REVOLUTIONARY RUSSIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 3442, 2 March 1920, Page 17

REVOLUTIONARY RUSSIA.

(By Cable.) ARCHANGEL OFFENSIVE. LONDON. February 20. A Uv&ihevist wireless message states: Since we commenced our offensive on the Archan-el front we have taken 2570 prisoners, 'uesi.ies vast booty, including three annouic-H tra'ns. February 24. A Bolshevist wireless claims that, when Arohangel was captured, the Bolshevists secured, among other booty, seven icebreakers, a flotilla of river • steamers, and a battleship. MURMANSK OCCUPIED. LONDON, February 22. The Bolshevists have occupied Murmansk. They seized all the shipping there except a steamer, on which a few British and Belgians escaped under fire. CHRISTIANIA, February 23. Refugees from Murmansk state that the Bolshevist forces which captured the town were only 5000 strong, and the losses on both sides were slight. LONDON, February 23. The Russian steamer Lamondsoff, with two British and four Belgian officers in charge, has arrived at Vardo, Norway, from Murmansk. They state that a revolution broke put in Murmansk on Saturday. The Bolshevists seized the town and all the shipping except the Lamondsoff, which escaped under fire, the steamer being riddled by machine-gun fire, and the captain badly wounded. MORE RLD = SUCCESSES. LONDON, February 25. A Vladivostock message, dated February 12, states that the Soviet army defeated General Kappel and entered Irkutsk, concluding an armistice with the Czechs.. The War Office announces that the Russian volunteer army on February 20 recaptured Rostov (Sea of Azov port), taking 1500 prisoners, 20 guns, and a quantity of war material. A Bolshevist wireless message claims that the Bolshevists have occupied Khiva (in Central Asia). EVACUATION OF ODESSA. CONSTANTINOPLE, February 18. A' terrible blizzard added to the miseries of the evacuation of Odessa under Bolshevist fire. A ship conveying 2000 Russian and British refugees broke loose when being towed into the Bosphorus, and stranded, and it is believed that all aboard were drowned. Another crowded vessel struck a mine and sent out a wireless call that she was sinking. The vessel has not been seen PARIS, February 22. A slight explosion occurred aboard the French steamer Dumont d'Urville as it was leaving Odessa with 200 Russian soldiers aboard. Many of them leapt overboard, fearing the ship would sink, and tried to swim ashore, but 40 were drowned. APPALLING EPIDEMICS. LONDON, February 25. Mr Copping, the Daily Chronicle's correspondent, who is journeying through Russia, 'cables his impressions after a fortnight's close observation of Moscow. He says: " Law and order now reign' unbroken and unthreatened in all the cities I visited. Working millions, in their abiding fear of a despotism which has ended, cheerfully put up with grievous shortage of food and fuel. I interviewed M. Krasin, Minister of Trade and Transport, who says : 'We have immense quanJties of wheat, butter, flax, hides, and other commodities available for export, but our railway transport is shattered. Ask the Allies to suppy locomotives. We are willing that these and other necessities should be purchased through a central union of co-operators. When our railway transport is in good working order our Workers will surprise everybody by the volume of their output." Mr Copping says that public opinion in Western Europe and America must understand that Russia is now tranquil and orderly. Members of the Government, far from hatching schemes of robbery, spoliation, and aggression, are toiling day and night, almost in a fanatical spirit, to build up output. They state that only the Russans who acquired self-reliance and business efficiency by visiiving western democracies proved capable of handling the national helm after the Czar's death. Being exiles they were necessarily extremists. In Russia, therefore, they jumped at a single bound from despotism to Socialism. Conditions in Siberia and South Russia are appalling. Victims of typhus are lying about the streets, and there are masses of corpses in the cemeteries being eaten by dogs. Twenty thousand are affected by spotted typhus at Omsk, and 400 were found frozen to death in their beds. The chief obstacle to combating the scourge is the absence of medicine and soap. There is no scarcitv of underclothing, but they cannot keep it clean. The sanitation of a vast number of houses is deplorable because the pipes that have burst cannot be imported. A terrible cholera epidemic threatens when the thaw comes. SITUATION IN NORTHERN RUSSIA. LONDON, February 25. A Moscow wireless message states that Lord Curzon has sent a Note to M. Tchichorin stating that the Government of Northern Russia has decided that it is tmabl\» to continue to fight against the Soviet and offers to surrender Archangel. "General Miller," he says, "requests me

to transmit his request that when the town passes into Soviet hands no violence should be made against the properties of any classes or the property of the population." Lord Curzon adds : "It would create a painful impression in England if the Soviet imposes severe repression on the population." M. Tchichorin has replied that all the northern region, including the KaroliaMulman region and coast must be stirrendered, also military stores. arniSj and munitions. The personal safety will be guaranteed of all members of the army, and members of the so-called Northern Government be allowed to leave Russia. TROTSKY INTERVIEWED. BOLSHEVISTS CRAVE FOR PEACE. LONDON, February 25. A noteworthy commentary on the Allies* declared policy in regard to Russia is contained in an interview with General Trotsky, secured by the New York World in which Trotsky stated that the 80l shevist peace terms and Soviet Russia 3 craving for peace remain unchanged. He said that the country which first resumed amicable relations with Russia would derive commercial advantages. General Trotsky claimed that by the spring the Soviet would have crushed all armed antagonists. Adequate guarantees would be given for foreign capital invested in Russia after peace, which would lead to immediate demobilisation of the Red army. General Trotsky alleged that all the Baltic States were now conferring with the Soviet Commissaries with a view to peace. It is noteworthy in this connection that a wireless Moscow message states that the Letts have decided, in agreement with Poland, Finland, and Lithuania, to begin peace negotiations, and a conference will be held in April. Some measure of confirmation of the above comes from Warsaw. PEACE AND PROSPERITY. - WASHINGTON, February 24. The New York 'World Moscow correspondent interviewed General Trotsky, who said: "Our military successes have not blinded us to the need for peace and for the re-establishment of economic stability. We have been forced to sacrifice the welfare of our people and of future generations to the desperate need of the hour. We transformed in the past 18 months a peace-loving population of workers and peasants into an armed camp. Our peace terms, nevertheless, remain the. same. The reconstruction of Russia is a tremendous enterprise which will require perhaps years to accomplish. Russia s riches are intact, and the nation which helps us to gain a peace footing will share the profits resulting from the aid they have extended to us. Foreign capitalists who invest money in Russia ■will receive material guarantees of an adequate character. It is ridiculous to think that Germany can control Russia, and to say that Germany has a better chance than the Allies in our markets. The fact is we can not possibly expect economic assistance from Germany. It is obvious we must look towards the victorious nations, such as Britain and the United States, for machinery and agricultural implements. Ludicrous lies have been spread that the Red Army is militaristic. It is anti-militaristic. Nine-tenths of us are workers, peasants, pacifists, and the other tenth are soldiers and officers who served under the late Czar. Immediate demobilisation is obligatory with us as soon as hostilities against us cease. The workers and peasants will insist on returning to their factories and farms, and will make Russia a fit land to live in. Frontier guards only will then be maintained. There will also be some form of military training for the working classes, in order that they may be always able to defend themselves against the bourgeois." PEACE OFFER TO POLAND. WARSAW, February 20. The reply of the Polish Government to Russia's peace offer will be ready in a few. days, and will be submitted to the'London Peace Conference. The reply will insist on the illegality of all three partitions of Poland, and will propose a scheme for carrying the Polish eastern frontier to the Dvina and the Dniester, but the Poles admit the subsequent right of the populations thus included to self-determination if they repudiate Polish nationality. EXIT PADEREWSKI. LONDON, February 24. The Daily Mail says that M. Paderewski is resting at Lake Geneva. He states that he has definitely retired from the concert platform. He will return to Poland for a brief stay, but he has no intention of accepting nomination for the Presidency. He is convinced that an era of prosperity lies ahead of Poland. His patriotic mission is finished, and he will devote the remainder of his life to composing music. LITHUANIA AND POLAND. NEW YORK, February 26. The New York Times Washington correspondent states that, according to a cablegram received by" the Lithuanian representative here from Kovno, the interAllied Commission suggested the formation of a military agreement between Lithuania and Poland aeainst the Bolshevists. Lithuania, before agreeing to the proposal, requested that the League of Nations be asked to guarantee the execution of such an agreement, and that Poland should recognise the independence of Lithuania. CZECHO-SLOVAKIA. PRAGUE, February 20. The Foreign Minister states that Czecho Slovakia will not make a separate peace with Russia, but will act only in accord with the Allies.

ISLAMIC WARNING. ALLAHABAD, February 20. In view of the progress of Bolshevism among Islamic peoples, considerable interest has been aroused by the Sheik ul Islam's fetwa, issued from Constantinople, denouncing Bolshevism, which is declared impossible to reconcile with the principles of Islam. The fetwa urges the utmost opposition, as danger is threatening civilisation, justice, and right. Persia has prohibited the import of rouble notes. GERMAN INTRIGUE. COPENHAGEN, February 24. . M. Litvinoff asserts that Germany is entertaining a plan to involve Poland in a -war with Soviet Russia, with a view to taking the opportunity to reconquer the lost eastern provinces. M. Kopp, the Soviet representative, in an interview with Vorwarts, emphasised the fact that Russia wanted German machinery, coal, drugs, and'technical organisers. Russia would give raw materials in exchange, and " Goods against goods" would be Russia's principle. M. Kopp forecasted an immediate migration of German skilled labour to Russia. LONDON, February 26. Negotiations instituted with Britain's consent between the Soviet and German Governments are proceeding. Germany has arranged to run weekly trains between Berlin and Moscow for the purpose of exchanging prisoners. Germany will take over the ' Prussian railways tor 34,000,000,000 marks. SOVIET'S PEACE NOTES. LONDON, February 26. A wireless message from Moscow states that the" Soviet Government has sent Notes to America, Japan, and. Rumania offering peace. FUTURE OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRY. LONDON, February 23. " The Daily Express Copenhagen correspondent has received from M. Lenin a statement of policy in which ho declares that the Soviet Government awaits the resumption of trade and an all-round in order to put- into operation the great electrification schemes with which he hopes to rejuvenate Russia. Scientists and experts have been working out schemes which will make electricity the basis of Russian industry. General Hubert Gough and other leading members of the British missions to North Russia and North-western Russia have sent a memorial to Mr Lloyd George urging the recognition of the Soviet Government. They declare that past crimes should not bar present recognition. They do not believe that the Kolchak or Denikin Governments have shown that they are superior to the 'Bolshevists in humanity, while as regards energy, union, and resource they have shown themselves inferior. They add .that the resources of Russia cannot be available until concluding a general peace. -The proposal to trade with co-operative societies alone will be ineffectual, and unless Russia's stores are opened famine and Bolshevist outbreaks will be probable eastward of the Rhine. If Britain delays in resuming relations with Russia the clelay will install Germanv in a privileged position in Russia, and the Russian policy will take an anti-British character. . GENERAL. LONDON, February 20. An Abo telegram reports that an American .business men's commission has arrived at Reval, and will attempt to open up trade with Russia. February 25. Regarding the Russian position, The Times accuses Mr Lloyd George for his own purposes of throwing a reluctant Europe into the arms of her Bolshevist seducer. The Daily Mail describes the Allies' decision in regard to Russia as half a peace—of trade, but not of' diplomacy. The Daily Express likens it to dancing on WASHINGTON. February 19. Maartens testified before the Senate Committee, when he said: "I am glad I am a Bolshevist", and I would be very glad to see America become Bolshevist. But I deny that I am working to overthrow the United States Government.