© Paul Thompson 



REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS CHECKING UP PASSES OE THOSE DESIRING TO ENTER 



THE DUMA GROUNDS 



"The Committee of the Duma, which took charge of the Provisional Government after 

 the overthrow of the old regime, faced the most difficult problem which any group of men 

 has ever encountered. It was their duty to keep the war going while the minds and the 

 opinions of the people were readjusting themselves to an entirely new standard as to what 

 the State reallv was." 



191 5 was the end of Russia. The Ger- 

 man papers said it, and even during the 

 Russian successes and victories of 1916 

 German prisoners kept insisting' to me 

 that the Russians were defeated in 191 5, 

 and that the victories in Yolhynia were 

 being won by Japanese infantry and 

 French guns. 



Late last fall, when the disaster of 

 Roumania overtook us, we again heard 

 the same wails of the pessimists, that 

 at last Russia would stop. But after a 

 few shudders in Petrograd the situation 

 passed and Russia again continued on her 

 way and her army still kept the field. 



Now, it would be folly for me to assure 

 the readers of this magazine that there is 

 no possibility of Russia going out of the 

 war ; but what I do urge is that we all 

 consider Russia in the past and judge the 

 present situation from our knowledge of 

 Russian character in this war. We know 

 that the Russians have patience, forti- 



tude, and courage equal to any people in 

 the world. We have seen them face de- 

 feat and discouragements year after year 

 since the beginning of the conflict, and 

 after every tidal wave of misery we have 

 seen them emerge, pull themselves to- 

 gether, and struggle on once more. 



KKRKXSKV'S GOVERNMENT WILL NEVER 

 MAKE A SEPARATE PEACE 



There is not the slightest chance that 

 the government headed by Kerensky will 

 ever make an independent peace. The 

 question is how long he can maintain his 

 government in power. What may hap- 

 pen in the future is speculative ; but I 

 think one can say, without reservation, 

 that his hold on the government is 

 stronger now than it has ever been. The 

 first flush of the new liberty has worn 

 off, and the people of Russia are perhaps 

 bes:innino- to realize that libertv does not 



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