GERMAN ANNEXATION DESIGNS PLAIN TO RUSSIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16757, 25 January 1918, Page 5

GERMAN ANNEXATION DESIGNS PLAIN TO RUSSIA.

DESIRE TO MAKE AeW GIBRALTAR IN GULF OF RIGA. AUSTRIANS SILENT PARTNERS IN DISCUSSIONS. Australian and N.Z. (Received 11.30 p.m.) PETROGEAD, Jan. 23. M. Trotzky has returned to Petrograd from Brest Litovsk. He says the German terms preponderate in favour of annexation. They make no secret of their desire to seize Poland, Lithuania, and Courland, and thoir hope to make Moon Island a new Gibraltar, with a view to strangling Russia economically and politically. He added that the Austrians did not participate actively in the negotiations. They merely assented to every German proposal. M. Trotzky believes a final decision will shortly be reached. The secretary of the Russian delegation at Brest Litovßk has officially protested against the German version of the proceedings, in which M. Trotzky's'protest against Germany's change of front was not mentioned. General Hoffmann warned the Russian Government that if they carry out their intention of giving the German officer prisoners the same regime as the men, Germany will cancel the project for the reciprocal improvement of war prisoners'conditions as far as Germany is concerned. RAIDS AND PATROL ACTIVITY ON BRITISH FRONT. ' ENCOUNTERS ON CAMBRAI AND YPRES SECTORS. ENEMY ARTILLERY BUSY AT SEVERAL POINTS. Australian and N.Z. (Received 11.30 p.m.) LONDON. Jan. 24. Sir Douglas Haig reports :-We dispersed a small party endeavouring to approach our positions west of Villers-Guislain, on the Cambrai front. Another party, which succeeded in entering our trenches north-west of La Bassee, was ejected, leaving prisoners in our hands. The enemy also raided a sap west of La Bassee. Hostile artillery activity has been shown between St. Quentin and at the River Scarpe, and in the neighbourhood of Messines and Zonnebeke. An earlier report stated: Successful patrol encounters occurred last night east of Ypres. The enemy raided one of our posts south of St. Quentin. Hostile artillery is active at Cambra). Our aeroplanes during the night dropped over two hundred bombs on aerodromes near Courtrai, and billets at Roulers and Rumbeke. We also made an air raid into Germany, dropping two tons of bombs on the steel works at Thionville, the railway siding at Bernsdorf, in Saxony, and Arnaville Junction. STRUGGLE BETWEEN GLASSES TO CONTROL RUSSIA. SOCIALISM TO BE INTRODUCED AT BAYONET POINT. BOLSHEVIKS LOSE CONTROL OF PASSIONS OF MOB. Australian and N.Z. (Revived 8.10 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 23. The Petrograd correspondent of the Daily Chronicle says the Constituent Assembly was to have been the crown of a bourgeois parliamentary republic, but proved an obstacle in the path of the October revolution. It was not a national, but only a class institution, like the Soviets, which were able to overcome the resistance of the propertied classes and lay the foundations of a Socialist order. M Lenin, speaking at a Socialist meeting, said the Soviets were kindling the flames of revolution, and would command all the peopre to fight. The Soviets were breaking the pillars of the bourgeois order, not with gloved hands, but in the proletarian way. It is evident that Socialism will be introduced at the bayonet's point, adds the correspondent. The programme will not be executed without a struggle, The position is extremely critical.^ Lenin and the Soviet condemn the murders of the ex-Cadet Ministers Shingareff 'and Kokoshkin, and have issued an order for the arrest of the assassin. It is clear that the murders were not committed by order of the Central Bolshevik Government, which bears the consequence of talk in the streets on Monday, in connection with the murders. This talk is menacing towards the Bolsheviks, owing to the popularity of M. Shingareff in Petrograd, and M. Kokoshkin in Moscow. The murders indicated that the Bolshevik leaders are no longer able to control the passions of the mob, which they have aroused. The correspondent of the Morning Post states that it is rumoured that other ex-Ministers in the fortress of Peter and Paul have suffered the'same fate as Shingareff and Kokoshkin. The food shortage is approaching the verge of actual famine. Money is not procurable by private persona and public bodies, The proletariat 'methods of raising money lor, current expenses are by robbery, blackmail, and felony. Reuter. (Received 8.10 p.m.) PETROGRAD, Jan. 23. The Bolsheviks report that their troops defeated the Ukranians at Poltava, capturing the town. AUSTRIA RIDICULES FIGHTING FOR PRUSSIAN IDEALS. DESIRE FOR PEACE GENERAL IN ALL CLASSES. Auatralian and N.Z. Cable Association. AMSTERDAM, Jan. 23. No newspapers have been received from Austria since Friday. The Socialist paper Arbeiter Zeitung, in a remarkable'article, said that the patience of the tortured masses had ended, and they were unable to endure longer. Not only the workers, but millions of peasants, officials, and professional men demanded peace, and the strikers were now translating a powerless wish into a definite act. It was strange that the Austrian censor allowed the article to be published. The German newspapers are ignoring the Austrian crisis. A well-informed traveller from Austria states that every Austrian ridicules the idea of fighting on for Alsace-Lorraine, Germany's annexation in Belgium, the freedom of the seas, and other items in the German jingoes' programme. Austria wants an Austrian peace, and the overwhelming mass of the people support the right of self-deter-mination by the oociijTied territories. Germany does not want peace; Austria does, but will she be offered it? LONDON, Jin. 23. Genoa messages state that the only mention of a collapse of the strike comes from Vienna, adding that the temper of the Austrian populace remains violent. The Arbeiter Zeitung warns the Government that if the Brest Litovsk negotiations fail owing to the uncompromising attitude of the Central Powers, the Socialist leaders will no longer be able to control the workers. The German portions of Austria are reported to be comparatively calm, but Bohemia is in a state of ferment. A demonstration at the Prague Opera House on Sunday led to grave riots, and the general strike began in Prague on Monday. The Milan correspondent of the Daily Telegraph states that the Austrian strikes have collapsed, and that work was resumed on Monday. FRANCE CALMLY AWAITING GERMAN ONSLAUGHT. DEFENCES PERFECTED FOR DECISIVE BATTLE OF WAR Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. NEW YORK, Jan. 23. The Paris correspondent of the New York Times states that France is awaiting confidently the great German offensive on the west front, which she believes imminent. This will be the decisive, perhaps the final, battle of the war M. Joseph Reinach and other writers express the opinion that Nancy will be one of the principal objectives. It is known that the Germans are heavily concentrating in Lorraine, but France has perfected her defences. The enemy attack is doomed to failure. The Chicago Daily News correspondent at the French front reports that'serious differences have arisen between Hindenburg and Ludendorf, his chief of staff. It is believed that the latter is opposed to a big offensive on the west front.