RUSSIAN PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXII, Issue 133, 8 June 1888, Page 4

RUSSIAN PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.

-Tbefollowiag oommuoicatioa from a correspondent at Kieff appeared in the "St. ' James* Gazette' on March 12 i— * '•' However em phatio and apparently sincere the.assuranoes givet by Russia that she fa beni on pursuing a polioy of peace,; however satisfactorily it may be shown that she lias absolutely nothin? to gain and every, thing Co' loss by trying conclusions with Austria, it w none the less a fact that wo are oh the eve of a war. Aa the expression of aft opinion, thip, no donbt, is nob new to ' those who follow the march of political «v6nts, and are capable of translating the dialeot of diplomacy into the every day lan gnagefn wbioh the story of Bnma's military movement* ie set forth by foreign correspondents, and cbmmeßtei on by the press. Bab what follows is eomefchingr more than a mere •abjective reading of event* by oae who has earofaily studied them ; and In any casa it is baaed on a large number of significant *nd perfectly trustworthy facts, oae or two «t wbioh oannot but interest the public in England : • uTo .begin witb the least convincing :— Two well-koown generals, fresh from the council chamber of St. Petersburg (where they have been constantly oloaeted with the War Minister, General Vannbffaky) and who will command 20,000 men each in (he coming war, have rnqntionefi May as the date for hostilities to commence; and this ia each oiroums'.anoeß of time, place, and surroundings a« toleavo no donbt of their sincerity, mid still less of their Acquaintance with the topio of conversation." 11 0, f course, as long as the isaue is contingent on the will of one man, no forecast o»u be wholly free from th-3 element of doubt., and tangible facts are our safest ignide io the matter. The following one ia significant :— Sometime ago considerable numbers of troops were ironsported by two steamer« of the Bussian Black Sea S.eamsbip Company frpm Batonin and Potf, and landed in a enrreptilious manner in th.9 neighborhood of flebostopol, nob far from where Bpeoial trdns •waited them. They were then diepersad s > a» to arouse as little suspicion t.a possible. These troops are now being gradually brought up to the fronier— ebme to B?83---arabia others to the Ausmin front irr. Trainß carrying ■ them run occasionally at hours when trains do not generally run, and bdoweto'rins. which have been rather pleotiful of late, are welcomed as natural allies, the, last trains before a line is officially declared' blocked, and the first few trains before it is officially reopened, carrying the troops. There are. besides, large numbers of troopi just now between Tula and Brest-Litoffak, wending their way by easy stages and in ■mall parties in the direction of Kieff and the couth-west. ~ " Elizabeth grad, a city of 43,000 inhabitants/ in the Government of Khewon, within easy' distance of the. Biver Dniester, ie the 'headquarters of the South Bussian Cavalry. TUe BprinkliDg of foreigners in the population is practically nil, so that less dieguiee is necessary in going forward with military preparations than elsewhere. Among the. ligns and tokens in which this district abounds ia the purchase of cavalry horses on » iargei scale. They are not being .bought esotneively nor even mainly in the vicinity of fSlizabetbgrad ; the other districts of Kherson and other governments supply a large proportion. The horses are being in reality expropriated, for. the sale is compulsory,' whereoy *i%6 pirices paid range from 50 to 150 xoables (from £4 to £12), and are always less than (hat fixed by the tariff drawn up by tKe Government ' in 1884. Cavalry aocoutrenwqt« t (atms, &., are being wrought, repaired, furbished up j blacksmiths are working , Uferalij 1 day and night, and the followers of Wielind's noble handicraft have never known bnJier qr better days than the present. pffelrminariea of putting the hajrhOnr of Odessa in a state of defence are bejngjcarefully carried out, in as far as the '- Wfcatner does not prove an obstacle. The , piSii>6f defence heretofore accepted by the / Ministry has been thrown aside, and a new < T one jgie being worked out. It iB only a ' ' qiespSfe or^he number of torpedoes, the V»]M<BBB K :w'hfiJ» *tt«y are tol)e sunk »^P' wh joh » • «v -determined long ago, but is being h^'dhai^ld^innpw. . . . . ,' ir 's .^Tlie feeprig-in, the country is universal - ( ' /tiatth^QoVernmentis merely temporising >"' ;jflll the'frbst and snfaCdisappear. As soon * I 'ia^wvvyeaiiher,' clears up a little Russia's f ".''Z hepome more evident." J \ VSlowa'fiiff, i» inijellig'enoe from Warsaw r \> " gome bf the^Russiftn railway stations, not in- .' '■' , ?lpfled»iii,ithe fonrier order to prepare for the '*'< l f< w^t^f' faoogß, have now received by ' 'ttf^W^h^iteotionß to the same effect;, It, H ja 'added tha]b all the goods Tans 'are being" H|t Kieff with beaches to seat troops

fdre^Csaysia correspondent of the Standard') means to continue arming until she can pre sent at the frontier so formidable an aßpeot that her farther proposals with regard to the. affairs in Bulgaria will have to be acoepted unless Europe is prepared td face war. * The Cronstadt Measanger states that*' there is much talk in naval circles o£ rer-establish-ing tbe ancient naval division, eaoh forming a separate squadron under an admiral, with a aeoond admiral also attached to eaoh squadron. - Acoording to this arrangement the Baltic fleet would be composed of two squadrons, the Black Sea of one, and the Pacific o! another. The number of ships' crews on service would also be increased. The Baltio fleet would have 19 instead of eight as at present, and the Black sea fleet six in place of two. ' Military parades are almost of daily occurrence in the presence of the Emperor in front of the Winter Palace, and it is not unnoticed, says the St. Petersburg correspondent of the Morning Post, that the feeling that they may be soon called upon to enter the field gives the troops more animation and Spirit than has been the case for years. Every effort is being made to attain efficiency, in vi w of tbe contingency of having to fight the most effioient foe in Europe. None the less, the terribly severe winter Baesia is experiencing precludes all thoughts of early aotive operations, and it will not be until a decisive change takes place in the weather that Bussia will show her hand. •'