sembly." At the Ufa Conference the two sections compromised upon the formation of a coalition directorate. Unfortunately, the "Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly," who were in essence the Central Committee of what remained of the Social Revolutionary Party, insisted that their member in the directorate, Mr. Avksentiev, should subordinate himself to them and carry out their instructions. He was to become merely the delegate of a political party group-a group, moreover, at the head of which stood Mr. Tchernov, the Zimmerwaldian and the politician whose record before and during its tenure of office as Minister of Agriculture under Mr. Kerensky in 1917 was sufficient evidence of his political incapability. Mr. Tchernov and others of the Central Committee of the Social Revolutionary Party were largely responsible for the weak and indecisive policy that led to the downfall of Mr. Kerensky's Government.

The same fate now threatened the dithe rectorate, and new All-Russian Government decided to take the authority with which the directorate had been vested into its own hands. It chose Admiral Kolchak as head of the Government and redistributed the ministerial posts on terms which seemed to it adequate until the possibility of summoning a new Constituent Assembly in Russia. Admiral Kolchak issued a proclamation in the name of the reconstituted Government in which he declared: "I am not about to take the path of reaction or of disastrous party politics, but my chief aim will be the creation of a fighting army, victory over the Bolsheviki, and

the establishment of justice and order so that the nation may without interference choose for itself the form of government that it desires." No reactionary elements had previously served in the Ministry, nor were they admitted after the change of authority.

The following list of the members of the new Ministry shows that few changes were made. It is significant also that a majority of the civil posts is held by Socialists: Commander in Chief, Admiral Kolchak; head of the Ministry and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vologodsky, (Socialist;) Justice, Starinkevitch, (Social Revolutionary;) War, General Stefanov; Marine, Admiral Smirnov; Finance, Mihailov, (Socialist;) Labor, Putilovsky, (Social Democrat;) Agriculture, Petrov, (Social Democrat;) Ways and Communications, Ostrugov; Post and Telegraphs, Tseslinsky; Education, Sapothnikov; Munitions and Supplies, Zefirov, (Socialist;) Commerce, Shchukin; One result of the Control, Krasnov.

change was that Mr. Tchernov and his group, mortified by their failure to capture for their party the whole antiBolshevist Government and army, went to Moscow to make their peace with the Bolsheviki, who had always been openly contemptuous of them. But Mr. Avksentiev, who went to Paris with other prominent Social Revolutionaries, sent a telegram from New York on March 3 to Mr. Tchaikovski, the Socialist head of the Archangel anti-Bolshevist Government, in which he declared that any negotiations whatever with the Bolsheviki are absolutely inadmissible."

66

I

N accordance with a decision of the War Cabinet in January, 1918, a collection of reports on Bolshevism in Russia was issued by the British Government in April, 1919, as a Parliamentary White Paper. The reports were for the most part from British official representatives in Russia, supplemented by statements from other British subjects who had returned from that country, and from various independent witnesses. They cover the period of the Bolshevist régime from the Summer of 1918 to the Spring of 1919. The papers are unaccompanied by anything in the nature of comment, but taken together they present a complete picture of the principles and methods of Bolshevist rule, its effects upon industrial economy, the incidents by which it has been accompanied, and the misery which it has produced.

The White Paper gives first of all messages from Sir M. Findlay, Sir E. Howard, Sir R. Paget, and others to Mr. Balfour. Messages passed through Christiania and Stockholm. Under date of Sept. 3, 1918, the Danish Minister at Petrograd sent the following message:

On Aug. 31 the Government troops forced their way into the British Embassy, their entry to which was resisted by British Naval Attaché Captain Cromie, who, after having killed three soldiers, was himself shot. Te archives were sacked and everything was destroyed. Captain Cromie's corpse was treated in a horrible manner. Cross of St. George was taken from the body, and subsequently worn by one of the murderers. English clergyman was refused permission to repeat prayers over the body. French Military Mission was forced. A man named Mazon and a soldier and several Frenchmen were arrested. Bolsheviki in the press openly incite to murder British and French. It is urgently necessary that prompt and energetic steps be taken.

BOLSHEVISM CRUSHING SOCIALISM

On Nov. 10 Mr. Lockhart, British Consul General at Petrograd, who was actually condemned to death by the Bolsheviki, wrote as follows to Sir George Clerk:

Dear Sir George: The following points may interest Mr. Balfour:

a

1. The Bolsheviki have established rule of force and oppression unequaled in the history of any autocracy.

2. Themselves the fiercest upholders of the right of free speech, they have suppressed, since coming into power, every newspaper which does not approve their policy. In this respect the Socialist press has suffered most of all. Even the papers of the Internationalist Mensheviki like Martov have been suppressed and closed down, and the unfortunate editors thrown into prison or forced to flee for their lives.

3. The right of holding public meetings has been abolished. The vote has been taken away from every one except the workmen in the factories and the poorer servants, and even among the workmen those who dare to vote against the Bolsheviki are marked down by the Bolshevist secret police as counter-revolutionaries, and are fortunate if their worst fate is to be thown into prison, of which in Russia today it may truly be said, many go in but few come out."

4. The worst crimes of the Bolsheviki have been against their Socialist opponents. Of the countless executions which the Bolsheviki have carried out a large percentage has fallen on the heads of Socialists, who had waged a life-long struggle against the old régime, but who are now denounced as counter-revolutionaries merely because they disapprove of the manner in which the Bolsheviki have discredited Socialism.

5. The Bolsheviki have abolished even the most primitive forms of justice. Thousands of men and women have been shot without even the mockery of a trial, and thousands more are left to rot in the prisons under conditions to find a parallel to which one must turn to the darkest annals of Indian or Chinese history.

6. The Bolsheviki have restored the barbarous methods of torture. The examination of prisoners frequently takes place with a revolver at the unfortunate prisoner's head.

7. The Bolshev i have established the odious practice of taking hostages. Still worse, they have struck at their political opponents through their women folk. When recently a long list of hostages was published in Petrograd, the Bolsheviki seized the wives of those men whom they could not find and threw them into prison until their husbands should give themselves up.

8. The Bolsheviki who destroyed the Russian Army, and who have always been the avowed opponents of militarism, have forcibly mobilized officers who do not share their political views, but whose technical knowledge is indispensable, and by the threat of immediate execution have forced them to fight against their fellowcountrymen in a civil war of unparalleled horror.

9. The avowed ambition of Lenin is to create civil warfare throughout Europe. Every speech of Lenin's is a denunciation of constitutional methods, and a glorification of the doctrine of physical force. With that object in view he is destroying systematically, both by executions and by deliberate starvation, every form of opposition to Bolshevism. This system of "terror" is aimed chiefly at the Liberals and non-Bolshevist Socialists, whom Lenin regards as his most dangerous opponents.

10. In order to maintain their popularity with the workingmen and with their hired mercenaries, the Bolsheviki are paying their supporters enormous wages by means of unchecked paper issue, until today money in Russia has naturally lost all value. Even according to their own figures, the Bolshevist expenditure exceeds the revenue by thousands of millions of rubles per annum.

These are facts for which the Bolsheviki may seek to find an excuse, but which they cannot deny. Yours sincerely,

R. H. B. LOCKHART. NON-BOLSHEVIKI OPPRESSED After the July Congress and the antiBolshevist demonstrations of the LeftSocialist Revolutionaries non-Bolshevist Socialists were deprived of all political rights, hundreds of Socialist workmen were thrown into prison, and large numbers were shot. In addition, 3,000 workmen were thrown out of employment in the tramway repairing shops in Moscow simply on the ground of their Social Revolutionary ympathies. One witness says:

The most serious crime in the eyes of

the Bolsheviki is anti-Bolshevism, and the work of discovering and punishing offenders of this kind is in the hands of the Extraordinary Commission-an autocratic body which arrests, examines, imprisons, and executes at will. There is no charge, no public trial, and no appeal. There are English works foremen in prison in Moscow today with nothing against them except the fact that they happened to be in a certain street or square at the time when the Red Guards took it into their heads to make a general arrest. Appeals from the Red Cross and the neutral Consuls are unavailing. The Kommissar in charge of the case is away ill and nothing can be done till his return. Crimes of street robbery, &c., are punished in a rought-and-ready way; the offender is shot on the spot and the body left there till some one thinks good to remove it. CONDITIONS IN CENTRAL RUSSIA

An estimate as to the state of trade and other conditions in Central Russia in October, 1918, is given. The metal trade was practically at a standstill, due to the shortage of fuel and raw materials, not more than 40 per cent. of the plant in all branches being in operation. In the linen trade production was 50 per cent. of the normal and being reduced. Workpeople were starving and absenting themselves from their work searching for food. In the woolen trade production was decreased 60 per cent., and so in the cotton trade, where 30 per cent. of the mills were stopped. The silk trade was practically dead. Coal had fallen 60 per cent in production, but heavy crops were produced, and the peasants had made money. The tramway services in Moscow and Petrograd were down to one-fourth of their normal service. All lands, buildings, machinery, &c., were nationalized without any compensation being paid to the former owners. The result had been an utter deadlock, all private enterprise being killed.

Money was being hidden to an enormous extent, the absence of which was being made good as quickly as possible by the Soviets' printing presses, private printing establishments being taken over for this purpose. It was estimated that the quantity of paper currency in circulation was over 30,000,000,000 rubles, roughly a hundred times the existing gold reserve. A great quantity of false money was also being printed and

brought into circulation, especially the twenty and forty ruble note varieties. All private trading was being taken over by the Government, and stocks were being confiscated. Gold articles over a certain weight were confiscated, with the result that they had disappeared, hidden by their owners. The system of education had been entirely altered.

All religious instruction had been abolished, and in its place a form of StateSocialistic instruction substituted. The peasantry refused to send their children to the State school, and they remained without education. Clothing, such as Winter overcoats belonging to private people, was being confiscated for the benefit of the Red Army. No man was supposed to possess more than one suit of clothes, two changes of linen, or two pairs of boots. Anything above this was requisitioned for so-called State purposes. All furniture was nationalized.

BOLSHEVIKI A PRIVILEGED CLASS The following dispatch is given as addressed to Earl Curzon on Jan. 23, 1919:

Following statements respecting Bolsheviki in Perm and neighborhood are taken from reports sent by his Majesty's Consul at Ekaterinburg. The Omsk Government have similar information:

The Bolsheviki can no longer be described as a political party holding extreme communistic views. They form a relatively small privileged class which is able to terrorize the rest of the population, because it has a monopoly both of arms and of food supplies. This class consists chiefly of workmen and soldiers, and included a large non-Russian element, such as Letts and Esthonians, and Jews; the latter are especially numerous in higher posts. Members of this class are allowed complete license, and commit crimes against other sections of society.

The army is well disciplined, as a most strict system especially is applied to it.

It is generally said that officers are forced to serve because their families are detained as hostages. The population of Perm was rationed, and non-Bolsheviki received only one-quarter of a pound of bread a day.

The peasantry suffered less, but were forbidden under pain of death to sell food to any but Bolsheviki.

The churches were closed, for many priests were killed, and a Bishop was buried alive.

This and other barbarous punishments, such as dipping people in rivers till they were frozen to death. Those condemned to

be shot were led out several times and fired at with blank cartridges, never knowing when the real execution would take place. Many other atrocities are reported.

The Bolsheviki apparently were guilty of wholesale murder in Perm, and it is certain that they had begun to operate a plan of systematic extermination. On a lamp above a building were the words: "Only those who fight shall eat."

A detailed report is given of the state of affairs in the Moscow Government. Education had practically ceased. The children went to school because they got a free meal, but in one case even this had to be stopped because the children contracted venereal disease through the filthy condition of the utensils used in serving the meals. Only two daily papers were issued in Moscow. They were edited by leading Bolsheviki, and contained only opinions and statements likely to further the cause of Bolshevism, and nothing was allowed to be published in any way antagonistic or critical of Bolshevism. Private trading no longer existed, the only shops open being those of the Bolsheviki.

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

During the year, it was stated, the workers had been in control of all mills, and had reduced them to such a condition that only half of them were working. The result had been that in Petrograd, for example, owing to unemployment as well as disease, the population dwindled from 2,125,000 to about 650,000. The economic prospects of the country are thus summarized in a statement compiled from statistics in the possession of the British Government:

One is forced to the conclusion that the measures inaugurated by the Bolsheviki and the means by which they are applied can have but one end-the bankruptcy of Government and the country. One may be tempted to wonder that present conditions have subsisted for so long. Though the Bolshevist régime must be approaching a débâcle, such are the resources and natural wealth of the country that there is still scope for a continuance of the present Bolshevist rule. So long as these conditions prevail the country is deprived of the benefits of trade and industry, and capital is destroyed.

Having ordained the nationalization of

industry, extraordinary measures were adopted to secure the success of the Bolshevist schemes. The brains of industry, represented by the owners, managers, and staffs, had been removed, and it became clear that factories could not survive, but laws were passed to "protect" the workpeople; among others a regulation that no workman could be dismissed on grounds of ill-health, incapacity, or illness. Such questions had to be referred to the Workmen's Committee, who invariably sided with the employes.

“NATIONALIZED" INDUSTRY

The working of this system is thus described by the general manager of a textile mill:

one

The mill employed 6,500 workers, twothirds of whom were women and third men. In the first instance a committee was elected from the workers by the workers. The committee consisted of twenty-four men, and from these the following three sub-committees were formed:

(1) Controlling Committee, consisting of six.

(2) Food Committee, consisting of four. (3) The Enlightening Committee, consisting of four.

The remaiing ten formed the Presidium or Council.

The Presidium sat every day in a house in the mill yard from 9 A. M. till 3 P. M. and the President of the Workers' Committee always presided at the sittings of the Presidium. The duties of the Presidium were to receive all complaints from the workers and adjust them to the workers' benefit, whether the complaint was of a reasonable nature or otherwise. The result was a continual, unnecessary, and annoying interference with the inside management of the mill. For instance, should the spinners complain, say, that No. 14 yarn is working badly, they would call for the man superintending the material department and tell him to put in higher material, without taking into consideration the loss incidental to such procedure. It was therefore a constant battle to prevent the Presidium from doing this manner of injurious actions. The duties of the Controlling Committee are to control all buying and selling in connection with the mill. No money can be paid for goods delivered or for work done without their signature. Nothing can be bought without their consent, and all articles bought in the district must be bought by the members of the committee themselves. Owing to this these men, having no idea of the quality of an article, very often

buy inferior goods at higher prices than would be given by an expert. They control every action of, and are constantly interfering with, the administrative staff, and so confuse and bother the men employed on this work until they are unable to perform their duties and lose all interest and initiative.

The Food Committee look after the obtaining and distribution of foodstuffs, and are constantly traveling all over the country seeking food, but are very unsuccessful in this purpose, and therefore have very little to distribute.

The duties of the Enlightening Committee are rather obscure, but appear to consist, first, of the propagation of Socialistic principles.

All these committees, though elected in the first instance by the majority of the workers, are now practically self-elected, as the majority of the workers are SO inert, uninterested, and tired of the whole Bolshevist system that they do not trouble to attend for the purpose of voting. The elections generally take place at meetings with not more than 300 or less workers present out of the 6,500, and the members of the committee have generally prearranged who will be chosen, and have their supporters who arrange matters as required.

RESULTS OF SOCIALIZATION

In the case of this particular mill the results of socialization and popular management upon output are available in definite figures:

Before the revolution, working 18 hours per day:

Spinning mill-1,000 to 1,100 poods a day. Weaving mill-800 to 850 pieces of linen cloth.

Output, Winter of 1918-19, mill working 16 hours per day:

Spinning mill-450 to 500 poods per day.
Weaving mill-400 pieces per day.

This production, it is added, was exceptional, as at other mills in the same business the turnover was much worse.

The output of other industries suffered equally, and definite figures are given of the results in the mine and iron industries. In the Donetz basin, on which industrial Russia mainly depends for coal, the first revolution in 1917 resulted in a 13 per cent. decrease. The number of pits working in November, 1918, however, had fallen to 30, compared with 390 in normal times, and these were only the smaller pits, the larger pits having, either purposely or through negligence, been flooded by the