The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1916-07-10
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By William Philip Simms


Petrograd, June 12.-(By maiD-
Slowly, like giant getting under
way, Russia, backed by her plain
people, is gathering strength. To-
day, working for her, she has an army
of them fifty million strong.
! This is not a sob-sister hysteria.
1t is truth.
The Peoples War.
The Russian war is the peoples
war. With their incalcuable forti-
tude the people are backing up the
army in way peculiar to them and
not to be found in any other country
of Europe: In England and France,
for instance, the governments are CO.
operating with industrial corpora
tions and bankers-to the exclusion
keeping the nation and the army sup
plies.
In Russia the government and army
also cooperate with these. But they
cooperate with an organized people,
too, through non-pOlitical groups
which have been formed all over the
citizens associations, CO.
operative societies, peasants unions
and whose aim is but to serve Rus
sia.
Then there is central committee,
composed Of civilians, to coordinate
the efforts of the groups and take the
army's orders.
Working for Nation.
So some of the fifty millions are
at the front, in uniforms, under arms.
Others are back of the lines drilling
to go to the 'front.' The rest are
scattered all over the Russian empire
working at their jobs, big or little,
but for the nation. They are farm
ers and merchants, tailors and chem
lists, bootmakers and doctors, drug
gists and nurses, seamstresses and
carpenters, machinists and plain day
laborers all mobilized just as effec-
lively, so far as carrying on the war
is concerned, as the foremost soldiers
in the foremost trenches.
The citizens organizations for aid
ing the country and the army are
literally hundreds in number but the
majority of these can be punched un-
der one or the other four general
names.
Then there is tI y Municipality
Union, grouping the work of Russian
Cities.
Next is the War Trade Committee
Lastly the Cooperative Union
whose membership includes over 3O,.
100000 people, mostly peasants, and
whose activities affect in one way OF
another more than half the popula'
ton of the Russian empire.
So it is putting it very conserva
lively to say that, counting soldiers
and those backing up the soldiers
Russia has fifty million souls toiling
to fetch her home a victory.
A Central Committee.
In order that the work of these or
ganizations may clash as little as pos
sible there is a central committee
sitting permanently, week days an6
Sundays, in a building to itself here
in Petrograd. When the government
has need of this or that for the army
or for refugees, or for it's organHa
ton back Of the fighting lines, it car
and does call on the central commit
tee for aid The central committee
looking over the vast resources at it:
command, with it's wires reaching ou
into the farthermost corners Of tn
empire, sees at glance what can b.
done and does it, quickly and eff
GENTLY.
There is not a single branch of hu
man endeavor not at the beck am
call of these citizens organizations
and through them available the cen
trail committee and the government
All the sciences, arts, trades and oc
cupations have been mobilized il
this way They are ever heady t
provide anything from fresh milk TO
babies to high explosives for tn
army.
The whole world knows that Rus