Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-11-09

liberty. That would be suFprising, because history had
Nss toa believe that in any treat nation the Revolutionary.
overthrow Of a goyerntnentsa and the creation OF = new On,
arc certain%to be attended with disorder, violence, and
In most cases, with. civil war. * Sas%
1t is Impossible at this distance to measure the scop,
Of the recent developments in Petrograd or to estirnas
theirstnfluence. What is4 definitely known is that the ex
ltreme radical party known assthe Maximalists, and some
times. as the BolsheviEiL have gained possession aof tn
city Of Petrograd. and have disposessed the provisional
government OF which Alexander. Kerensky was the head
and have set up an organization Of their own which they
demand shall be recognized az the government of the ma,
ton until a permanent government is organized. Tnes.
radicals apparently have the sympathy OF the Petrograt
garrison, hence, So far as the capital is concerned. the
new revolution, may be regarded as complete,
Petrograd has been known to be a hotbed or ina,
form of radicalism which approaches anarchy. Because
OF the unsatisfactory conditions there the late provision.
al government was a few weeks ago on the point of NOV.
ing the seat of government to Moscow, the ancient cap.
ital of the empire. A truce was patched up between the
factions, however, and this step was not taken. WhaI
the attitude of the country at large will be toward the ex.
tremists remains to be seen. 4#% ~
It is easy to be unjust to a man the maenftnde al
whose problems we do. not understand. The task which
confronted Kerensky was one which few men have had ia
perform. 1t was his task to restore order and create sys.
tenn In a nation which had plunged in a day from pes
potism to anarchy. He had to deal with reactionary
forces which hoped for the restoration of the old regime:
with pro-German sentiment which had been insidiously
1nstilled into thousands of people by an army of men in
the pay Of Berlin; with the ambitions of individuals VINO
saw in the confusion opportunity for their own advance
ment; with a military situation which was threatening:
and with economic problems which would suffice for gen.
erations in a country at peace and with a stable govern
ment.
Few men could have measured up to such a task
and kerensky has not done so. Perhaps a man less able
than he in some directions might have been more success
full. What Russia has needed, and what she needs today.
is the strong hand Of a capable dictator thoroughly in SYM
pathy with ultimate democratic ideals. Such a man Ker-
ensky was not. He was an idealist and a dreamer. Some
of his ideals have been bruised, If not shattered, and he
has awakened from some Of his dreams. But he has lack
ed the practical insight which would have caused a diff
ferent man to understand that the first thing that the
country needed was order, and to secure order IL every
thing else had to be postponed. Kerensky shrank from
such a course. He pleaded and compromised, and while
he did this the situation grew worse. Korniloff had the
better idea, and there is reason to believe that had the
korniloff rebellion succeeded the country would now
have been we'll on the way toward a solution of its prob
lens.
AS the conditions in Russia at large are unknown.
the effect of the late developments on the general war
situation cannot be estimated. The faction now In power
IN the capital declares for immediate peace, together with
a number of domestic and economic changes. It is unlike
ly that there will be any early peace with Germany except
such as comes from the paralysis of Russia's military
terms, but there must be a large and powerful element in
Russia whose members realize fully that such peace as
could be reached now would merely result in claiming the
russian giant to the kaiser's chariot wheel, and we may
expect to see such a peace resisted even if resistance en-
talls civil war. And civil war seems to be the mos, likely
thing to expect from Russia for the present.