COSSACKS BENT UPON CONTROLLING SIBERIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16796, 12 March 1918, Page 5

COSSACKS BENT UPON CONTROLLING SIBERIA.

BOLSHEVIK FORCES LACKING IN DISCIPLINE.'

COMPLETE DEMORALISATION OF THE RAILWAYS. Times ' (Received 7.25 p.m.) PEKIN, Mar. 10. A semi-official report states that General Semenov, the Cossack leader, has been patrolling the Siberian railway as . far as the Karimskaya junction. He commands a staunch and disciplined force, and is awaiting guns and supplies. His recent retirement was temporary, clue to a lack of artillery. The Bolsheviks, under German officers, have some artillery, but they are undisciplined and discontented. They have reached Daouriya, 50 miles from Manchuria. Many Cossack landowners, returned from Russia, who have seen the anarchy there, are anxious to co-operate with General Semenov to prevent Bolshevik domination at all costs. There is little doubt that General Semenov, when better equipped, will collect forces sufficient to control the situation until more serious developments are threatened. The stocks at Vladivostok do not seem in immediate danger of being reached through Manchuria, as tho Amur railway is practically suspended owing to a shortage of coal and rolling stock. The Germans are not able to be seriously aggressive in Eastern Siberia while the western railways are disorganised.