RUSSIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 January 1918, Page 5

RUSSIA.

A TERRIBLE STORY. NO HOPE i ■' ' < FIGHTING. ANARCHY CF.CO.MING RAMPANT, STARVATION CERTAIN. Received Jan. 0, 8.55 p.m. London, Jan. S. The Daily Chronicle's Pctrogrnd correspondent states that if Trotsky is unable to induce the Germans to transfer the peace negotiations to Stockholm lie hopes to induce them to assent to Heme. The idea that' Russia can light must be abandoned. Russia has ceased to exist as an organised State, and is in a condition of inconceivable anarchy, slipping back to the middle ages. No lood is being loaded for Petrograd, and, unless a miracle happens, starvation is certain. Rioting is commencing in factory towns in t*ie IVhjseow district owing to the complete disappearance of bread, and there is a danger of the stoppage of trains, as coal is failing. Many factories have been closed. The army of unemployed is growing daily. The official class continue to strike. The people are hoarding roubles with a view to possible emergencies. All financial operations have 'been completely blocked. The masses are sullen, and anarchist propaganda is making headway at the Bolsheviks' expense. The anarchists propose on the Russian New Year's Day to confiscate all property, including factories and houses. Travelling is a peril, the trains being packed with wandering soldiers, and the rolling-stock is gradually breaking down tinder the strain. Trains reach Petrograd with the windows smashed and the linings torn from the seats;

PUGNACIOUS BOLSHEVIKS. TROTSKY'S DISILLUSIONMENT. WAR POSSIBLY RESUMED London, Jan. 8. The Daily Express Petrograd correspondent states that tlie Bolsheviks seem to have made up their minds to bludgeon right and left. Having disposed of the Allied Governments, whose ambassadors are on the point of departing, they are now engaged in a standing fight wits German Imperialism. M. Trotsky recoils in tragic disillusionment from the German interpretation of self-definition, and will probably follow M. Kerensky's example and appeal to the army, which, despite terrible disorganisation, remains loyal to the new democracy. It is believed that the Bolsheviks will be goaded to the last verge of desperation to continue the war in the event of failure to secure peace based on democratic principles. The ex-Czar is never mentioned in Petrograd. He remains in dreary exile at Tobolsk and spends his time in felling timber.

LITHUANIA'S INDEPENDENCE TO BE PROCLAIMED BY GERMAN Y. Received Jan. 10, 12.20 a.m. Stockholm, Jan. 0. The Dagens Nyleter learns that Germany will proclaim Lithuania's independence. It is expected the declaration will be forthcoming at Brest Litovsk. ARABIA A BRITISH OFFENSIVE. ENTIRE TURKISH FORCE CAPTURED Received .Tan. 0, 5.5 p.m. Washington, Jan. 8. Official advices state that the British have started a third offensive against the Turks, capturing an entire force and armament at Mainda, in Arabia, in the vicinity o;' Shahin. A TURKISH REPORT. ON THE GERMAN MODEL. ITS ABSURDITY EXPOSED. deceived Jan. 10, 12.5 a.m. Amsterdam, .Tan. '.)■ A Turkish official communique, reported from Yemen, states: Our troops near Aden continue their enterprises. Safety prevails in the whole of ihe Arabian provinces, The English effort to land near Hodaida failed, since when the coasting trade has been uninterrupted. The Press Bureau comments that the Turkish Yemen garrisons have long been I'll! oil' from the outside world, and that Ihe Hodaida incident probably refers to a sneces.-ful raid by Red 'Sea patrol snips 011 June 12, when a small landing party captured the entire Turkish post (i; )o*< men, two mountain guns, and throe machine-guns.