The Daily News. TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 1919. THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 April 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 1919. THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM.

In the statement recently made in the House of Commons by Mr. Lloyd George he dwelt at some Length on the Russian situation, which he rightly described as one of the most complex problems ever dealt with by any body of men. To the casual observer the state of Russia has for a long while past appeared to be almost beyond the pale of remedy, and the best that could be expected was that when the maximum of chaos and anarchy was reached there might 'possibly be a return to sanity. Russia is like a rudderless ship in tempestuous seas—no tangible organisation, no government, only chaos and confusion. The position- must indeed be despeiate when the British Premier considers that the best that can be done is to provide security for those dwelling on the most accessible slopes of this volcano, and to arrest the flow of anarchic lava, so as not to scorch other lands. No more depressing spectacle * can be witnessed than that of a great country like Russia, comprising a total area of 8.647,657 square miles., with a population of over one hundred and eighty-two millions, in the throes of an upheaval which threatens its very existence, yet is devoid of any government that can be recognised by the other Powers. ' Amid all this turmoil stalks starvation and disease, but above all the.evils is that of Bolshevism, whose crimes have aroused the horror of the civilised world. They have taken enthusiastically to Germany's terroristic methods, and by that means have tyrannised over the greater part of the country, which contains millions of peaceful inhabitants who are friendly disposed towards Britain. The question of military intervention has frequently been discussed, but the difficulties in this direction are so great that hitherto they have prevailed. At the same time a strong feeling exists that definite efforts should be made to put an end to the existing state of affairs. Sir George Buchanan, a former Ambassador to Russia, recently voiced this feeling when he advocated the adoption of a clear, definite policy indicating that Britain was whole-heartedly with the Russian patriots against the Bolsheviks, and he advised the despatch of a small volunteer force to the south of Russia, together with the furnishing of ample supplies of war material to Generals Kolchak and Deniken to assist them in their action against the Bolshevists. Mr. Lloyd George stresses the fact that military intervention is opposed to the fundamental principle of Britain's foreign policy never to interfere in the international affairs of other countries, however badly governed, but it is probable he might find a precedent for such intervention, though possibly not of a military nature. At the same time he ;s quite in accord with Sir (i&orse

Buchanan as to supplying war material to Kolchak and Deniken, and he asserts that had Britain abandoned these generals it would have been an act unworthy of any great land. Hence it appears that while it is impolitic to send an armed force, it is justifiable to supply war material. Apparently this is straining a principle to snapping point. Britain's present policy is confined to preventing Bolshevism making a forcible eruption into Allied countries, but it would certainly appear to be a far safer and more effective step to cut out the root of the evil on the spot. It is admitted that the world will not be passive so long as Russia is torn and rent by civil war. Surely desperate conditions require exceptional means to be adopted if they ore to be remedied, ar;d it would be in the interests of civilisation and humanity if Bolshevism were to be crushed as completely as militarism. It is too much to expect that the Bolshevists will be amenable either to persuasion or to economic pressure. At the same time it is unthinkable that the Allies should hold aloof when by their action they could bring relief to the starving and oppressed millions in Russia. Nansen's project of feeding these petfple is most praiseworthy, but its execution can hardly touch the fringe of the problem, especially as a condition precedent is that hostilities must cease. Mr. Lloyd George considers that Russia is emerging, but there are no indications to the ordinary observer justifying this optimistic ■ view, so that it must be taken that the wish is father to the thought. Moreover the position of the British forces in Northern Russia gives cause for anxiety. We can quite understand that the idea of entering upon another war is repellant, but the danger of Bolshevism is so great that stern measures are imperative, yet what those measures should be is not easy to define. To merely mark time is to increase the evil. It is a reflection on the statesmanship of the time not to evolve a means for ending Russia's chaos.