﻿THE 
  FAR 
  EASTERN 
  REPUBLIC 
  

  

  589 
  

  

  When 
  the 
  serious- 
  faced 
  soldiers 
  march 
  

   through 
  the 
  sandy 
  streets, 
  with 
  the 
  band 
  

   playing 
  "The 
  Girl 
  I 
  Left 
  Behind 
  Me," 
  or 
  

   some 
  other 
  popular 
  air, 
  even 
  a 
  war- 
  

   wearied 
  American 
  is 
  thrilled. 
  

  

  Nearly 
  every 
  morning 
  a 
  stern-wheeler 
  

   would 
  come 
  down 
  the 
  Selenga 
  River 
  car- 
  

   rying 
  the 
  wounded 
  from 
  the 
  fighting 
  with 
  

   Ungern's 
  bandits 
  while 
  I 
  was 
  at 
  Verkhne- 
  

   Udinsk. 
  Frequently 
  300 
  would 
  be 
  crowd- 
  

   ed 
  on 
  the 
  little 
  boat, 
  with 
  only 
  a 
  couple 
  

   of 
  nurses 
  to 
  care 
  for 
  them 
  during 
  the 
  

   three 
  days' 
  voyage. 
  

  

  Some 
  of 
  the 
  wounded 
  hobbled 
  ashore 
  

   on 
  crutches 
  whittled 
  from 
  saplings 
  ; 
  others 
  

   crawled 
  on 
  their 
  hands 
  and 
  knees. 
  There 
  

   were 
  only 
  a 
  couple 
  of 
  stretchers 
  for 
  the 
  

   most 
  seriously 
  wounded. 
  They 
  made 
  

   their 
  way 
  to 
  the 
  shade 
  of 
  a 
  building 
  or 
  to 
  

   the 
  hospital 
  without 
  complaint. 
  

  

  "We 
  captured 
  300 
  cattle 
  and 
  ate 
  meat, 
  

   which 
  was 
  a 
  treat," 
  said 
  one 
  youth, 
  hold- 
  

   ing 
  a 
  swollen 
  foot 
  which 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  

   dressed 
  for 
  three 
  days. 
  

  

  Among 
  Russians, 
  the 
  present 
  paralysis 
  

   of 
  the 
  country 
  and 
  the 
  suffering 
  of 
  the 
  

   people 
  is 
  blamed 
  on 
  Japan. 
  Much 
  of 
  it, 
  

   however, 
  is 
  a 
  heritage 
  from 
  the 
  revolu- 
  

   tion, 
  the 
  overthrow 
  of 
  a 
  despotic 
  mon- 
  

   archy 
  and 
  the 
  launching 
  of 
  another 
  gov- 
  

   ernment 
  whose 
  principals 
  go 
  to 
  the 
  oppo- 
  

   site 
  extreme 
  in 
  radicalism. 
  

  

  That 
  Siberia 
  cannot 
  recover 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  

   Japan 
  maintains 
  a 
  hostile 
  army 
  within 
  its 
  

   territory, 
  and 
  that 
  a 
  large 
  proportion 
  of 
  

   the 
  Japanese 
  military 
  do 
  not 
  want 
  it 
  to 
  

   recover 
  until 
  it 
  is 
  annexed, 
  as 
  Korea 
  was, 
  

   is 
  equally 
  evident. 
  

  

  One 
  Japanese 
  expedition, 
  a 
  survivor 
  of 
  

   the 
  Allied 
  assistance 
  to 
  Kolchak, 
  by 
  hold- 
  

   ing 
  Vladivostok 
  can 
  control 
  all 
  the 
  coun- 
  

   try's 
  commerce 
  by 
  railroad. 
  Another 
  

   Japanese 
  expedition 
  in 
  the 
  Sakhalin 
  dis- 
  

   trict, 
  in 
  retaliation 
  for 
  the 
  Japanese 
  de- 
  

   feat 
  and 
  subsequent 
  massacre 
  at 
  Niko- 
  

   laevsk, 
  can 
  hold 
  similar 
  control 
  over 
  the 
  

   rich 
  deposits 
  of 
  coal 
  and 
  oil 
  on 
  the 
  island, 
  

   the 
  thriving 
  Russian 
  fisheries, 
  the 
  timber 
  

   on 
  the 
  mainland, 
  and 
  the 
  Amur 
  River 
  

   route 
  of 
  the 
  country's 
  water 
  commerce. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  serious 
  obstacle 
  which 
  Japan 
  

   places 
  to 
  the 
  peace 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  is 
  the 
  

   substantial 
  support, 
  invariably 
  character- 
  

   ized 
  by 
  Tokyo 
  as 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  unauthor- 
  

   ized 
  officers, 
  given 
  to 
  brigands 
  of 
  the 
  type 
  

   of 
  Ungern, 
  the 
  Chinese 
  Hunhutzes, 
  and 
  

   others 
  to 
  harass 
  the 
  borders. 
  

  

  Possibly 
  the 
  government 
  of 
  the 
  Far 
  

   Eastern 
  Republic 
  would 
  not 
  be 
  efficient 
  

   and 
  the 
  people 
  prosperous, 
  even 
  if 
  the 
  

   Japanese 
  expeditions 
  were 
  withdrawn, 
  

   but 
  the 
  most 
  efficient 
  statesmen 
  in 
  the 
  

   world 
  could 
  not 
  bring 
  peace 
  to 
  a 
  country 
  

   with 
  hostile 
  foreign 
  expeditions 
  control- 
  

   ling 
  all 
  its 
  arteries 
  of 
  commerce 
  and 
  forc- 
  

   ing 
  it 
  to 
  keep 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  able-bodied 
  men 
  

   under 
  arms 
  to 
  repel 
  the 
  systematic 
  inva- 
  

   sions 
  from 
  without. 
  

  

  Regardless 
  of 
  the 
  bitterness 
  of 
  his 
  do- 
  

   mestic 
  politics, 
  there 
  are 
  at 
  least 
  eleven 
  

   different 
  parties 
  in 
  Siberia 
  or 
  Russia 
  ; 
  for 
  

   the 
  Russian 
  is 
  intensely 
  nationalistic. 
  He 
  

   is 
  hospitable 
  to 
  the 
  foreigner, 
  but 
  believes 
  

   that 
  Russia 
  is 
  for 
  the 
  Russian 
  first. 
  His 
  

   bitterness 
  against 
  the 
  Japanese 
  would 
  be 
  

   the 
  same 
  against 
  any 
  other 
  nation 
  trying 
  

   to 
  enforce 
  its 
  rule 
  over 
  his 
  soil 
  or 
  his 
  

   people. 
  

  

  OUTSIDE 
  INTERFERENCE 
  RESENTED 
  

  

  Efforts 
  of 
  other 
  nations 
  to 
  dictate 
  in 
  

   Russia's 
  domestic 
  affairs, 
  either 
  by 
  armies 
  

   or 
  otherwise, 
  has 
  been 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  strong- 
  

   est 
  political 
  assets 
  of 
  the 
  Bolsheviki 
  in 
  

   European 
  Russia, 
  and 
  the 
  same 
  holds 
  true 
  

   in 
  Siberia. 
  The 
  Russian 
  will 
  overlook 
  the 
  

   shortcomings 
  of 
  his 
  home 
  government, 
  

   patiently 
  endure 
  hardships, 
  and 
  risk 
  his 
  

   life 
  whenever 
  occasion 
  requires, 
  if 
  it 
  is 
  

   necessary 
  in 
  fighting 
  the 
  ignominy 
  of 
  for- 
  

   eign 
  domination. 
  

  

  Several 
  motives 
  contributed 
  to 
  the 
  for- 
  

   mation 
  of 
  the 
  Far 
  Eastern 
  Republic 
  as 
  a 
  

   constitutional 
  democracy. 
  Soviet 
  Russia 
  

   could 
  have 
  prevented, 
  but 
  assisted 
  instead. 
  

   Moscow 
  has 
  been 
  the 
  only 
  friend 
  of 
  

   Chita, 
  aiding 
  it 
  with 
  gold 
  and 
  soldiers, 
  

   though 
  extremely 
  limited 
  in 
  both. 
  How- 
  

   ever, 
  the 
  two 
  republics 
  are 
  separate, 
  as 
  

   any 
  one 
  soon 
  finds 
  out 
  when 
  passing 
  the 
  

   customs 
  guards, 
  immigration 
  officers, 
  and 
  

   soldiers 
  on 
  either 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  boundaries. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  first 
  place, 
  the 
  Far 
  Eastern 
  Re- 
  

   public 
  satisfied 
  the 
  wish 
  for 
  a 
  buffer 
  state 
  

   between 
  Japan 
  and 
  Soviet 
  Russia. 
  Next. 
  

   the 
  leaders 
  of 
  Moscow 
  realized 
  that 
  their 
  

   beautiful 
  theories 
  of 
  communism 
  had 
  

   been 
  an 
  economic 
  and 
  social 
  failure, 
  and 
  

   this 
  corner 
  of 
  Siberia 
  offered 
  a 
  good 
  field 
  

   to 
  try 
  out 
  the 
  democracy 
  of 
  America 
  em- 
  

   bellished 
  with 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  latest 
  radical 
  

   novelties. 
  

  

  The 
  third 
  reason, 
  alone 
  sufficient, 
  was 
  

   that 
  the 
  Siberian 
  peasant 
  will 
  never 
  ac- 
  

  

  