RUSSIAN PREPARATIONS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 26, 30 January 1877, Page 4

RUSSIAN PREPARATIONS.

A ' correspondent at "St. Petersburg wrifea, under data October 31, aa follow^:—" Were England/ bn tb.e eve of wiir, "or^eve'n of undertaking a military occupation, the public, thanks ta the lib6n^^¥4H^rj^ f f woAt^kaJEifr.' almosfe'as much about the military preparations of the country as th^ War Office itself. Here, unfortunately,, things are vary different, and : were -it hd| Hfpjt. a few uninteresting scraps of, n^ws wfi[oh the papers are allowed to publish with regard ciosailifaFy makers, we.fsb^ald all be in the dark as to what il-gbtng on in ?.Ra?9ian Army and navy. What does appear in the public prints is generally an allusion to some improvemenfi bV : amelioration in the coodition of tha soldier or sailor; but should there be any cHticiSiniß of sth unpleasant nature either bb tbe War o®ce ,Qf the Admiralty, tha newspaper daring ifo : give them publication would be immediately warned, and for a third offejnc^, yauspended. In these :circumatancea a stranger in thia capital fioda it ex|;rem^jyhard;to obtain infornjation, and his only chance is to learn the "language — nosasy matter-raftd pick up what news he can in conversation with Russiaoe. It-is thua that I have learnt what little it is in myr pdwesr to convey to you of the present warlike preparations of Russia. .:■ The Press no longer makes any attempt to "disguise the fact that these preparations are now being made on all hands. Large commands for army clothing are now : being executed by the Government, contractors, and it is stated that in order to dp : th^ work as rapidly as possible, a great many private; tailors ami, shoemakers have, been employed ; 600,000 roubles have, I undorstafld, been granted for the completion of the Odessa fortification Sunder the '» superintendence [of General Tod le ben. I am told th>t L a large force of troops belonging to; tbe army of the Caucasus, has been collec- ; ted near the Turkish frontier of Asia^ Minor, and that the number of (heae troops is so jgreat—rl am informesd it amounts to 40,000 men— that they can be hardly looked] upon aa a corps of observation, but rather one of offSnce^ General lioris Melikoff, an ofecer^well acquainted: wi|h that country has been appointed to command this army, and ism present in Livadia. There can be no doubt that so large a force on the Armenian frontier, capable .aa r it is of. immediate ; „ reiniorcements to any acspuot from tb,e immense army now in the Caucasus, is a strong! menace to Turkey^ Itlooks as if in the. event of ' warj the Ruasian Government had the ioteution of foilowiog. the, opinion espreaseJ some ; . years ago. by General F^iyefi, qf marching to Qonstantinpple ; througji Asia Minor. . Strch a moye-^ ment would have a paralysing effect upon Turkey, for all her best recruits are obtained from thai country, aad. she- would b& unable to reinforce her Eurogqan, troops, froni her Astatic posseasioas. But although active measures b&W been taken to aend supplies of guns, ammunition, provisions, &^to the, abut li, : i dp not believe that thla" country >b yet /prepared : Jfor;.a coa- ; siderable war, and I know that this opinion is' shared by some of the most competent judges of military matters in Russia.'' L y ■':. "i