Evening star., 1917-10-25
~ RHErA cHILpE DoRR.

BY
have Just been reading In one OF
! che newspapers the headlines placed
| above . dispatch from Russia which
; stated that the democratic congress-
! now in session in Petrograd. nag
voted to sustain Kerensky's demand
for a coalition government
The headlines were wrong. what
the dispatch really stated was that
the congress had voted not to FORM
any coalition with the bourgeois eie-
ment, or with members of the consti-
tutionaI democratic party. That is. the
congress would not support minis
. frv that had any non-socialist mem
bers In it.
"An the power to the soviets was
retired as too conservative slogan.
IT'S All the power to the Bolsheviki
now, for that is precisely what the
vote In that so-called democratic con-
gresS meant.
Six Conventions Since june.
Since June, 1917, no fewer than six
congresses or conventions nave osstt
held in Russia with the object or nnd-
ing a way out of the chaos with Whicn
the country is threatened. Every one
of them was hailed beforehand as the
one which was going TO be SNOW
down OF the Intentions and desires or
the people.
The most important OF these were the
aii-Russia congress of SovietS hetd
last July, and before that the pre-
( liminary convention TO prepare LOT the
constituent assembly.
The one was to decide once and for
all whether or not the moderate or lhe
extreme element IN the Soviets was 70
rule. and the other was to quiet noth
/. elements
: Lastly, there was the great MOSCOW
congress- of last August. Tho object
was to find out which was the stronger
man. Kerensky or kornilon. kerenskY
Z won by q narrow margin, a very mar
row margin And now they have held
another convention, and kerensky has
lost.
what will happen next IN that dis
tracted country?
Frankly, l do not know. I do not
know anybody who does The only
analogous situation in modern ms
tory is that of the Poland OF the
eighteenth century. Poland had
government quite as bad as that OF
diers. and workmen's delegates In
stead Of being an an-socialist affair
Polands parliament was made up en-
tirely Of noblenen. These men were
80 proud, so free" in the new Russia
sense OF the word. that they wouldn I
Yield on any question even to a ma
5ority vote. A single dissenting voice
in their parliament was enough to Kill
any measure.
The people of Poland had no more
to say about government than the mid
, die class and the rich have in Russia
Of today And when a European. war
on a limited scale broke out, and
, Frederick the Great started the era Of
thought he could bring TO a triumphan.
conclusion. the three great easfe~H
powers of Europe-Russia. Prussia
: and Austria-sliced up Poland and
handed each of the three nlonarchs a
piece.
Dismemberment Not Likely.
This could happen to Russia She
could be dismembered and handed
around. But this is not likely to hap
pen. The allies would never be so
foolish or SO cruel as to permit it to
happen. Russia could fall apart and
become an aggregation Of small sep
arate states, but each one OF those
Quently a government without stability
or permanence. Finland and the
Ukraine are two Russian states which
are trying to bring about this end, and
they may succeed. but dessicated
Russia would furnish such good mate
: rial for future wars that the allies can
hardly afford to consent to It.
Civil war is a fine possibility in Rus
018 just now, except that there seems
to be no one at hand to organize the
two forces. The strongest probability
10 more guerrilla warfare. more street
fighting, more motor trucks loaded
With machine guns rushing up and
down Petrograd. more battle, murder
and sudden death. and then the reac-
ton. Just what form the reaction will
! take nobody knows. But the mad
Bolsheviki know that 1t Is coming. and
they fear 1t. They call this inevitable
Z reaction the counter revolution, and
!: they excuse all their vagaries. their
obstinacy. their pig-headed resistance
Z. to coalition with non-socialists on
( the ground that they are fighting the
counter revolution. I have heard Amer
leans in Russia. college professors,
business men. correspondents, even
|. members of American commissions.
! 0ay: Don't blame these people too
much for their radicalism. They are
AFRAID they will lose all they gained by
ne revolution. They fear the return
{ ox autocracy."
AR<ocracy Will Not Return.
can say with all confidence that
Whatever may happen In Russia, there
- not oIen the renotese chznce OF any
counter revolution. In the sense meant