THE EYE-OPENER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14608, 18 May 1918, Page 8

THE EYE-OPENER.

AMERICA. AND BRITAIN. RUSSIA'S HOPELESS PLIGHT. SYDNEY, May 9. "This last great offensive on' tin; Western front "has brought lift; American people,- right Jirttf thij. WaV ut the iiack, \)f ilie ftV'U/isly. The knowledge Uuit. En&i-artd nun her Dominions have th»,il\. backs against the wall has meant MMk final cementing of the iwtural friendship between the two great branches of the English-speaking world." An American by birth, but a cosmopolitan by nature* Mr. H. W. .1. Russell, who uttered" the above words yesterday, is possessed with an undying belief m the future that lies ahead of the Anglo-Saxon race when once the German menace has been beaten down. But that has to come first. "The war was for a long while an unpopular affair with Americans," he continued. "We had been so long out of it that we felt that it was not our affair. We had, of course, been encouraged m that belief by German propaganda. We are only just realising now now that sinister influence has been at work amongst us, not merely during these past few years, but for tho lifetime of the present generation. We were taught m our schools that Britain was our Tiereditary enemy. We were fostered along those lines deliberately by German agents. Then we joined m with the Allies. Still, it was a mote or less unpopular way. The obstructionists did their work well. But now, well, we're m it right to the limit, and it's- all largely • because of the great fight the British have been putting up. GERMANY HAS TO GO. "Our eyes are opened. We know where we are. Germany has got to go if it takes us till Doomsday to do it. We're just simply going to pour men into that firing line until there's not a German left fighting. Men and more men still. That's America's slogan. It's men that will give us the day, and it's men that we're going to send over as fast as we can gather them m. And they're aching to get there. "The way that American sentiment has swung over to Britain's cause is something I cannot properly tell you. But you see it m the theatres. Every patriotic song is, 'Hold her, Ttfmmy, till we get there !' or something to that effect. Broadway is just one long 'Hurrah for the Britishl' " Mr. Russell, who comes here as general sale's manager for the Melchior, Armstrong, and Dessau Proprietary, was for some time , European representative) of the Studebaker Corporation. In that capacity he came hi touch with all the present warring Allied nations — particularly Russia, where he was m close contact with the Government m artillery and transport matters. "1 speak Russian," he said, "and that country has always been dear to me. I have lived there and known the people for many years. Their tragedy has been mine to a great extent. It has all been .-very pitiful. Is there any hope for them f No intelligent/person could say I 'Yes.' Russia today is a negligible — indeed a negative — quantity. As far as this Avar is concerned she is right out of it. THE FIRST REVOLUTION. "I was there during the first revolution, and remained right up to the moment when I simply could not remain m safety. My sympathies were Royalist, and from my" knowledge of the country and the people I had been more or less an unofficial adviser. For that reason there ca we the time when it was imperative that I should get out as soon as possible. I struck trouble during the very first upheaval. Someone threw up a window m the building m which we were staying, and shot a soldier across thfc street. The revolutionaries made their way m, and gave us 15 minutes to get out or give up the murderer. We got out. I had no desire to sco just how high that building was likely to fly. They were laying' sticks of dynamite about tho ground floor 'before our eyes. We took refuge ma- friend's house that night. "They got an old Russian general after we left, and executed him. After that they' left the building and we returned next day. We were the only foreigners disturbed during that revolution. "The Bolsheviki represeut about five per cent, of the population of Russia, but they represent 100 per cent, of the gun power. They have all the instruments of terrorisation m their hands, and tTiQ.reitfainder of tho people are helpless. Where America and Britain made the mistake was m not jumping into affairs right on top of that first revolution. I was at the time \managing a big movement m America which had at heart the interests of the Russian civilian population. Edison, Maxim, and, the Strausses were concerned with the idea. My suggestion to the Government was that, we should send as many Russians who had succeeded m America as» possible back to their own country, so that they might preach the gospel of salvation at the hands of the Allies.- Thefe were dozens of men only too willing to go, but nothing came of the suggestion either m America or Britain. , SOAP-BOX ORATORY. "The men who did go back to Russia we're those who were practically thrown out of the Allied countries, aud who were lucky to get back with a passport. These were the soap-box orators who just goj, into, the ferment and boosted it along towards their own fell purposes. We lost our chance. The average Russian to-day looks" Upon an AiheWcan or an Englishman as an intjerested capitalist whose sole aim and endeavor ifc to exploit the country at the 'expense of the native. We can thank our friends of tho soap-boxes for tha,t. • * "No, it is now altogether hopeless. Seventy-three per cent, of the huge population are illiterates. For years they KaV6 been kicked on the shins, slapped over the 'face, arid generally maltreated into blind obedience to a certain <jrder of things. N6w the men who were treated as dogs are m turn treating their former masters to something of the same nature. Towards the end of my stay, the 'brotherhood' movement was m full swing. If I went to. step into my sleigh at the door, tho nearest tramp would step m with me, with the casual remark that he was going the same way. It would have been folly to object. 'Every man^s as good as another' was the universal cry, and they went the whole hog. I remember one engine driver who got fed up with driving his train, and left it standing m the middle of a village station. On another train, the fireman and driver had a row, and the former killed the latter with his coal pick between stations. That was the extent to which tho brotherhood movement went. "One of these days, they will sort themselves out, perhaps^ But as far as I can sco that is not likely to happen until there arises some man who will make himself an absolute dictator. Provided such a one can be found — one who will stop at nothing m the pursuit of a definite, policy — then there will be a chance for Russia, to realise her .destiny amongst the other peoples of ' the world." *