TEE "PUSHER" AND THE RAILWAYS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2777, 23 May 1916, Page 7

TEE "PUSHER" AND THE RAILWAYS

RUSSIA ENDS A SCANDAL

TRAINS THAT DISAPPEARED

(Prom a Correspondent of the "Manchester Guardian.")' The opening days of the new session of the Duma, were marked by vehement attacks upon the Administration, and some of the most severe strictures referred to the Railway Department as it was administered under if. Rukhloff, recently retired. Even before the war the Rußsian railway system had been inadequate to meet the needs of the rapidly growing economic development of the Empire, but the war threw upon it a new gigantic burden with which it was the more difficult to cope as the railways still remained outside the competence of the military authorities and thus subject to all the disadvantages of conflicting needs of the civil population and of tho war. Thus as late as October last the "Noyoe Vremya" (Ootober 21) pointed out. that tho railways were still working under the old traffic regulations of peace-time, by which perishable goods, such as cut flowers, mineral waters, beer, and wine, enjoyed a preference in transit over non-perishable goods, such as corn, coal,' and sugar, with the result that about this time, when Moscow was suffering acutely from lack of supplies of all kinds, trains upon trains were pouring in there bringing millions cf bottles of a certain mineral water—its name, "Kuvaka," has since become a password throughout lie Empire—from a Caucasian source, the property, as the "Den" of October 29 hinted, of a "personage." What made matters worse was that the provincial governors, acting independently of the military authorities,' had in many places, in order to safeguard the local food supplies, entirely prohibited their export and. even transit, thus bringing about an unequal distribution not only of the foodstuffs in the Empire, tat of the rolling stock too, 6ince all supplies thus kept back were, in the absence of warehousing facilities, placed'in railway wagons—this with the express permission of M. Rukhloff himself—and sealed so that no one could touch them. The result of this policy was a congestion of the rolling stock at numerous stations and a blocking of entire lines—a circumstance which proved almost fatal when the great stream of refugees began to pour from the western provinces. In Moscow alone, we read in the "Novoe Vremya," of October 22, there stood on the station lines no fewer than 5000 wagons unloaded, and at Petrograd 2000. "A. lack of Tolling stock," wrote the paper, "and at the same time the arrival of 1,000,000 poods of mineral water—what sort of management is it?" Purloining Trucks, But tho worst feature of all was the wholesale corruption which this state of affairs produced throughout the railway administration, and which made the reigning confusion worse confounded. There arose a regular traffic in wagons between stationmasters and consumers, chiefly through agents who became known by the suggestive name of "pushers" or "oilers." The procedure was simple enough. The stnlionmasters would shunt some wagons on a 6ide-line or seal them empty, and then offer them through the "pushers" to firms in need of goods. Or , tho firms themelves would find , out the "pushers," who, with the connivance of the local railway authorities, would empty the goods from tho sealed wagons and place them at the disposal of the firms. Frequently (as told by a correspondent in tho "Retch" of December 16) a wagon loaded with such "contraband" goods wonld be coupled to a passing train and "pushed" on to tho next railway sector, where another 'agent would repeat ■the operation, until the goods arrived at their destination. In the "Retch of January 9 we find a story, told by the chairInan of the Tiflis Municipal Committees (which had the care of wounded soldiers), how ho obtained coal for tho military hospital. He had tho need of Three wagons of coal. He had ordered them from the Kharkoff district, but knew that they would come in "about three years' time if they went in the ordinary way. Ho 6ent telegrams to various places, but without result. "Then," said the chairman, "a man came. 'You want coal?" he asked. 'More than anything else in the world.' 'I'll supply jou at 75 kopecks per pood.' 'How will you do.it?' That's not your business. You pay,the money, and yon get your coal.' The money was paid, and in a fortnight's time tho hospital had its coal."

The Lost Train. Again, we read in the "Novoe Vremya", of December 5 how a whole train consisting of 28 wagons loaded with 28,000 poods of coke had left tho coal mines in the Donetz district for a Tula ironworks on September 28, and never' reached its destination, having completely disappeared on the way, so that no one knew to that day (December 5) what had become of it. Obviously some "pushers" had got hold of it, and sent it to some other destination. One could quote many stories from the Russian Press, each more incredible than tlio .other, yet very often authenticated in the law courts. The latter have discovered, for instance, that at a certain station in the Caucasus the stationmaster used to'stop every train that passed, uncouple a wagon or two on the pretext that they were "sick," leave them at the station, and then forward them through his "pushers" to various firms ("Ketch," December 12). Another discovery, of theirs was that a large train which- had left. Warsaw at the time of the evacuation for Moscow with machinery of a certain large factory' never, reached its destination, but was brought 3own to Eostov, where it was still standing on January 23, the date when the story appeared in the "Eostov Eetch." Tlie dismissal of M. Eukhloff from his post as Minister of Communications was a result of this scandalous state of affairs in his Department. Since then his successor, General Trepoff, has been doing his best to .remedy the evils—apparently witli good results. 1