ANARCHY IN RUSSIA

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 68, 14 December 1918, Page 7

ANARCHY IN RUSSIA

BOLSHEVIK RULE

"BLOOD FOR BLOOD"

London, September 20. Very little authentic news from Russia reaches the outside world (writes the .London correspondent of the Melbourne "Age"). The censorship imposed by the Bolshevik' Government and tho state oi armrchy which exists in Russia prevent thi-'dispatch of information. Few mission newspapers get beyond the frontiers, and those that do contain little news. Only thft newspapers acceptable to tho Bolshevik ruler are allowed to be published, and naturally these do not attempt to describe 1 the terrible crisis through which Russia- is passing. I 1 or the most part these newspapers are filled with articles demanding violent measure* against the Russian bourgeoise, against the Entente, and against all those who are opposed to Bolshevism. . The "Krasnaya Gazette," which represents, the view of the Bolshevik army, scatters in large type throughout its page.s such declarations as "Let Us Swear- to Kill Them Without Mercy, and "A Bullet Into the Hourt of Every One Who is an Enemy of the People." In a leading article, entitled "Blood for Blood," which was published after the attempt to. assassinate Lenin, this paper declared :-"We will turn our hearts into steel, which we will temper in the fire of suffering,. and the blood of' fighters for freedom: We will make our hearts cruel, hard, and immovable, so that no mercy will, enter them, and so that they will not quiver at the eight of a sea of enemy blood. We will let loose tho .floodgates of-that eea; v Without mercy, without sparing, we will kill our enemies in scores of hundreds. Let them' be thousands; let them drown' themselves in their own blood. For the blood of Lenin let there be floods of blood of tho bourgeoise." . ■ The fate of the Tsar and his family shows what a terrible state of anarchy exists in Russia, and how difficult it is to obtain authentic news of events that have.taken place. An official version of the execution of tho Tear was given to the .world by the Bolshevik Government a few days after the tragedy took place, but up to the present no official announcement has baen made concerning the fate of .the dead Tsar's, wife, his son and four.daughters. Efforts made by personages of high rank in neutral .countries to learn what has become of them have not been successful. It has been stated that they have all. been murdered. This statement has 'been accepted as true by official quarters in Great Britain and other' countries, but no details as to the crimej. or even its date, can be. obtained. Mr. Fluerot, of the New York "World," , who has managed to make his way out of Russia to Stockholm, states that a reign of terror exists in Russia which is beyond the powor of civilised nations .to grasp. Tho Bolshevikh are killing thousands , of people without trial, \anii throwing? thousands _ of others into ..prison. ~.'Scenes of terror are common in every city in Russia, but the conditions in the provinces are even worse; The Bolshevik rulers have sent commissioners into the provinces to organise" bands of ruffians to kill the educated classes and loot their houses. By means of proclamations the Bolsheviki have endeavoured to bring about a general massacre oi tho educated classes, but the working classes, to whom these appeals are mainly" addressed, have witnessed so much slaughter that they refuse to respond to the appeal. The Austrian-Office of Propaganda has issued an official pamphlet describing the internal state of Russia. This pain- , phlet, which represents the report of an Austrian commission sent to Russia to investigate affairs, has been circulated among the Austrian armie? with the object of counteracting the Bolshevik propaganda among Austrian soldiers. It Rtates:—"The police no longer exist in Russia. Anyone professing himself a Bolshevik can commit any criine with impunity. Street murders, robbing, rioting, and lynching are common occurrence", lii. Petrograd the tram service and the lighting are suspended; the schools are closed for weeks; miscreants and idlers abound in the .streets, and attack sledges, carriages, and any passing vehicle. They often undrf-ss their victims merely to rob them of their clothes, and let them go away naked. Eiflc shots are heard constantly in the streets; drink shops are looted. No regular administration of justice exists. The Judges are selected at random, and the scenes in the Soviet courts of iiistieo have no parallel in any civilised land. The courts are invaded by the crowd, and thevpublic, when it does not approve of a. Judge, hustles him out of court,-and decides the case itself Savage scenes are often witnessed at the trial of persons accused of opposition to Bolshevik rule. An old admiral was sentenced to death with some others, but as, he was too weak to walk ho was put on the shoulders of another man who was also eentencod to death. Both were ehofc down before' they had gone far from the court. At Sevastopol Bolshevik sailors killed tho engine drivers, p,c a station because they refused to start their trains at r.'ii> cmiimaml of the sailors.

"The Bolsheviki have ruined all industry, commerce, and social life in Russia. The great textile factories at Aforosoff, near Moscow, were closed down after five days of Bolshevik management. The groat steel works at. Petrograd have also closed Mown. Industry is 111 a standstill. Tbo setting up of a 'boilev and engine now costs from .CGOOfI to .68000; the repairs to a locomotive cost J!56,000. The production of sugar, which amounted to 100,000,000 sacks, decreased to -.10,000,000, and finally to 10,000,000. Tho postal and; telegraphic services are in a state of c.hnos; It takes a letter from four to six weeks to get from Moscow to Petrograd. "Bribery is rampiot among the Bolsheviki from tho highest to the low'est. In the army discipline is a thing of the past. Soldiers throw off their uniforms and go homo, oy return to their" regiments at will. Nobody dares to interfere with them. If they find nothing to eat at liobie, they return to their regiments for food, but not to tight, unless it is to elioot down civilians. At the fortress of Dunaberg (Dvinsk) there wero at one time 200,000 of these poldicrs who remained there for the rations-they extracted from the population. They- held political meetings, made noisy demonstrations, fired their rifles to terrify the people, changed their officers almost every day, and frequently beat them."