The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1920. RUSSIAN REGENERATION.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16679, 28 February 1920, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1920. RUSSIAN REGENERATION.

The future of Europe and Asia are so bound tip with tbe future of Russia that extraordinary interest and importance attaches to the course of events there. The history of the country since 1914 has been one long tragedy. Owing to unpreparedness and indifferent leadership the Russian armies suffered'enormous losses during the war. Then came the revolution and its horrors, followed by the reign of Lenin and Trotsky, whose methods, whatever their ultimate object, have not been marked by gentleness and conciliation. Acting on the theory that the end justifies the means they have not hesitated to remove by the most violent and cruel processes everyone who attempted to oppose or stand in the way of their plans to reform Russia. The world has stood aghast and horrified at thej deeds, done in the name of reform. .Whether the world has understood is perhaps open tO' question. Its sources ol information have not always been free from suspicion, though there is no room for doubt that many very horrible things have taken place in Russia finder Bolshevik rule. Now we are being shown another side of the picture, by the Daily Chronicle and the New York, .World. The former’s correspondent declares tfipl and order npw reign unbroken ;■ and that Russia is now tranquil. The, American paper’s correspondent learned from Trotsky himself that the Bolshevik peace terms and their craving for peace are unchanged. By the spring, ; Trotsky claimed, the Soviet will have crushed all her armed antagonists and adequate guarantees will he given to foreign capital invested in Russia after .the peace, which will lead to the immediate demobilisation of the Red Army, These views are in some degree supported by the report of a Mr, Bullitt, who was sent some months ago by President ,Wilson to investigate conditions in Russia. He reported that the, destructive ,phase of the revolution was over and that the whole energy of the Government was being turned to constructive work. The terror ’had ceased; executions were extremely rare; order had been established; and the streets were safe. Lenin, he says, has seen the error of some of. his former ways. He has abandoned his plan to nationalise the land and adopted instead’ a policy of dividing- it among the peasants. He has agreed to the establishment of savings banks paying three per cent, interest on deposits, to pay all foreign debts, and to give concessions if that shall prove necessary in order to obtain credit abroad. His prestige in Russia is so great that Trotsky and his party are forced to follow him. Trotsky was found by Mr. Bullitt to> he very proud of the army he has created) but even he is ready to disband the army at onpe if peace can he obtained, so that all the brains and energy it contains may he turned to restoring the, normal life of the country. It may be that, these correspondents have seen only what they wanted or

were permitted to see and that other correspondents might equally truthfully describe very different conditions in other parts of Russia. .What strikes us, however, as the most hopeful feature is the very evident fact that Lenin is anxious to make a good impression in America. Whatever his views were a year ago he apparently realises now that Russia cannot recover without foreign help. He and Trotsky between them have very effectually carried out their work of destruction, but they seem now to have discovered that it is more difficult to build than to pull down and that they must have help from outside, help which will be forthcoming only if they can give satisfactory assurances of their good faith, Russia is a country of immense possibilities; its people, properly ruled and managed, are capable of great things. The country which helps Russia in its present extremity is likely to derive great and lasting advantages. Just now it seems to be a question whether Germany will succeed in penetrating the country, both commercially and politically. If she does she will have gone a long way towards recovering her pre-war power. But the Russians will naturally' be suspicious of German advances, fearing lest they should lead eventually to a return of the monarchical form of government, whose overthrow was secured only at the price of much blood and misery. At the same time England must move very warily and be satisfied that Lenin is sincere in his professions before a friendly hand is extended to him.