The Star. THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 1919. THE WAR UPON BOLSHEVISM.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXVII, Issue LXXVII, 5 June 1919, Page 4

The Star.

THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 1919. THE WAR UPON BOLSHEVISM.

J»l'v»red evejy e^ning by 6 O'clOc* to Hawera, Mnoa'a, Normai-by, Gkaiawa, • E.'tham, Mangatofci, Eapouga, Awatuna, Opurake, Oiakeho, Manutahi, Alton, Hurley. ' villo, Fatea. Waverley.

With the improving weather in Europe increased activity is being displayed by the anti-Bo ishevik forces, aided by Allied troops, against the Red armies organised by Lenin and Trotsky. Considerable success has been achieved, and there are indications that Petrograd will before long be captured, if its fall has not already occurred. The boundaries containing that part of European Russia over which the Bolshevists ha,ve held power are somewhat indefinite. To trace the position a line should be drawn from Riga, south to Finsk, than south-east to a point a few miles northeast of Odessa, north-east to about 100 miles north of the Sea of Azov, east for some 200 miles, then south-east to rest on the shores of the Caspian, about 150 miles south-west of Astrakhan; northward from the Caspian the old boundary of Russia in Europe may be followed for about 500 miles, when the line takes a sharp turn north and slightly west, passing to the left of. Ufa and Perm, and ending indefinitely about 300 miles north-north-west of the latter town. Apparently there was a gap in that uninviting and desolate region, but contact has been made 'between Xoltehak'& forces and the Allies, and the gap has been bridged. The line, can with certainty be followed from about 300 miles east of Archangel, and runs irregularly west and southwest to near Petrograd and back to the Ghiif of Riga. The Bolshevik area, according to these boundaries, was roughly over a million square miles, holding the great bulk of the Russian people. The Siberians and Russians, with thr> Ural Cossacks, are pressing the Bolshcvisifcs from the east; Denikin's forces, aided by the French and Greeks at Odessa, and the R-oumain'ans from the

south'; the Letts, G'.rniiuia. and Poles

.from the west; and the Esthon.ans and , Finns, with, the Allied forces based on J Murmansk and Archangel, from the north. The Bolshevists are, therefore, practically besieged, having Moscow as their centre. The main attacks at pre--sani being undertaken are by the Estiion.ans, the Finns, and the AlLed forces, i'etrograd being, of course, the great objective. The Bolshevists will probably remove to Moscow which has been the centre cf government since the Soviets overpowered the Kerensky Administration. The loss of Petrograd should have an important moral effect upon the rank and file of Trotsky's armies, and they may repeat the methods they adopted in 1916 to escape the battlefield. Petrograd is of comparatively recent growth, having been founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, and it is interesting to note that it has never been captured by a foreign foe/ Built among marshy islands and surrounded by forests and uninviting country, Petrograd has been diff.cult to approach, and has thus enjoyed immunity from attack. Access to the city from the Baltic was easily made impossible by the powerful fortress built at Kronstadt. But the Allies, helped by the Fains and other small nationalities, ouc3 they had determined that Bolshevism, whatever its theories of two yeais ago, had become as dangerous a menace to civilisation as Pru&sianism had been, have found their way towards' the city and there appears to be every sign that the Reds in Russia ivill bs overthrown this summer. If the German Government can continue to keep the Spartaeists in check, there will not be much likelihood of the anarchist forces over-running. Europe. The defeat of tho Russian Bolshevists will bring jeICef from starvation and degradation to many millions cf people, and we fr-el suro that once the masses who have experienced the tyrannies of the foolish extremists* are giv^n back their liberty they will, under Allied guidance, restore Russia, to order and commonsense government. The Bolshevists have had their opportunity to put the nation into some sort of order, but alii they have done is to wage a class war against all whom they have regarded as enemies. The country has been ruined economically; murder has been of daily occurrence; and starvation and terrible diseases have added to the horrors. It would be difficult to imagine any place in more parlous condition, or any nation reduced by so-called government to such a state of wretchedness. From what is known of Bolshevik theories one can never expect much better results, for the doctrines are such as to undermine and destroy every civil and moral law, and open the door for all manner of evils. The Bolshevik leaders of Russia plunged the nation into anarchy to satisfy their desire to punish the ruling classes, but they were not content to take the constitutional means for reform which M. Kerensky was mstitutiing, and they forced an indiscriminate war upo n all who would not fully subscribe to their doctrines. The terrible condition of Russia today should make an indelible impression upon the rest of the world, and those people who believe in law and order should rigidly resiist even the beginnings of Bolshevism, for the menace is one that develops with great rapidity, and its disciples will use any means to gain their ends. Let us hope that the Lenin-Trotsky combination has come to tho end of its terrible reign, and that soon better days, with sensible government, will dawn in Russia.