Evening star., 1917-11-11

i6ses Tns oAaees y made that the CON
/ 0sogs q not rspEsesneaffve. Any groul
iSs pelittAl Ie<sy eeespting the pro
i - $1,000 ~ sA's congress VIII D
WHso tAs soviet delegates g.theret
- Nluo with cieAfstte smoke. ant
tns q; ses'sf Sr ON th. th.
~ taSe WsiF6 shsstliks figures. The
HVnarods eS human beings In the fathel
1lnaU auditorium. which had little VEN
,soa ss';s ss. u; aeeorans 70 RUS
Ian custom the double windows were
0rmly sealed on the LIST Of November In
Dreparation for the winter. and per.
son with delicate nostrns lasted about
i've seconds.
Continue Hour After Hour.
Regardless of the terrible heat the
wearing their fur-nned winter over
coats and fur hats. The auditorium
was entirely without decoration and
not even a revolutionary red nag was
hail is severely plain. The bases OF the
great whitewashed columns had been
fncased In boards to protect them from
the hobnailed boots Of the delegates.
eager workmen and soldiers and excite.
ment was running high. The meeting.
scheduled to start at l o'clock In the
afternoon. was nine hours late In start
rumors. splits and schisms and fac
tional dissensions furnished material
for countless futile arguments.
When the delegates fiocked Into the
auditorium, keenly expectant, they found
at the doors unshaven workmen with
rifles and fixed bayonets and wearing
clothes which had obviously seen serv-
ice. These workmen and soldiers were
seriously dealing with problems concern
Ing workmen and soldiers more than any
other stratum of life. For the first time
in their history they had the right to
solve these problems for themselves.
Fleets Well Represented.
The Baltic, Kronstadt and Black sea
fleets were well represented. There were
dozen commissioned army officers who
appeared decidedly Ill at ease. few
Cossacks were also seen. The predom!-
mating element in the audience seemed to
be Jews. One saw many men who at
fected long. wayy black hair and windsor
ties. The women were obviously from
the masses. Every second delegate ap-
peared to be making notes with his PEN
ell for fear that when the people of his
village demanded the story Of the mo-
mentous meeting he would be unable to
give the last detail.
When the audience failed to indorse a
speakers sentiments there were no
Kisses or catca1ls, but Just plain silence.
When the din of coughing. sneezing and
whispering threatened to drown out some
low-voiced speaker the delegates Joined
in a prolonged hiss which. though a sig
nal for silence, niomentarily drowned
the speakers voice. The delegates moved
about on tiptoe. but tiptoeing in great
Russian brogans adorned with two dozen
ho6nails on wooden floor was hardly
q success.
had not yet been worked out and that
the whole proposition would be sub
mitted to the constituent assembly.
which will probably meet in the Nlast
week of November here
Lenine Indorses Program.
In fiery speech Lenine indorsed the
program Of the bolsheviki leaders Tor
forcing warning nations to make
peace and declaring for a peace pro-
gram that would unite all Russian fac
tions and for bringing the Ukraine
back into the Russian fold successive
" representatives Of the Poles. Let's
and Lithunians made short speeches in
dorsing the peace plans.
One internationalist attempted to
spike the wheel by declaring that
Lenine's suggestions that Russia con-
slider peace at any terms whatsoever an
open acknowledgment of the weakness
of Russia and tantamount to an Of
icial admission that Russia must have
peace at any price because it was un-
able to continue the war any longer.
Such an admission he continued. would
encourage Germany to demand ex-
ceostve terms
Lenine jumped to the rostrum with
hand raised to still the angry howls
against the speaker. and replied:
we would. indeed. be poor democ-
xaay Il we did not deliberate on all the
propositions presented. before casting
aside peace The proposal was not in
tended to give the impression to Ger
many that Russia is terribly weak or
that Russia is unable or unwilling to
continue the war.
Says Army Will Fight.
Our propositions are based on hu-
mAnitarian principles. II our efforts
% establish peace are unavailing the
Russian army Will continue to fight
SEVERAI. MEMBERS OF