10 
LAND & WATER 
January 3, 191S 
of stable determination, not only to one or two of tiio Allied 
Ambassadors, but to some of the people thcmsel^ics, who, 
sc-eing their daily life disorganised and famine coming upon 
them", are beginning to feel " better Bolsiievik dictatorship 
than the continuance of this period of anarchical incertitude." 
It is indeed a desperate situation, so far as the north of Russia 
is concerned, 
Meanw hile, liowever, other parts of tiiis huge aggregation 
of territories and peoples are in open revolt against th^ policy 
of a handful of fanatics and intriguers, who are using tho 
means supplied by enemy foreigners to force a rule, for which 
the country is economically and socially wholly unprepared, 
upon a jjopulation of 180,000,000 souls. However honest 
they may be, tlieir methods aid reaction in every direction 
and threaten to put Russia at the mercy of the "Kaiser, his 
(unkers and his Capitalists for many a long year to come, 
therefore, the Ukraine, the Caucasiis, Siberia and Finland, 
which have declared themselves independent Republics, are 
against Bolshevik tvrannv and doctrinaire incompetence. 
Men like Savinkoff, Axentieff, Kerensky, with their military 
friends, are striving at this moment — not to help reaction as 
Bolsheviks and (Germans perfidiously proclaim— but to aid 
the Social Revolutionaries, who will constitute the majority 
Df the Constituent Assembly (even now tliat tiie aiiarchist 
?.\treme left has gone over to the enemy), in organising the 
ijennine democracy of Russia based upon the peasantry and 
the townsmen alike. The Social Revolutionaries are all 
ilemocrats. They are also advocates of the land for the 
people. Anything short of a Democratic and Social Federated 
l^epublic would be a defeat for them. To attain this end 
the>' are ready to make any sacrifice— are making great 
sacrifices to-day. But the following points are essential to 
their success : — 
1. Germany must be prevented from gaining the \-ictory 
by a German peace ; for if She dqes, she will use the dis- 
organisation of Is orth Russia and the resources of South and 
East Russia entirelv for her own ends. 
2. A new front must be formed, supported from points acces- 
sible to the Allies of Russia, in order to preser\e the non- 
Bolshevik districts from such a disaster. 
3. The Germans must be stopped from drilling the .2,000,000 
i.erman and Austrian prisoners now in Russia for service 
against the Allies. 
4. The Allied Governments and the United States must give 
a definite statement, based upon the formula of Restitution, 
Reparation ajid tiuarantees, and repudiating all Imperialist 
aims — a staten>ent with wliich Russia may confront German 
and Bolshevik lies. 
5. Russian troops and war vessels must be used to help the 
Iriends of lie Allifss against their enemies, ' 
6. The Allies must forthwith proclaim to the world that tlieir 
friends in l^ussia are their friends, and that th'.; friends of 
their enemy, Germany, are their enemies. 
In all the affairs of human life there is some risk. It is the 
duty of statesmen, as it is of organisers and men of business, to 
consider a position carefully from every point of view before 
decisive action is taken. .But when the decision is arrived 
at, then the shutters should be pidled down on the other 
side of the intellect. I'urther reflection is not only useless 
init dangerous. Siicli a situation has arisen in Russia. Tre- 
mendous issues are at stake not only in regard to the relations 
between England and her AlUes and Russia herself, but for 
the immediate future of the civilised world. Asia is involved 
as well as Europe. ' 
Do what ever wc may, the influence of Germany upon Russia, 
her Eastern neighbour must inevitably be great. Terri- 
torial propinquity and commercial advantage will tell in her 
favour as time goes on. But if at this critical juncture wc 
stand aside and allow our enemes to dominate Russia, without 
an effort to help the rising anti-German Republics, then all 
hope of a counter-influence being effectively exerted by the 
Allied Powers in the future may disappear. Our present 
difficulties West and East will be greatly increased. The 
vast .sums likewise which we have advanced to enable Russia 
to remain an independent country, working out h(>r own 
destinies in friendly accord with nations that aspire neither 
to mercantile nor political domination, will have been entirely 
thrown away. 
Under these circumstances, a prompt decision must be 
reached. This is not a matter only of to-day, threatening as 
the immediate outlook may be, nor of to-morrow, hopeful as 
we all are of final and decisive victory over the forces of 
mihtarist reaction and diplomatic treachery. It is the end 
of an old pohcy and the beginning of a new. To hesitate is 
far more dangerous than to act. I'or, certainly, if F^ngland 
and her Allies display again a pusillanirrous incpitude, continue 
to debate about pros and cons while events are settling the 
immediate issue against them, and persistently let I dare not 
wait upon I would — then the democratic Republicans and- 
anti-Bolsheviks of Russia will be compelled in despair to make 
the best terms they can with the German invader and the 
enormous but undeveloped resources of that great nation 
will now and hereafter be under Teutonic control. 
There is now good reason to hope tliat the terrible dangers 
already arising out of the present situation are understood and 
will be met with energy and determination. But at such a 
critical moment promptitude is essential and, unfortunatelj-, 
that has not so far been characteristic of the .\Uied policy. 
Leaves from a German Note Book 
Peace Negotiations with Russia 
IT would seem that the peace negotiations with. Russia 
have not evoked great enthusiasm in (lermany. The^vent 
is not minimised, but neither is it regarded as being in 
itself decisive. There is smoke in the flame ; many 
insuperable difficulties are expected. The press warns the 
j)ublic not to build castles in the air. The Bolshevik leaders 
are even mistrusted in some quarters. Franz Mehring, a 
Socialist of European reputation, goes so far as to attack 
them openly in these terms: "Have Lenin and Trotsky, 
who were for years brave fighters on the side of the proletariat, 
suddenly lost their senses, or has their revolutionary energy 
and that of their supporters driven them into a situation where 
they are compelled to do much which they would not do were 
they free masters in making their decisions ? They are 
heading straight for chaos." Nevertheless, the public hopes 
tliat perhaps the negotiations with Russia may bring peace 
in t'he West. This desire must be very strong, for even so 
moderate a journal as the Frankfurter /cilinii^ is moved to 
use these veiled threats if the Allies should not fulhl Ger- 
many's expectations : 
If the leaders of the Kntente'continiic the war, in spite of fate, 
against the will of Russia and despite the readiness of the 
Central Powers for a general peace, they will only make a 
real understaiuliuf; more and more diflicult ; for any accom- 
modation which nuist be exacted from the Kntente by force 
is bound to be a defeat, however moderate Germany may 
be. The statesmen of the Entente still have time to make 
the decision. May they decide in favour of that which the 
cours«> of events will make a necessity for them before long. 
Boastful talk of this kind is necessary in order to hearten 
the Germans to bear up still further. Their burden is indeed 
great. They lack coal, for the winter ration allows of warm- 
ing only one room for each household. The schools are 
closed because of the coal shortage ; the streets are dark 
and the Dublic baths are unable to serve the public needs. 
It is not that Germany has no coal. But she has no miners 
to dig it, nor sufficient trucks to distribute it. The whole of 
the railway system is chsorganised ; the rolling stock is being 
neglected ; there is a serious shortage of lubricants ; railway 
fares for the express services have been doubled while ordinary 
train services have been considerably reduced. 
Yet the German suffers in patience. His beer is thinner 
and dearer than ever. In place of tobacco he is given hops 
and chicory roots to smoke. His fat and butter ration, 
small though it is already, is to be reduced on January ist 
by one-fifth. He is fed on substitutes, of which, according 
to an official report, there are now over ten thousand in 
(iermany. Even his daily bread has become nauseating. 
A correspondent of the Vorudrts relates an experience 
which is worth recording. Recently he visited an eating 
house in the centre of Berlin where" before the war he had 
been a regular customer, Asking what there was to eat he 
was informed by the waitress that they had cake, but when 
he saw the substance he would have none of it. Thereupon 
the waitress, anxious to please, vouchsafed the information 
that they also had .scones, at one and threepence each. He 
ordered one. It was small in size and its coloiu" was a dirty 
brown. He no sooner bit into it than he received a shock. 
It was all stringy within and had an abominable taste. It 
is significant that the Vonvarls should print this story in bold 
type. In all probability this particular experience "is by no 
means unique. Four days later, on December 19th," the 
Socialist paper wrote: "The great masses are not only 
hungry : they are literally starving." 
Fear of Air Raids 
On top of all this comes the dread of air raids. The Bedin 
Lohal-Anzeiger, a paper with a large circulation among the 
masses, finds it necessary to cheer the people by attempting 
to demonstrate that German air-raids on England are right 
and prooer. and English air-raids on Germany unspcakabli' 
