The New Zealand Times. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1917. OUR RUSSIAN ALLY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9793, 17 October 1917, Page 4

The New Zealand Times. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1917. OUR RUSSIAN ALLY

The enemy's attack on the islands in the Gulf of Riga, whatever may bo its military significance, ba-s drawn attention pointedly once more to the condition of Russia. The attack may ho an unexpected proof of the still considerable strength of Germany, or it maybe a bluff for the purpose of reassuring the Teutonic mind, and deceiving the outside world, about the discipline of the Gorman. Navy. It may he meant to make tho world believe that Germany is still, contrary to the signs of weakness displayed on the West front, capable of taking the offensive. Such a demonstration is necessary, because all the military critics have long ago declared that the great reserve assembled for some great offensive enterprise in tho summer of 1916 was totally absorbed by the tremendous campaign opened by the Allies on the Somme. If the necessity is measured 'by- tho fact that this campaign—several times declared by the German High Command to have been discontinued — is not only still maintained, but going stronger than ever, a further spur of necessity is the recent desperate endeavour of tho Gorman Government to bring about peace negotiations. A proof, any proof, , that Germany, in spite of tho staggering blows of the Allies on tho Western and the Italian fronts still has a. great power of initiative, must ho regarded by that Government as likely to help the effort to escape at tho eleventh hour by means of an, inconclusive peace. Time presses, for the reality of the American menace has been demonstrated beyond peradventuro, and a vast increase of the. American effort which has already reached the Western linos is at band, with certainty of full effect in the spring.

Whatever the reason for the German effort in the Baltic, and however futile tli.a-t effort may appear according to the surface- information available to all, the Russian Government is acting as if it regarded that effort seriously. Officially it has even been said that the effort is serious though it cannot affect tho position at Pctrograd, for reasons which are as obvious as tbo Russian winter. One cannot, however, help wondering whether the Government of which M. Kerensky is tho head has a deep purpose in making this emphatic recognition, nothing less than the design to help all the measures taken to concentrate the Russian effort upon the vigorous prosecution of the war. In that event the appeal to the Fleet has a dramatic aspect very striking. On the other hand many will consider that dramatic point from a different aspect, the aspect of doubt regarding tho will of the Russian Navy to fight. That is really a doubt applicable to both the navies engaged. So far as its application to Russia is concerned, the doubt is certainly sustained by the course of the Revolution, in the opinion of those who suggest it. But in reality the Revolution has done wonders during the short time it has lasted. As Sir Wilford pointed out in his lecture on Monday night-, the record of achievement of that hundred days is very largo. It is indeed large enough to bo astounding, and it justifies the hope that its consequences may make that record very much more remarkable in history than the famous Hundred Days which ended with the final breaking of Napoleon’s career. The comparison suggested by the lecturer between the former sending to Siberia of all advocates of Socialism and the present similar treatment 1 of the friends of Czardom is striking, - but it does not nearly cover the ground or represent tbo position. The two chief features of that position are: (1) The absence of brutality and the moderation of act.on; (2) tho immense amount of good work done by which the capacity of the Russian people for self-government has been demonstrated. In tho excitement and confusion of a vast upheaval the national stability is the most wonderful thing in history. There were mistakes, but we ought to wonder at their pauc.ty. By the worst of those the vast military strength of Russia was paralysed. Fortunately the enemy was prevented from taking advantage of that paralysis, by the iron grip which held him down in Flanders, in Fra-nce, and >n Italy pinned in a- life-and-death struggle. The consequence is that the paralysis is healed. The armies, sick of that palsy, are going to work in the spring. Their Government is ready to guarantee that they will work with a vengeance. The greatest danger to the future of Europe has thus been parried. From whatever cause, the Revolution has milled itself together, and assumed tho appearance of stability under tho Moderate Party, which appears to form tho largo majority of the nation. There is still a certain amount of mystery, for though the armies seem quite restored the Navy has yet to account for tho absence of its larger Units from the Gulf of Riga. That- absence may be explainable easily enough by campaign conditions of which information has not reached us. It was only made clear yesterday in the description of the fighting for Osel Island, which showed the unimpeded progress of tho naval co-operation with the invading forces, ap-d it adds a good deal to tho dramatic point of the Kerensky appeal to the Fleet. If the Fleet is absent for evil reasons we can +h,e more easily understand the intense determination of the Government to concentrate the strength, of the nation on the war. It is possible that the refusal of the Entente to send munitions and the blank “impossible” returned by Japan to the demand for troops may have helped tho concentration of national effort. If so fhe Alliance has rendered most valuable service at- the crucial moment bv showing how unreliable an unstable Government really is. Bracti-

cally this was an announcement that the Allied Democracies would abandon the now Republic of Russia unless the Republicans mended thoir ways. In that ease tho Revolution which was merely erratic, has been pulled up rrith a round turn, and is at last in stop.