REVOLUTIONARY RUSSIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 3364, 4 September 1918, Page 40

REVOLUTIONARY RUSSIA.

Lenin killed by a woman. allied advance in siberia. will russia recover (By Cable). A wireless Russian message reports that Lenin was twice wounded at Moscow in an attempt on his life. He has a bullet in each shoulder, and in one case the lung is affected. A Moscow message states that Lenin, after addressing a meeting of labourers, was stopped by two women, who discussed with him a recent decree as to the importation of foodstuffs into Moscow. During the interview a young girl of the Intellectual class fired three shots, wounding Lenin in the shoulder and lungs. The girl when arrested, declared that she was a Social Revolutionary. Another account states that shots were fired by two women Social Revolutionaries. Lenin died from the effects of the ■wounds. A Petrograd message via Berlin, states that the Commissary for Homo Affairs (M. TJnitsk) has been assassinated. His murderers have been arrested. WHOLESALE ARRESTS. A. serious conflict between workmen and "Bolshevist troops occurred at Moscow on Sunday. The workmen took refuge in villages near the city, and the Bolshevists set fire to the villages. M. Doschfleurot, the New York World's Petrograd correspondent, says that within two days 2000 Russian officers, from subalterns to generals, have been arrested. Twenty-three thousand officers, whom the Leninites* had interned at Moscow, have been released, in consequence of a popular demonstration. A message from Kieff states that neutral representatives have protested to . the Soviet Government against the mass of arrests of officers at Moscow and Petrograd, and have threatened to rescind the right of sanctuary for Bolshevist represen,tatives abroad. Cracow papers report grave events at 'Kieff. Numerous arrests have been made, and hundreds have been expelled. .The entire quarter has been Isolated. The setting up of a Government at jNovgorod will probably result in cutting ;the railway from Moscow to Petrograd. SThe revolt at Nalva, on'the Gulf of Fin)land, is so serious that the Bolshevists are powerless to suppress it. THE USSURI FRONT. The New York Times Peking correspondent states that General Semenoff ."(Cossack) has resumed the offensive, and, ! v with Czecho-Slovak reiniasswftenta, liar, driven the Bolshevists iroa. #?£*«*■?«» station, west o{ Manchuria. Many Bolshevists were taken prisoner. The correspondent adds: Many Japanese are fighting, and the Dauris Chinese are

not opposing Japanese presence in Manchuria. A Vladivostock message, dated August 24 states : A general advance of all the Allied forces has begun pn tins Usuri iront. The Bolshevists have retired six miles. A strong Japanese force arrived on the Usuri front, and soon afterwards the Allies advanced six miles, capturing a considerable quantity of booty and some prisoners. A United Press telegram from Vladivostock reports that Red Guards and other enemy forces attacked along the Ussuri front. The Allies repulsed the attack, .and more than 400 of the enemy were killed. Americans did not' take part in the fighting, • the brunt of which fell upon the Japanese, who captured two armoured trains and several field guns. It is officially estimated that the Bolshevists and Germans on the Ussuri front number 8000, with 14 field guns. The enemy on the 23rd inst. attacked the Czecho-Slovaks holding the left wing, and forced them back. Japanese forces stopped the enemy and assumed the offensive on the 24th, driving him north. The Germans and Bolshevists were defeated at Ussuri, with 5000 casualties, and the Allies have occupied Iman. CHINESE ASSISTING. According to despatches from Tokio to a local Japanese paper, that portion of the Japanese expedition to Siberia which was sent through Manchuria has reached Harbin. Chinese detachments have joined the Japanese at Harbin, and the forces are proceeding through Manchuria, and are now in the vicinity in which Semenoff's Cossack army is hard pressed by the Red Guards. The New York Times Peking correspondent states that General Semenoff and his Cossacks captured Borzie station. The Bolshevists are burning the villages and retreating along the Onon River (in the Lake Baikal region). CONTROLLING THE RAILWAYS. The New York Times Washington correspondent states that information has bean received stating that it is imperative that arms and ammunition be sent to the Cz.cho-Slovaks before winter sets in, six weeks hence. It may be necessary to send an expeditionary force through Manchuria via Khailar and Turga, towards China, and thence along the Siberian railway to Lake Baikal and Irkutsk. The'Times Harbin correspondent states that Japanese and Russian cavalry have been sent to protect the VladivostockHarbin railway, the 1 maintenance of communications causing anxiety. Enemy agitators are constantly stirring up the Bolshevist element amongst the population. The Allies are considering the taking over of the control of the Chinese Eastern railway for the better transport of troops and supplies. A PLOT THAT FAILED. General Pleshkoff, on behalf of General Horvath, has carried out a coup d'etat. He has issued a proclamation, declaring

that the Russian military forces in the Far East are under his command, whereupon the Russian volunteers, organised locally on behalf of the Siberian Government, went over to General Horvath en masse. The suddenness of the affair nonplussed the Siberian Government, which was unable to, organise opposition. No bloodshed occurred. The Allied representatives are considering the situation. The. New York Times Washington correspondent states that official advices from Vladivostock state that Horvat's coup d'etat has failed. The Allied representatives at Vladivostock have diverted Horvat of his self-assumed authority The New York Times Washington correspondent says: The Allied representatives at Vladivostock told .General Horvat that the Siberian Government's authority would be sustained. Horvat is a Mouchist, an anti-German and an antiBolshevist. He appointed a temporary Cabinet for Siberia, and declared that, the Government programme would include the renewal of all treaties with the Allied Powers, declaring his intention " to act in complete accord with our British Allies. " Lieutenant-general Bleshkoff, Horvat's aide, attempted to assume control of all the Russian military forces in the Far East. ALLIES AT ARCHANGEL. The Allies at Archangel dispersed the Bolshevist river flotilla-. It is reported that a liaison between the Allies from Archangel and the Czechoslovaks has been made at Viatka, and the Allies are advancing on the line of the Vologda River. RUSSIANS JOINING THE ALLIES. The New York World's Washington correspondent says that official advice from Russia states that the flow of Russian recruits to the German army has ceased since the arrival of Entente troops at Vladivostock and the spread of Entente propaganda work. New York Press despatches from Archangel state that Nicholas Vassilouitch Tchailtovsky, president of the new Sovereign Government of Northern Russia, has appealed for more Allied troops as a nucleus for the formation of a Russian army to fight the Germans and Bolshe-vist-s. A Finnish newspaper states that the Grand Duke Dimitri Paulovitch has joined the British troops in Russia. He is mentioned as a candidate for the Russian throne. The New York Herald'si Washington correspondent states that a Russian volunteer army is reported to have captured the Black Sea port Novorossysk. This is believed in military circles to be a remnant of the Russian regular army, which was disbanded after the Brest-Litovsk treaty. MASSACRE IN FINLAND. A prominent Finnish Socialist states that the White Guards in Finland recently shot 10,000, of whom many were innocent, and imprisoned 20,000. The proposal for a monarchy was passed by the Landtag by 7 votes, by the exclusion of opponents. A great number

of Labour members in the Landtag have been illegally imprisoned. I innish opposition to the Grand Duke Adolf of Mecklenburg as King resulted in vetoing the proposal. The Finns want a constitutional King, not a member of the world's most reactionary family. THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS. The Czecho-Slovaks fighting on the Volga have cabled a message of high appreciation for the British recognition of the Czecho-Slovak nation, and for the aid rendered them by the expedition to Russia. The Red Cross War Council has been advised from Vladivostock that more than 20,000 Czecho-Slovak refugees, of whom 4000 are children, are in the care of the American Red Cross. Hundreds of wounded Czecho-Slovaks have reached Vladivostock, still determined to prosecute the campaign, after desperate fighting against the Bolshevists and former Austrian and German prisoners. Many refugees were found living in tents and freight cars, in a most pitiable condition, along the Chinese railway, and the eastern railway west of Harbin. BREST-LITOVSK TREATY. Additional provisions in the BrestLitovsk Treaty provide that Esthonia and Livonia shall be independent, but Russia has secured commercial arrangement with the Baltic provinces. Russia also acknowledges the independent State of Georgia (Caucasus). Russia gives Germany the greater part of the naphtha production in the Baku district (Caspian Sea). Russia also pays Germany a war indemnity of six milliards of marks. RESORTING -TO VODKA. According to German newspapers, the peasants in the Ukraine and in Central and Southern Russia used at least twothirds of the grain yield to make vodka. A thousand distilleries are working, and any attempt to raid and destroy them results in fierce conflicts. The peasants are well armed, and use machine guns and bombs. Despite the high price of vodka, the drinkers number millions, this resulting in revivals of the old evils of drunkenness, refusal to work, rioting, and debauchery. TROTSKY AND LENIN. Mr Joseph Sharplin, the United Press's Petrograd correspondent, has reformed to New York. In an exclusive interview granted to the Australian Press Association, he said the consensus of opinion in Russia was that Trotsky's power is waning. He is a gifted speaker, but his usefulness is nullified b eoauee °f his overweening desire for power. Trotsky still exerts power at the Bolshevist councils, but his influence is negligible compared with that of Lenin, who is the only really strong man in Russia. He is possessed of great will power and indomitable energy, and frequently works more than 24 hours without intermission. He is the brain of the Bolshevist Party, but, despite his personality, Bolshevism is bankrupt, and the Government is growing weaker and weaker daily. THE FUTURE OF RUSSIA. Mr Joseph Shaplin (former United Press correspondent in Petrograd), in the course, of an interview on his return, was asked : " What will be the future of Russia?" Mr Shaplin replied : "In my opinion Russia will reorganise the east front next summer. Meanwhile the RevolutionaryDemocratic Party is preparing to make up a powerful Government, and is quietly reorganising Russia's economic resources. Germany will supply the Bolshevists' requirements as* long as sh e is able to make use of them to keep Russia disorganised and disunited. The restoration of Russia will be hastened in proportion to the speed with which the Allies send military aid to strengthen the hands of the opponents of the Bolshevists. " Two names are mentioned as possible leaders of the new party which will oust the Bolshevists. They are Victor Tchernoff (leader of the Socialist-Revolutionaries) and M. Martoff. (leader of the Menshevists). The two leaders of the Russian Northern Republic, Zuboff and Dediishenko, are strong men, but Tchernoff is the most likely leader of the new National Party. "The Russians will endeavour to reestablish a line in Poland, with subsidiary fronts in the Murman and Archangel regions. It is established that_ 600,000 Germans are engaged in _ maintaining order in Russia. The reorganisation of the Russian front will mean detaching a million more men from Germany's western front, thus ensuring early victory for the Allies. " The reorganisation of a stable Government in Russia is slowly but coming, and I regard the future with optimism and complete confidence." THE EX-ROYAL FAMILY. REPORTED MURDER OF CZAREVITCH. The Daily Mail states that a Russian prince, who has arrived in England, gives authoz-itative details of the reported murder of the ex-Czarevitch. After the shooting of the ex-Czar, the Bolshevist executioners went to the Czarevitch and said : "We killed your father; a dog's death for a dog." The Czarevitch burst into tears, whereupon a Bolshevist shot the boy dead with a revolver. The United Press Archangel correspondent states that, acording to information received by the Amer-ican Ambassador (Mr Francis), the body of the ex-Czar Nicholas was not found when the Czecho-Slovak troops entered Ekaterinburg. Nicholas was killed by a Bolshevist commandant when the soldiers refused the order to shoot him.