Bribery in the Russian Army.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 6, 10 February 1909, Page 69

Bribery in the Russian Army.

The crime of accepting bribes for which General Brutus Alexieff was last week dismissed from the Russian army and heavily fined, appears to ’be quite common in both army and navy. According to a contemporary, a very profitable source is the sone of rich parents, who are allowed all sorts of special privileges by the officers—for a consideration. The second source of bribes comes from the factors who are ready at hand to the unscrupulous officer in search of money. The factors know their business well. They supply the regiment with everything—food, clothing, fodder, and even ammunition. Their- contracts depend ehiefiy upon the colonels of the regiments, and are renewed annually. Tire result of thia system is that the colonels are each in receipt of yearly bribes ranging from £2O to £2OO- from each of some half dozen factors —amounting in the aggregate to a very fat purse. Tire factory who supplies the regiment with meat should, as a matter of fact, send enough to allow every soldier to have one pound of meat boiled up

with his soup. That is the regulation ration, and the Russian soldier gets it—on paper. As r matter of fact, he gets less than three ounces. Why? Because the factor arranges with the colonel that, instead of sending 400 po-uids of meat a day for a regiment of that number of men he will send just half that amount, though tlie accounts will show that the regiment had' been served, with- the regulation pound of meat per head. The pruning down does not stop there. The other officers take their part in it, and after the- colonel, each officer gets one ounce from every man’s piece of meat. Tn some regiments, more homwt or more cautious, the officers are satisfied with half an ounce-, but neither soldier nor officer would think the- colonel fit for any place but a- madhonse if he gave the regimental cooks one pound per head a day. In some regiments- thia system of stealing has reached' such a- pitch that only nut-sized pieces of meat and a few bones are thrown into- the soup on Sundays and holidays, andon otiier days its place is taken by cabbage or dried pea-. No other form of meat is given, so that, with a particularly unscrupulous colonel, the mon are half starved, weak, and unable to do their duties properly.