Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1919. THE EASTERN QUESTION.

Hokitika Guardian, 13 October 1919, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1919. THE EASTERN QUESTION.

It seems clear that despite, the war, Europe is going to have its Eastern question as much in mind now as in pre-war das. The remarkable situation in Russia is of course, the key to the position, and the fates continue to fight on the side of disorder and disruption in that unhappy country. The Entente Allies appear to be abandoning Russia

o her fate. The country is torn asunder by her own people who, since the olutionary intrigue worked by Germany at a critical stage in the war, have been left largely to the devices of unscrupulous leaders. These latter have been men of most extreme ideas, and they appear to have had the men and the money to enforce their extreme socialism and worse, in all directions. Russia is a vast country and since the revolution and the overthrow of the Czar, it has been in the throes of misgovernment. Naturaly so vast a peoples were not all disoyalists, and the . Allies who attempted to co-operate with 1 and otherwise assist the loyalists, have I had a thankless task to perform. In I the case of Great Britain there, was I strong opposition at Home to the nation assisting to restore order and go-

vernment in Russia, and opinion was so strongly expressed that it was decided to recall the forces of Britain operating in the foreign country. The future of Russia will be hard to prophecy. The country is so overrun by tin

! forces of reaction, that the true con- ! ditions are hard to unravel. In the ! Baltic provinces it is clear that Ger--1 man soldiery are .still being used to ! maintain, a state of war. The insolence of General Von Der Goltz, and the leisurely way in which he seeks to “withdraw,” suggest that his military strength must be, considerable. An

item of cable news on Saturday indi- I cated that Germany was seeking to , get a favourable commercial treaty | with the Baltic province so extend over fourteen years. This, however, must he subect to the Peace Treaty, but it is an indication of how events might move, if the Allied Powers show weaness, or themselves disrupt over the details of peace. Russia stretching across from the Baltic to the northern Pacific, is ah enormous tract of country in which in normal times, it was difficult to maintain law and order. What is happening now can be imagined only from the illuminating items of cable news published from time to time. Russia, one hardly hopes, can

work out her own destiny. The internal warring which is going on must wear dew in time, but in that trying period there will ge enormous of life, and terrible destruction. The nation will wreck itsef, and the intensity of the eastern question will grow as the Allies seek to grapple with it. Probably the best solution of all would be that in due season the League of Nations should endeavour to take control of Russia, and with an alliance of the grand Power,s > seek to restore the country to normality. In no other way does it seem possible to settle tlie future international difficulties. This suggestion shows at once what a'useful purpose the League of Nations could serve in this particular alone. Humanity demands that some action must he taken by the civilised powers to rescue Russia from itself, and the League of Nations wil possess the ability and machinery to undertake so human a task, and so assist to give the world a more lasting peace.