The Washington herald., 1917-06-11
ENTENTE HOPES U.S..
WILL SAVE RUSSIA
American Mission Has Mishtie.t
Task of the War.
By JOHN L. BALDERsTON:
(CopgrighL hi, b. the Mcclure Ne~Spaper
alndicafeN

By JOHN L. BALDERsTON:
ScOpsrishL ls1. s,..,ss sAs hsOiois Ss~'papes
TIE personnel Of the American
Commission to Petrograd has given
the livelIest satisfaetion In London
and Paris, where IL 10 hoped that the
great influence which the American
republic is capable Of exerting over
the Russian democracy will be exer-
cised TO the full. Suspicion Of Brit
ish diplomacy, ingrained in the Rus
sian mind for generations, and the
long-standing alliance between great
French capitalist groups and the
old regime In Russia. tend to make
certain factions in Russia mistrust-
full, and these same elements are
believing that America has no ul-
terror motives.
All the help, moral and material.
that the alliance against Germany
Is capable OF rendering to the stall
wart party In Petrograd Is needed.
don make this fact clear. The peril
to the Entente IL the Lenin party in
Russia were TO gain the upper hand
and conclude a separate peace could
scarcely be exaggerated.
ProyIsIonlnE More Serious.
A separate peace between Germany
and Russia would mean the end OF the
allied attempt to starYe Germany of
food and raw materials, as well as to
eighty divisions Of infantry, q total
with their supports and reserves OF
perhaps 1000, 900 German soldiers, for
use on the Western front. Figures
placed before me today indicate that
Of these two perils, the provisioning
Of his armies in the West, the form
er IL the more serious.
In the last year of peace Germany
imported SjO,0O0.OO0 worth of goods
from Russia, and the bulk Of these
goods were food and fodder, the two
most serious brakes on German war
efficiency today. Russian barley, wheat
eggs, poultry, butter, lard and rye
poured across the frontier in peace
time, and these imports would soon
be resumed. The food crisis in Rus
sia At present is q crisis OF trans
port, and German engineers and Ger
man organization could soon over
come this difficulty and enable Rus
sia TO iced her own people and re-
A separate peace would also. within
q Few months, begin to reduce the
German meat shortage. Glover, oil
cakes and oats, used for fodder, are
now practically unobtainable in Ger
many, but Russia could supply ali
that Germany requires. Russian ex-
ports to Germany would not be linn
ited to peace-time figures, II Is point
ed out. but could be Increased indefi-
effect Of RUSSIAN hTS tood senpen npon the % Gere @
man people would be felt at once.
but since Gerard and other autnori-
ties believe Germany can hold out
from one to two years on her pres
ent prospective supplies, Russian
betrayal would place our allies. in
= serious situation.
Big Manpower Reservoir.
In peace times. every year hundreds
came into Germany to help with the
harvests. The only limit to this sup
ply of labor was the number of men
Germany required. In this vast res
eryoir Of manpower upon which Ger
many could draw lies another peril
In the event of a separate peace; while
the snarchy which would probably
reign in Russia following the betrayal
of our allies, IL Is feared would make
it possible for Germany to incorpor-
ate Russians in her armies.
The political effect OF a separate
Russian peace in the East would be
world-shaking. Small Balkan powers,
even those now ranged against Ger
many. could not hope to keep out Of
the TeutOnic orbit, and the German
world-empire plan would have been
advanced more than half way to COM
plCte success unless the allied armies
in the west were able to crush the
Kaiser's armies and dictate peace.
1t is desired that these pOrtentous
facts be clearly understood in the
United states. 1t is feared that Ameri-
cans, clearly awake now to the situa-
tion in France, may not easily under
stand that no issue since the civil
war holds such sinister possibilities
for America as the Russian crisis.
Were Russia to make a separate
peace" a high official said to me, lone
possibility of victory would remain. II
America were to mobilize for a war
Of years and conduct the major part
Of the struggle herself. two years
hence. when our man power and that
Of France was exhausted, we might
succeed in beating Germany"
Not even this intOieraO;e prospect,
I answered, would cause the AmeTi-
can people to draw back. and added
that We were in the war to win it at
shows how vital it is that Russia be
saved, in the interest OF ourselves as
we'll as France and England, from
the influences now working TO wreck
the alliance.
Those who know the temper of the
Russian people anticipate a great re-
Ception for the American missions 1t
is felt here that Mr.. Root and his
companions may be able to save the
situation by pointing out in plain
words the ruin which awaits Russia,
II she allows herself to be deceived
by German intrizues and humani-
tartan and pacifist fanatics. Repre-
sentatives Of the European allies are
doing their best, but the old sus-
picions and jealousies still operate to
prevent their words from being uni
versally accepted at face values. These
sinister factors will not be operative
when Americans talk frankly to Rus
slams, for all factions in the new Rus
sian democracy believe in the inter
national program OF President Will
son and In the good faith Of the
American people.