THE RUSSIAN ARMY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 120, 21 May 1917, Page 4

THE RUSSIAN ARMY.

Recent Russian advices throw light on the events-that led uptothe Revolution, and on aha* weakening of discipline in the Russian Army that constitutes so grave a danger to-day. Petrograd i ■papers give some interesting particulars of the part the army played in bringing about the revolution. For some months j previously the Government had been ex■peoting trouble, and -had placed a large number of machme-gunß in different ' parts of the capital. A month before the outbreak all the leaders of tine . workers were seized and put in prison, and when the Duma asked for some explanation of this attitude of the Government towards the workers no reply | was given. The workers then began to j work secretly amongst the soldiers, and they were assured of support from the army in the event of a revolution. The i Duma also promised support. The trouble 6eer_s to have begun over a ■ demonstration by the workers in the I large square of the capital. The police j' fired on the crowd, whereupon two com- .: ponies of the Volinski and Lritofski regiments declared themselves on the side .I of the people and attacked the police. .They were joined by a hundred Cos- : sacks, who engaged the mounted polite, and the crowd seized the arsenals* and I took possession of the rifles and cart- , ridges stored in tibem. Over three hun- ' dred o-f the polace were killed in the fight as weß as several civilians and r bok_iers, and after it was over a confer- . ■ ence was beM in the Duma building, i when the Council of Soldiers and Work- .' ere was formed. The matters discussed were mainly economic. It was urged that steps must be taken to reduce the amount of paper money in circulation. Before the war there were two milliard roubles in paper money, ami this had been increased to eight milliards during the last two years. As a consequence tte value of the rouble had declined, aid the cost of living correspondingly increased. Transport was bad and food colli 1 not be brought to the large towms, while it was said that farmers were ' holding back suplies in the hope of a | further ao vartce in prices. America has already p.-omised help both in the matter of finance and transport, and this I ought to relieve some of the most prcss- | ing difficulties.

, I The Council of Workmen and Soldiers , drew up a list of reforms, some of . which were reasonable enough, while ; others could not fail to lead to chaos in , the -field. Among the more reasonable demands were those for the abolition of invidious distinctions between soldiers ; and civilians in regard to the use of ; trams, restaurants and theatres, lor.- . merly no soldier in uniform was allowed ito occupy an inside seat in a trumcar; ' j he was excluded from certain restaurants, and he was only allowed to take the i cheapest seats at a theatre. But when , the Council has insisted on absolute equality between officers and men, it has demanded something which no military authority could grant with safety. One - point on wihich great stress has been ; laid i 6 a little difficult for one who is ! not a Russian to appreciate. It is the custom in Russia to employ the second person singular in addressing an inferior and the second person plural in addressing an equal or a superior. The Council insisted that all officers must use the. plural in speaking to the men, and must m every other rasuect address them as equals. Soldiers were not to rise when an officer entered the room or show any ; other mark of deference. It is difficult to take seriously the further demand | that ail orders must be submitted to the i men for their approval before being ' issued, though the fact that such a del mamd has been made shows bow little idea the Council has of discipline. The best, jrenerals :*eem to have found these ; conditions quite impracticable, and | Korniluff. Gurko and BrussHoff asked .i to be allowed to resign their com- ■ mands, a request that happily has not been granted. M. Kerensky, who succeeded M. Gutchoff as Minister for War, has great influence with the Soldiers and ■ Workers Council, and was present at the meeting when it was formed. He is !in favour of a vigorous war policy, and | will doubtless carry all but the extremists of the Council with him. It is to be hoped that he wil be able to restore discipline in the army ami enable Russia to resume the offensive when the dry weather sets in a. the beginning of June. The latest news is much more encouraging than that published last week.