SITUATION IN RUSSIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 January 1918, Page 6

SITUATION IN RUSSIA.

GEP.MANS POURING IN FIGHTING ON COSSACK FRONT. • London, Jan. ■Mr. llotirchiei-, .ijiccial correspondent, of the Times, states that the Germanisation of Petrograd is proceeding rapidly. German naval and military ollicers are arriving in large numbers. Austrian and German prisoners are figuring in street processions. The Bolsheviks have liberated large numbers of Austrians and, Germans from a concentration ramp near Petrograd. They showed their appreciation by obtaining arms and raiding and plundering the neighborhood. Telegrams from Petrograd state that German goods are arriving and lowering prices. The first, convoy of German steamers is expected in the Neva. The vessels are crammed with merchandise. The Bolsheviks have taken precautions against British submarines. The remarkable, warning of the Daily News correspondent that tile Germans are asking Russia to send an army against the allies is not considered seriously, Russia's military collapse being so complete that '2OOO Bolsheviks surrendered to a few Chinese at Hanbin, after a very brief fight Renter's correspondent at Zurich states that the Frankfurter Zeitung announces that the Government is taking up a half interest in a Berlin syndicate which is being organised for the purpose of importing breadstuff's from Russia. The Government is assuming all the risks. Similar syndicates will be organised in Austria and Hungary, 'Bulgaria and Turkey. A salor, Eremzefi'. has been appointed temporary coijimander-in-chief of the Petrograd district. Civil war is being prosecuted with activity on the Cossack front. The whole population of the Don Valley—men and women alike—was mobilised in 2-1 hours. Youths and women are being employed /behind the lines. Violent eight-days' fighting between the Oos3acks and the Bolsheviks at Irkutsk devastated the town. Many people are homeless, and whole families have been frozen. A Petrograd message states that fighting occurred between a Ukrainian lanceregiment and Maximalists between the station of G.jatsk and Smolensk. The officers and a large number of men were .killed. A referendum is to be taken at Odessa to decide whether the city should belong to Ukraine or White Russia. i'l. Trotsky, Bolshevik Foreign Minister, states in a communique that several revolutionaries were shot in Bessarabia, and adds that the" Roumanians granted safe conduct to the Revolutionarv Committee to Jassy, where, upon arrival, they were arrested ar.d tried, and narrowly escaped shooting. M. Trotskv sternly warns Roumania that lie will net tolerate the repression cither of Russian Revolutionaries of Socialists, j-.nd threatens the harshest measures, irrespective of tlje offenders' positions. Amsterdam, Jan. 3. The Loipsic Voiks Zeitung, in an article blending brutal candor with humor, states that Germany's aims are purely aggressive, and would be made" more palatable by a kind ot plebiscite—any thing but a manifestation of democratic right to self-determination. Germanv intends to use the Baltic baron* and the Polish bourgeoisie as a springboard for bolder annexations. The Baltic provinces and Poland will remain under the military domination of the Central Powers, which is tantamount to annexation. The Volks »itung fears that this undisguised policy is very inimical to the interests of the Central Powers in connection with the general peace outlook. A Paris message states that Swiss telegrams show that the German press, freed from the ofiicially-iyspired reserve] is cynically discussing the opportunities for plunder. The Tageszcitung alleges that the Bolsheviks have agreed to various cessions. The Lokal Anzeigrr remarks that Courland, Lithuania, and Livonia have declared their intention of severance from Russia. Therefore Russia's claims are untenable, and these provinces must be evacuated, even during the negotiations.