THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, MARCH 18,1921. THE RUSSIAN TANGLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18197, 18 March 1921, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, MARCH 18,1921. THE RUSSIAN TANGLE.

Confusion of the most demoralising character appears to be the settled order in Russia, and in such circumstances it is not perhaps surprising that the cablegrams of the past few days have been of a highly contradictory character. It is clear that a counterrevolution on a large scale is in progress, but the measure of success or failure which has attended It can as yet remain only a matter of conjecture. It might he supposed that M. Lenin has had quits enough of revolution, but ho seems still to dream of world-

revolution on a grand scale. In his recent speech at an All-Russia Congress he was impressed by “the exceedingly slow development o£ the world revolutionary movement.” At last it should be dawning upon him that the world is not in the least anxious to imitate Russia nor to copy his methods. His peculiar obsession has interested all s British visitors to Russia for some time past, and several of them have been struck by M. Lenin’s positive ignorance of foreign politics generally and of British possibilities in particular. He doubtless hopes and dreams of a world catach om out of which Russia may emerge under conditions more favourable than at present can be regarded as likely or possible. The principles which guided Machiavelli are not unknown to the Russian dictator. In his recent message he pointed out that the Soviet Government had raised the question of the necessity of coming to an agreement with certain Governments and of granting concessions to foreigners. This was justified on the ground of failure on the part of those peoples to decide for revolution on the grand scale. But in his address to the Russian Communist Earty at Moscow in November, which was published in the Red- Gazette, M. Lenin said:

The concession given to American multimillionaires will conduce to aggravate the friction between the United States and Japan. In Japan it is already being said that Russia is stirring her up to fight America. We will take advantage of their dissensions. By granting concessions to the bourgeoisie, we are gaining a moral and material victory.

The brotherhood •of man, which some distant admirers of Bolshevism declared to <be the mainspring of its activity, appears now to have been completely lost sight of in the desire to transform Europe into an armed camp under a new dictatorship. In the light of the more recent Russian developments it is interesting to note that the Labour Party in New Zealand still contains fervent admirers of Russian methods. For instance, the Labour member for Auckland Central declared on Sunday evening last that “the Government of Russia was the only one that was really striving to create a new world.” A new world, perhaps; but only a peculiar mind could suggest" that the Russian world was a better one than our own or any other. British community. Revolution is apparently still loved for its own sake. Events are, however, moving even in Russia, for M. Lenin is, we gather, realising that there is something incongruous or worse in a party of 600,000 Communists assuming a dictatorship over one hundred and twenty million people. So" now he believes that something must be done for' the peasants who all along have been opponents of Bolshevism, and something else for the industrialists who find the new. tyranny, which includes enforced labour, somewhat opposed to their expectations. It may, of course, be just one mbre example of.a sick devil inclined to saintliness, since these latter changes of policy were foreshadowed only when the flames of counter-revolution were fiercely burning. One thing is fairly certain—that Russia continues to suffer grievously and that instead of the world being anxious to follow her example, it will use every endeavour to prevent the conflagration from extending beyond the Russian borders.