THE ALLIES AND RUSSIA.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 164, 11 July 1919, Page 4

THE ALLIES AND RUSSIA.

Labour organisations in dirrerent parts of the world have recently passed reso- i lutions calling upon the Allies to dis- 1 continue sending supplies and forces, to j Russia. These resolutions are probably , founded on a complete misapprehension f ot tU< real position. Wγ are not In any 1 way interfering in the internal polities ' of another country; that was recently , made quite clear by tlie speech of Mr , jl.loyd <ieor<;o on the subject. He said 1 that we had no right to interfere with ' any form of government which the . Iftiiwinn peopUs themselves might elect, , [but he pointed out at the panic time that < there was at present no government in 1 Ruteiii which could fairly claim to repre- ! sen , ., the people, and that what We were . doing was to protect our own subjects ( from attwk, ami to endeavour to j alh \ iate the miseries from which the < 'great mas* of the Russian people were futlenii'.'. Wlien the Uolshevikri seized ithe rents <«t government, which they did by foreiUly ejecting tin- * onstituent LweniMy. tiny concluded a treaty with (iprniany which meant, had it been fully carried out, tliat our blockade would iliavf Ween rendered nugatory, and tier- ' 'main would have been left free to draw j J what supplies she wanted from the vast i territory of Russia in Kurope and Asia, i It aloo meant thai, the vast stores of food and ammunition and clothing which ;«'« had dispatched to our former allies j would have fallen into the hand* of the 'enemy. I'nder there conditions we had 'to take steps to sec that tiie Germane Uvere not able to pet all that they Iclaimed, and we were ahlv assisted in ; tliia Liy certain sections of the Russian population. These sections stood by Uβ loyally, and were of considerable assistance in resisting the Clermans after the treaty of Brest-Litov.-k. Having stood by iw when the rest of Russia had deserted us, these loyal ltussians had n peculiar claim upon our gratitude and our assistance. They had also a claim ■ upon our protection, for they exposed themselves at once to tlie hostility of tho Hobheviks and the Urrruans alike, mid since the Uolsheviks had captured tlie hulk of the ariue and money then in Russia, it was only our duty to a.vi«t those who had helped us in resisting the | attacks of other* who would have betrayed the cause of the Allies into the hands of tin- Hermans. That is a* fur as our assistance has pone, and in doing this : we are in no v isc dictating to Russia as to the form of povornmint which her people are to assume. j j Some of the rtrittfch Labour unions, unfortunately, seem to interpret what ■ Britain has done as bein.fr in some ways an attempt to crush Socialism in Russia and to restore either tlie old regime or some form of bureaucratic government, and industrial action is threatened to compel Britain and her" allies to abandon their policy. It is always a dangerous and undemocratic proceeding for industrial organisations to interfere with foreign policy, which is peculiarly the function and prerogative of Government, j It is the more unwisp in the present instance, because Labour has completely misunderstood the situation, and lias failed entirely to appreciate either tlie motive* of the Allies or the leal position as it exists in Russia to-day. The Bolshevik*, so far from Iving Socialists, are endeayouring to net up a class tyranny that is in many respect* worse than thai which tin- Russians endured under the Czar. They have divided all those who rnme under tl.eir B »ay into three classes in regard to food. Those in tlie lirst class are allowed a sufficiency, those in the second class are allowed a bare existence, while those in the third class have to face something very near to actual starvation. If any industrial organisation in Russia displeases the Bolshevik rulers then the whole organination can l>e degraded from the lirst to the second, or the second to the third class, until it asree* to abide by whatever decision the Bolsheviks inav have come to. Seeinjj that Russia is now in the jfrip of famine, that cholera and other virulent disease* are rampant in the big citim, and that any serio'w epidemic outbreak in Kn-sin might easily affect the health of :i |ar-;e part l>oth .'.f Kurope and Asia, the Allies are certainly justified, in the cause of humanity, in iloin{( "hat they can to assist the Russians in securing some stable and just (.ovcrnuicnt. They are not deciding' whether Admiral Koltcliak or Lenin is to lie tlie ruler of the Russians- that is for t!ic Russians thenieelves to decide. What i they arc is to sec that those who formerly assisted us arc not oppressed by other* who desorted us during the war, and that as far an possible food and other necessaries- are supplied, so ;;s to pivwnt the Russian people from falling into such a state of destitution and rtia-• ease as would entail suffering not only' on Miemaelvps. hut on other nations I bordering on their country. IVohahly if I Labour understood the' situation' it i I would cea.>e to protect against the!