % nxAA y-f% \
States are intensely Polish, that is. pa
triotic, and are haunted by the dream Of
making Poland an independent and au-
tonomous state. and with this object in
view they have organized contribution
funds here for the liberation Of their
country.
During the revolution in 1906 the Polish
question was obscured by others that
agitated Russia. but it
Polish has come to the fore
nA: again and is being dis
cussed in the duma, press.
intellectual and political circles not only
of Russia and Poland, but of all Slav
countries. It Is recalled. in this connec-
ton. that the defeat of the Slav by the
Turk at Kossova in 1889 was feted as the
birth of a new nation at Prague, June %,
1909. 1t is rallying point for the 1O0,-
0Oo. 900 Slavs of Europe. All Slav peoples,
of whom the Poles are an important
branch. are looking anxiously to Russia
to learn the policy which Russia will
now assume toward Poland.
The present situation may be best I'M
derstood by presenting here both the
Russia. with rare EXCEPTIONS maintains
that Poland is and should remain incor-
porated In the empire. Russia maintains
the division OF Poland by the confedera-
ton at Bar, 1772, the second dismember-
ment against which the brave Kosci-
usko struggled at Masciejowice, 1874, the
third and last division between Russia,
austria + and PRUSSIA The treaty Of TIL
to small portion Of Poland taken from
Prussia, on which was established the
duchy Of Varsovia- But the treaties of
STA maintains that by the revolution Of
Poland, which Russia cruelty repressed,
70 md lost her entire Independence and
tofore enjoyed. Varsovia, for Russia is
her window which looks out upon Eu-
rope It Is grand, gay capital, which
surpasses in elegance and fashion SOM
cial as well as political value in the eyes
OF Russia, and 1t seems difficult, if not
impossible. to cause other views to be
think that. aside from other considera-
tons. Russia might welcome an occasion
to erase from her history the stigma that
attaches to her because of the expression
of minister of foreign affairs summon
ed by urgent interpretations to explain
the state of affairs existing between Rus
STA and Poland when the former occu-
pied Varsovia, inundated by blood: Or
der reigns at Warsaw"
Nevertheless the Polish question for
Russia continues to be not a question Of
a nation. but simply a diplomatic at
fair.
Poland, on the contrary, maintains
now more than ever her national cult.
her indelible and implaca-
National BILE love of country. Rus
ST. sia'S disasters in Asia and
in Russia proper have
served to strengthen Poland's patriotism,
which covertly prides itself upon its SUI
periority to s'Moskals'' or the Moscow
barbarians,'' who received what they
merited at the hand of the sAsiatic Poles
take courage from the chastisement, and
it lends them hope that their triumph
will come by the logic of events. More
than century of Russian, Prussian and
Austrian domination has neither stifled
nor corrupted their patriotism, weakened
their character, nor exhausted their race.
Besides their spirit has undergone a GER