THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1917. THE RUSSIAN ENIGMA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17159, 12 November 1917, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1917. THE RUSSIAN ENIGMA.

The situation in Russia is still enveloped in obscurity. The reports which British correspondents resident in the country have been permitted to despatch to their respective papers leave a distinctly confused impression on the mind. They agree as to the complete and dramatic success of the "coup d'etat "the second revolution" as "Com-l-ade" Lenin describes it, to be followed later on, according to him, by a third revolution, which is to usher in a socialistic Utopia, when there shall be no landlords and no employers and when, apparently, Labour is to illustrate how industry may be carried on without Capital. But we are afforded very little information as to how far the organisations which have accomplished their purpose of overthrowing authority in Petrograd are supported throughout Rusy.a and as to the popular view of the movement which is headed, not so much, it seems, by "Comrade" Lenin but by one Trotsky, who, like Lenin, has drifted

back to Russia sinco the deposition of the Czar. As was to be expected, the Maximalists and tho Bolsheviki, who have secured control in Petrograd, are opposed by tho " intelligentsia," as it is called—the class composed of tho professional men, the landed proprietors, and the merchants, together with a large proportion of the officers in the army and navy. " But tho "intelligentsia" comprises only a small section of the population. In tho mass the Russians are a simple, uneducated people. Illiteracy is very prevalent among the peasantry, and, if the peasants are to bo a deciding factor in the present crisis, it is scarcely to be supposed that they will not ally themselves with the military revolutionaries, who make the confiscation of the estates of the landed proprietors a prominent feature in their programme. A civil war seems to be inevitable, and in all the circumstances it is not unreasonable to anticipate that the bulk of the population will, in that case, be found to t© on the side of the Maximalists, the military revolutionaries, the anarchists, or whatever the term may be which the party that is temporarily dominant in Petrograd may be most fittingly designated. The Russian people "feels, rather than thinks," Dr Hagberg Wright says, "and when such a people becomes revolutionary it will not regulate itself by the co!q measures of political prudence."

The fact is, however, not to be ignored that the news which we have received of the events of the past few days relates, almost exclusively to the occurrences in Petrograd. Because of that circumstance it may present a veiy exaggerated and distorted view of the actual position. Petrograd is not to Russia, what London is to Great Britain or Paris is to France. Its position corresponds more closely to that of Washington in the United States. Moscow is more representative of Russian sentiment than Petrograd is. As Sir John Foster Fraser puts it, " Petrograd is the head of Russia, and Moscow is the heart of it." More than that, Moscow is the soul of Russia. " Moscow opinion is Russian opinion, which is not the in regard to Petrograd opinion." And, as yet, we have not heard what the opinion of Moscow is regarding the latest extraordinary development in Russia. When we have heard, we may be in a position to estimate more accurately than is at present possible the extent to which the movement against the Provisional Government and the more dangerous movement in favour of a separate peace with the Central Powers command popular sympathy. In Petrograd itself, the Maximalists have completely established the upper hand. We are told that " perfect order prevails." This in- , formation is not altogether reconcilable with the statement that occasional murders have become "too common \n Petrograd to arouse notice." But where everything is turned upside down, when the whole atmosphere is thick with the dust of crumbling institutions and of systems of government that have collapsed, tho impressions even of observers on tho spot are blurred. If order prevails in Petrograd, perfect or otherwise, it is the order that is induced by terrorism. It is duo to the fact that the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, which has reaffirmed the decision that the death penalty in the army shall be abolished, has issued a proclamation declaring that in the event of disorders or excesses in the capital city the offenders will be "wiped off the face of the earth." It. is only in the army that license is to be tolerated. There it is almost a virtue. That in the soldier's but a choleric word which in the civilian is flat blasphemy.

For the reasons we have mentioned, it is difficult to determine at the present moment wherein authority in Russia actually rests. The military revolutionaries are proceeding to set up a government to which there is to be no head. It would possibly be incompatible with their theories of equality that there should be any Premier. Consequently each member of the proposed Government is to preside over it in turn. If the establishment of this Government is confirmed by the people, peace terms are to be formulated by it for submission to the Central Powers. They are to be democratic peace terms, whatever these may be. If they are not accepted, the war is to continue. The probabilities are that they will be accepted. A hint has already been furnished that Germany is prepared to offer peace on easy terms to the military revolutionaries if they remain in power. This is a quiet suggestion to the Russian masses, who are said to have wearied of the war, that it is to their interest to keep the revolutionaries in power. Germany may argue that she can contentedly await another 'opportunity of enriching herself at the expense of Russia. In the meantime she has no reason to be deeply concerned about what is happening in that country. For it is to be apprehended that the Allies cannot look for any further assistance from Russia in the present war. They are, however, powerful enough now to dispense with that assistance. Even if the duration of the war has to be extended, as seems inevitable, they have no cause to abate their confidence in their ability to secure the victory which is necessary for the future peace of the world. If the question has, as Mr Bonar Law says, become one of nerve and staying power, we need not be apprehensive about the issue.