RUSSIAN CHAOS.

Taihape Daily Times, 10 November 1917, Page 2

RUSSIAN CHAOS.

CONDITIONS GETTING WORSE. A BLACK OUTLOOK. VANCOUVER October 7. Conflicting cablegrams daily from. Petrograd received tend to complicate (the mystifying conditions prevailing in the great Russian Empire, but now an advance party has returned to New York from the home of the Slavs, carrying with them some reliable data as to the actual ' conditions obtaining in the country. The American passengers arrived in New York aboard a Norwegian steamship direct from Russia, and they said that chaos prevailed throughout the new Republic, and added that conditions were getting worse every day. They saw no hope of any improvement for a long time unless a dictator should come to the front with superhuman ability. The aristocracy and educated classes in Russia, they said, were sacrificing their lives daily by hundreds against the enemy while the working classes were wasting time arguing in committees in Petrograd.

Kerensky, they said, was honest in his purpose, but that was all that could be urged in his favour He was weak, a Socialist, and an idealist, and played to the populace in Petrograd in ' order to be elected the first President of the new republic. • BERNSTEIN'S VIEWS. \ Hermann Bernstein the well-known editor of t-he "American Hebrew," who was sent to Russia to study conditions after the revolution, returned on the same ship, and expressed his disagreement with the views of his fellow-passengers He said that Kerensky was the idol of the people everywhere, and that -he was settling all difficulties. The soldiers, he asserted, were returning to the and would fight against Germany more strongly than ever. "Breshkovskayj, the grandmother of the revolution," Mr Bernstein said, "rravels from one city to another in a special train, addressing the populace and telling them what the new form of Government means for them All. I saw some prisoners who were 1 released after twenty-five years' imprisonment for being connected with the plot to blow up Alexander 111. They wept for joy when Kerensky addressed them in the great hall of the Winter Palace, where Breshkovskaya lives when she is in Petrograd. The Palace had not been injured in any way when I left the capital; the streets were quiet and the electric cars were operating regularly; but ve . y few automobiles were seen on account of the high price of petrol."

THE BATTALION OF DEATH/ Another passenger was Mrs R.heta Childe Dorr, the American suffrage leader and writer, who has been abroad five months, and spent the last three in Russia, where she had an interview with Vera Butelikareff, the commander of the women's "Battalion of Death," and passed nine days with the women in the trenches. "The American commission in Russia " Mrs Dorr said, "is powerless to do anything because there is no one in Petrograd to do anything with. The Government is in a state of chaos, and getting worse all the time. Kerensky is honest in his intentions, but he is an idealist, and lacks the bigness to deal with the job. The people regard him as an idol, and bow to him in the streets, as he was then playing up for President. His honesty is unquestionable. Napoleon said, during the French Revolution that a whiff of grapeshot was needed in Paris to bring things to a speedy settlement, and restore order out of chaos, and that is just what is required in Russia to-day. The country needs a thorough dictator, and unless one comes to the front there is no hope for Russia Komii off is a great general, and popular with the people, and Kerensky is a great talker. He talks and talks from morning till night without accomplishing anything of im portance. Russia is torn up by eighteen shades of politics, anu the time is spent in arguing before committees. "I spoilt nine days with the 'Battalion of Death' near Vilna, and saw the wounded brought from the battle' field. They would not permit me to go into the front-line trenches I have a signed portrait of the leader, Butchkareff, who is a born leader of woman, and not one to be trifled with." Mrs. Dorr said that her quarters in Petrograd wore in the Hotel Militaire which was formerly the Hotel Astoria It was filled with officers and soldiers, and the Government gave permission for Mrs. Pankhurst and another woman writer and herself to stay there She said there were.bloodstains on the floor of her bedroom, and the walls were riddled with bullets. "The Germans were "giving champagne dinners and supper parties in the hotels and restaurants in Stock holm when jjhe was there, and „j., „_..,.-

ing the impression that Germany had won the war, and all the fighting was practically over. M. Mac Allister Smith, who returned with his wife from his sixth regular business trip to Russia, confirmed what Mrs. Dorr had said in regard to conditions there. "The best men in the country," he said, "are loyal to Russia, and will fight against Germany to the last ditch. Hundreds of gallant officers have sacrificed their lives in a vain effort to set a good example to their men, and get them to defend their native land. Numbers of them have begged me to try and get them over to the United States so that they can join the American Army and fight against Germany. '' PETROGRAD CABLEGRAMS. UNRELIABLE.

Mr A. E. Corbin, managing director of the Russian Automobile Engineering Co., with headquarters in Petrograd after discounting the attitude of the extreme Socialist party of Petrograd, said: "Many of-the dispatches coming to New York from Petrograd reflect only a momentary condition there, the state of affairs being changed by sudden developments before the dispatches are printed in America. And what one sees and hears in Petrograd does not reveal conditions throughout Russia. Especially is this true in the economic field. The theorists, extcrmists, of all kinds, politicians and would-be leaders have flocked to Petrograd and what they do and say is one thing while attitude of the masses of the people outside of the city is another. There are to. day hundreds of thousands of Russiair peasants who own their own land, and who therefore arc not in sympathy with the extreme Socialist movement." AMERICA TO BEAR BRUNT. Reports from other sources conclusively indicate that the gradual elimination of Russia in the battlcfront will mean that America must bear the brunt as a consequence. Early in October an American arrived at Stockholm after spending ten years in European capitals, an individual whose position compelled him to take the viewpoint of an impartial observer. He had just spent six weeks in and gave a pessimistic report of the fighting in Russia and of political and industrial conditions there. He said: "There is no righting spirit except among the Cossacks and Caucasians, and that seems to be waning. .a. Caucasian colonel said to me: 'There are no real fighters in Russia besides us, and

we are not Russians, thank G.cd, but Caucasians and Mohammedans.' REFUSE TO FIGHT. "The interior cities and villages are filled wich Russian troops who refuse jtogo to the front. Young Russians , of the better class are hunting the ! streets of Petrograd lor men who are willing to become oHficeis. Since the murder of officers by men has become a. daily occurrence only the most fervent patriots wk. assume the risk of taking commissions. I sat in the War Office at Petrograd when the report was received of the murder of nearly one hundred officers at Viborg and of the preparation of proscription lists against officers in Tarnmersfors. Newspapers in Helsingfors carry daily accounts of military deeds of violence and oi the murder "of officers and civilians by soldiers, often accompanied by robbery. The Government has not dared to domoie than announce 'that makers will -be investigated carefully.' "The Bolshevikis are gaining the upper hand in Petrograd, and are increasing their strength in Moscow. I venture to predict their eventual supremacy . I know this means almost the elimination of Russia as a factor in the war and places new burdens on America.

"When Korniloff issued his ultimatum the news was received with joy by a great proportion of substantial citizens, and even men in the Government Departments told me of their secret hope that he would come to Petrograd. The comments from En-

glish and American newspapers rejoicing at Korniloff s failures were received with, amazement by these people, who saw in his success the only possibility of saving Russia."