THE PUZZLE OF RUSSIA.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 16038, 24 January 1918, Page 2

THE PUZZLE OF RUSSIA.

GERMAN DIFFICULTIES. BRITAIN REGAINING FAVOUR. LONDON, Jan; 6. “It is difficult to talk sober sense about the peace negotiations,” sqys the Daily Chronicle’s correspondent at Petrogrnd. “The Germans, after creating a Frankenstein for .their own purposes, are considerably perplexed by his antics. They came expecting to reap the harvest sown by their secret agents. Their elaborate espionage and corruption led to tho disorganisation of Russia and to her colla-pso as a military power. Then they deliberately per- • formed the comedy of opening peac-o negotiations Vith the people whom they cvnicallv regarded as their own agents, hut now they find that those people have wild ideas of their own, and that their previous co-operation was double edged. The Bolsheviks, allowing Germany to us© them for her ends, did so with" a fixed determination to us© Germany for theirs. The Germans are now bitterly reflecting upon tho proverb about 'Supping with .a long spoon.’ I admit that I do not understand the Bolsheviks. I do not mean the ignorant masses, nor the array subordinates, including besides a number of idealists, a motley crowd of the most thoroughpaced scoundrels,, but Lenin, and Trotsky are a mystery. The game they are playing is wild beyond belief. If it is difficult for the Allies, it is at least as difficult for the Germans. Russia, having ceased to fight, finds new means for self-defence. The most virulent form\pf anarchy prevails in Russia. _ It is fiercely destructive, and is causing untold suffering. “Why this rage of destruction, why the senseless cruelty which impels the looting peasants to skin the land--owners’ cattle alive and send them bellowing pitilessly down tlx© road? I am not dwelling on the details -"bf the anarchy, but I point out that it increases tenfold Germany’s difficulties. She stands aghast the result of her own efforts. We need not lose hope. All who care for Russia and for her future must take long views. Russia will not fight any more. The_ equilibrium of the war has been violently shaken by her but that does not mean that the war is lost. With a clear purpose and a steady brain it is still possible to saTe all the values worth saving. “The Bolshevik organ, Izvcstia, has ceased its diatribes against England. The Cadets ana the Social Revolutionaries now bitterly attack the German Imperialists, condemning, the German oppression of the working classes in Poland,/Lithuania, and Courland. It declares that Russia must repudiate Germany’s terms. “The Bolsheviks express surprise and indignation that Germany, while admitting the- principle of no annexations, refuses to withdraw her troops from the occupied territories, declaring that the latter have already asserted their independence. The Bolsheviks withheld these terms for a week, (until it was impossible longer to conceal them. They now admit that the Brest Litovsk negotiations were, a failure, and that the German terms formed an impossible basis, of peace. “The Germans at the conference at Petrograd seem to assume that they have only to arrange the technical details of the peace treaty. - They insist on the immediate establishment of railway and) commercial intercourse and exchange of war prisoners. The Russians strongly object, pointing out up to the present that they only agreed to discuss technicalities relating to tho armistice. Dr. Kaempff, a German delegate, declared that war prisoners would not be released until the conclusion of a general peace. “At the' meeting of the Soviet last night, M. Kameneff announced that tho German terms were unacceptable. Thereupon the representatives of one army after another declared that the soldiers would not, could not, fight. Russia, unless a miracle iiappens, , stands faced with the certainty of a humiliating separate peace, dictated by tho Germans. The Bolsheviks still try to evade the issue. They promise a revolution in Poland, and 'hint at the possibility of a revolution in Germany. Also they print revolutionary leaflets in German and Magyar, which are confiscated immediately on arrival in tho enemy lines.”