The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY.. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 1918.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 4899, 19 June 1918, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY.. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 1918.

There is, it will be observed, a strong revival of the plea What Will that Japan should uuJapan Do? dertake military oper-

atioiis in Russia on behalf of the Allies. It is, of course, no reflection on Japan’s honesty as Ally that she has not already taken such a step. The position is that what is proposed amounts to a. task from which any nation might justifiably beg to be excused. Russia is assuredly to-day in a dreadful plight—so much so, indeed, that it is practically impossible to form any satisfactory idea as to how matters will ultimately be straightened out. One thing only can be taken for. granted, and that is that the great Russian Empire of pre-war days will never be rehabilitated.. We should j say that even the Allies have firmly made up their minds that the former Russian Empire was far too exten- J sive to be capable of being governed by one ruler and by one national government. The pity is, clearly, that the division of that mighty Empire could not have stood over until that great menace to freedom-loving peoples—Hun militarism —had been 'crushed. It is surely not too much to claim that if'Russia had not broken up her armies the great struggle would by now have been finished or at any rate in its final stage. As things now stand Russia is in the melting pot, and nobody can profess to forecast the ultimate results. It is supposed in some quarters that Japan, early in the war, missed a grand opportunity to assist Russia to stand on her feet. What is thought is that if the Russian arm- j ies could have been stiffened up by j troops from Japan what has trans- | pired might have been averted. Wet

are afraid, however, that- the Go- . verument of Japan realised long be- j fore the other Allied nations that ■ Russia was doomed to be shattere • as a sequel to her internal condition \ of affairs. Nor must it be overlooked that Japan, as far as has been disclosed, was at no time officially invited by Russia to lend mihtarj aid on the far-flung Eastern Front. The present juncture might prove too early for Japan -to do as is now suggested. As far as can be gathered the Allies would at once ask Japai to intervene if there was evidence that her intervention would be timely The main difficulty is that Rus si a possesses a Government which is not prepared to organise a vigorous resistance to the Teuton invasion, ft is clearly the position that the Bolshevild Government is merely a stopgap Government and lacks widespread support. In plenty there is evidence that the Bosheviki committees known as the Soviets are unpopular for armed revolts are no' the order of the day througliout Russia, What is more sections of the pro-Ally people in Russia are constantly harassing the Hun invader, who is .guaranteed a much warrnei reception as time goes on. 16 question that must he giving the Allies most concern is whether the time is yet ripe for intervention m -Russia. If Hun influence and domination were to extend in that unhapps Fni pire it is certain that Japan would have no option but to intervene tor such a step would be not only in the general interests of the Allies but in Japan’s own particular interests. We are afraid that what is needed first of all and most of all in crippled Russia is an Allied mission charged with the important duty of .persuading the Russian people to abandon for a time their political disagreements and rival national aspirations. The success of such a diplomatic manoeuvre on the part of the Allies vould pave the way for Japanese intervention on a gigantic scale. America, too, would, it is certain, give Russia a vast amount of support if that Empire would agree to take vigorous measures to expel the Huns. As for Britain, France and Italy their sympathies with Russia have not languished one jot. It will be interesting, therefore, to await further developments in regard to the renewed proposal that Japan should at tins stage intervene in Russia. What may be taken for granted is that if Japan loses no time in going to Russia’s aid there will be the best of grounds for the belief that the political situation in Russia is already showing signs of appreciable improvement.