Photograph from Stanley Washburn 

 AN UNUSUAL SIGHT : AN AMERICAN NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENT ADDRESSING 

 RUSSIAN TROOPS AT THE INVITATION OE THEIR COMMANDER 



there is one front, and that is an Allied 

 front. 



"We are marching toward peace, and 

 I should not be a member of the Provis- 

 ional Government were it to disregard the 

 will of the people as far as ending the 

 war goes ; but there are roads wide open 

 and there are narrow, dark alleys, a stroll 

 through which might cause one to lose 

 both his life and honor. 



"We want to hasten the end of this 

 fratricidal war ; but to this end we must 

 march across the open, straight road. 



"We are not an assembly of tired peo- 

 ple ; we are a nation. There are paths. 

 They are long and complex. We are in 

 need of an enormous amount of perse- 

 verance and calm. If we propose new 

 war aims, then it behooves us to conduct 

 ourselves so as to command the respect 

 of both friend and foe. Xo one respects 

 a weakling. 



"I regret that I did not die two months 

 ago. I would have died then happy with 

 the dream that a new life has lit up in 

 Russia : hopeful of a time when we could 

 respect each other without resorting to 



the knout ; hopeful that we could rule our 

 Empire not as it was ruled by our previ- 

 ous despots. 



"This is all, comrades, that I care to 

 say. It is, of course, possible that I am 

 mistaken. The diagnosis that I have 

 made may turn out to be incorrect, but 

 I think I am not so much in error as 

 would appear to others. My diagnosis 

 is: If we do not immediately realize the 

 tragedy and hopelessness of the situa- 

 tion : if we do not concede that the imme- 

 diate responsibility rests on all; if our 

 political organism will not work as 

 smoothly as a well-oiled mechanism, then 

 all that we dreamed of, all to which we 

 are striving, will be cast several years 

 back and possibly drowned in blood. I 

 want to believe that we will find the so- 

 lution for our problems, and that we will 

 march forward along the open and bright 

 road of democracy. 



"The moment has come when every 

 one must search the depths of his con- 

 science in order to realize whither he 

 himself is going and whither he is lead- 

 ing those who, through the fault of the 



34 



