The Daily News. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1919. THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 November 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1919. THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM.

The more the Russian position is studied, the cleaver becomes the conviction that either the Allies must redeem that country from Bolshevism, or the anti-Bolsheviks must realise they will have to rely on their own efforts to save their country. Britain has tried to lead the way in helping Russia, and has now given up the task, because she cannot carry so much on her own shoulders. No single nation can successfully tackle this gigantic work, nor should it be expected to do so. Outside intervention, it has been convincingly demonstrated by history, has been invariably a ghastly failure when it has been undertaken in order to help part of the population against oppression. There is an inherent spirit of patriotism among the people of all countries, so that however lightly those people may think in the abstract about the possibility of accepting foreign help, when that aid arrives they resent the presencec of alien troops upon the sacred soil of their country. It may be urged that the recent great war negatived this view, as both Prance and Belgium warmly hailed Britain's aid with a joy beyond expression, for Britain went to their aid to uphold a treaty to which she was a party—the independence of Belgium. There is no parallel between rendering that help and assisting the anti-Bol-sheviks in Russia. Russia was our ally in the great war until Bolshevism reared its ravenous head and added to the Entente's difficulties at a crucial point of the struggle, besides throwing Russia into the'vortex of a revolution that has horrified the world. There can be, said the British Premier, no peace for the world until there is peace in Russia, and how that is to be brought about is a problem that has still to .be solved. Instead of growing better, the situation is becoming worse. Moreover, there is grave danger of Russia becoming a fostering ground for German militarism and Kaiserism, as well as a convenient mask for movements which are intended to set the Peace terms at defiance. Under one pretext or another the German j . military party are building up armies in Russia, and it is well known that large quantities of munitions are being manufactured contrary to the Armistice terms, with what purpose in view can readily be conjectured, in the light of what is now transpiring in Germany. It is quite possible that the unwillingness of Britain's Allies to co-operate heartily with Britain and the constitutional Russians in restoring stability of Government in Russia is the outcome of regarding the tangle as beyond unravelling, although war-weariness and economic pressure must also be taken into account. Yet the men-

aee is startlingly apparent and intensely real, inasmuch as it lias all the elements of an.outbreak that may again involve the civilised world in an armed conflict, for it is as sure as night follows day that the unscrupulous Germans will strive their utmost to avoid the consequences of their defeat. The reasons which have prevented the United States and Japan from cooperating thoroughly with Koltchak and the Russian constitutional forces in Siberia may be sound and natural, but, at all events, the absence of co-operation lias beeii' conspicuous enough. It may be asked whether Britain would do good or harm by trying to help the anti-Bolsheviks to a limited extent. Even limited action may do more harm than good. Russia is a country with vast resources and a vast population. If such a country cannot save itself, can it readily be saved by a pinch of help here and a pinch of advice there 1 Very improbable. On the contrary, such taetics might tend to "increasing the savagery of the blood-thirsty Bolsheviks, whereas the knowledge that the people were thrown on their own resources might act as an effective tonic, for it is right that the Russians should rely on themselves. In this connection it may be pointed out that the less the colonists of New Zealand depended on the help of British troops in their long struggle with the Maoris, the better were the results achieved. There was a time when the Allies might, by wholehearted co-operation, have carried out a successful crusade against Bolshevism as the enemy of the peace of the world. After the Avar, however, the nations were warweary, and the Americans were restrained by traditional objection's ("the strength of which is evidenced by the attitude of the Senate over the League of Nations) to foreign entanglements, and by the scruples of President Wilson, who spoke of the Allied responsibility for Russia as being an acid test. The reactions from the refusal to meet this test must inevitably bear upon the future of the League and the attainment of the great objects for which it was created. We have endeavoured to present some of the leading aspects of the Russian problem in a common-sense light, not only as it affects Russia, but in its bearing on the world's peace. Prom a sentimental viewpoint it seems hard to leave the constitutional Russians to work out their own salvation. Britain cannot, and the Allies will not; give snffieii ent help to strangle Bolshevism. The Allies can, however, and should, put an end to the German operations. Britain has already spent seventy millions in fighting Lenin, and it is obvious that such a sacrifice cannot continue, and that it is time the forces of law and order in Russia asserted themselves in organised self-defence.