Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 1920. RUSSIA UNDER BOLSHEVISM.

Hokitika Guardian, 27 April 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 1920. RUSSIA UNDER BOLSHEVISM.

A group of Labor leaders at Home are going off to R.usseia to enquire first liand into tbe conditions of that distressful country. THfe information derived should be useful. Descriptions of i Russia under Soviet rule have for the most part been coloured by the political opinions of their writers, who oi ther detest Bolshevism so heartily that they condemn it off-hand, sometimes after insufficient examination, or sympathise with it to such an extent that they refuse to admit 1 the existence of any abuses whatever. The merit .of ‘‘The Russian 'Republic”.by Colonel O. L. Maline, says a literary critic, is that it represents a genuine attempt to view Russia, with a detached and critical eye. The author, who is a member of the House of Commons had been struck by the unreliable and conflicting .nature of all information coming from Russia. Therewasonefact ini particular which puzzled him, as it has puzzled many. The Bolsheviks, it lias often been said, are only a minority; the Red armies are a demoralised rabble; Lenin’s deliberate policy has been to reduce the country to a condition of chaos and ‘anarchy. Yet in spite of this his Government- has been able not only to maintain its position for more than two years, hut actually to strengthen. Colonel Malone felt that the stories of Bolshevik disorganisation and Bolshevik ■successes were incompatible; clearly whatever the state of (Russia, might be, it could not he one of anarchy. The character of Bolshevism must have changed; however much one may disapprove of it in theory or practice it can no longer be dismissed ns a system of mob rule destined to a. speedy collapse. Cblonel Malone went to see its operation with his own eyes, and his account of his journey is very interesting. Russia is a land of illusion' When Catherine the Great made a royal progress through the country her Ministers camouflaged the villages through which she passed with screens painted to create an appearance of prosperity. The author was on liig guard against this sort of thing. He knew that a foreigner, ignorant of the language, is apt to see and hear only what the authorities desire, and more than once he admits the possibility that certain phases of Bolshevik administration which impressed him favourably had been stage managed. But wherever he went it was evident that Bolshevism to-day is no longer tbe creed that preached unlimited individual freedom. It is an industrial oligarchy of the most bureaucratic type. Just as its leaders found that go-as-you-please methods were impossible in the army, so they have found it necessary to introduce an iron discipline among the civilians as well. To restore industry Lenin has had to enlist the services of the once despised bourgeois. He has also established what amounts to industrial conscription, and those stalwart unionists in Australia who affect to admire the Soviet regime should remember that one of ‘ts results has been a ten-hour day for the Russian workers. The regimentation and the hierarchy of officials suggest the very antithesis of anarchy; if the movement continues to develop on "ts present lines it will ultimately evolve “the most drastic and ruthless system of law and order that the world has ever seen, and quite as formidable an example to the workmen of western countries as to the owners of property.” The Red armies are no longer the motley assemblies who used to hold a debate on every order to decide whether it is to be obeyed. Their discipline is even stricter than it was under the Tzar. Many Tznrist officers have Joined the Reds, finding that there alone have they any prospects of advancement. They are given positions of responsibility, and have turned the Reds into a fighting force of immense value. “Given the pressure of external threat of war,” says Colonel Malone, ‘in ten years they will be formidable, in a generation the greatest military power in the world, in the sense of that military power staked and lost by the Germans in tlm recent war. Their man power almost untouched comnared with that of France and Germany. . . j . I would ask people who seek a sign , to read the history of the French Revolution and imagine what may happen if the revolutionary spirit which imbues the Bed army becomes a military spirit, and out of Russia arises a Russian Napoleon.” Again, there are Germany’s relations with Russia to he considered

German skill and organisation may be utilised to develop Russia’s great resources ; Germany, frustrated in the West, ma v turn to the East to realise

her ambitions. “We may find ourselves faeed one day by a great alliance be-

tween Oermany and Russia; and, as

before the war we were frightened by

the phrase “Hamburg-Mosoow-Jlagdad” we may yet live to fear “Hamburg-Mos-

eow-Vladivostock.” Such a danger is the more likely to materialise if the

Allies persist in a policy of antagonism towards the Bolsheviks. When lie was in Russia they were still supporting the anti-Bolsheviks, 'and he is convinced that their attitude closed the Bolshevik ranks and supplied an impulse to the development of the military spirit. The analogy of the French Revolutionarywars is again instructive. Since Colonel Malone wrote the support has been withdrawn, 'but even now the Allied policy would hardly satisfy him. He argues that, after all, we are not con- ' cerned with the merits or demerits of Bolshevism as a form of government; if the Russians choose to accept it, it is their own affair. Colonel Malone’s advice with regard to Russia is that given by General Smuts :—“Leave Russia alone, remove the blockade adopt a policy of friendly neutrality and Gal-lio-like impartiality to all factions. It may well be that the only hope for Rusia is a sobered purified system. . . If we have to appear on the Russian scene at all let it be as impartial benevolent friends and helpers and not as military or political partisans. Be patient with sick Russia ; give her time and sympathy and await the results of her convalescence.”

In addition to its general moral, concludes the critic, Colonel Malone’s hook contains much interesting detail, and throws light on many' matters which have been obscure hitherto. It traces to its source the report of the so-called “nationalisation” of women. The suggestion, it appears, was made in the columns of a- Bolshevik journal, but was never adopted. With regard to atrocities, Colonel Malone admits that “no open-minded observer, who visits Soviet Russia can shut his eyes to the black -side of affairs,” but it would be a mistake to- suppose that the Bolsheviks alone are responsible for them. He believes that the leaders of neither sid* desire atrocities, but that those were mainly due to the liberation of hooligan and -anarchial elements during the transition stage, when government was in a flux. And it is worth noting that if the millenium has arrived in Russia it is certainly disappointing to those who are devoted to the pleasures of the table. During the rhole on his way to Russia, the author’s fare was spartan in the extreme; its s+aple was black bread, money could not buy better.