Evening star., 1918-02-10
BY CHARLES M. PEPPER.

BY CHARLES M. PEPPER.
EIHE republic of Siberia may be
the next development In the
breakup Of the Russian empire.
q Since the revolution last spring
little has been heard about Siberia's
status Occasionally reports have been
received of a, movement for an inde-
pendent state, and of the formation of
a separate government. but until re-
Gently there has been little to confirm
these reports. Siberia is so vast tna1
an Independent state might be set up
in one corner of it without other SEC
tions knowing what was going on
there. It was therefore. thought pos
sible that there might be local move
ments Of this kind without any concert
ed action.
After tho bolsheviki developed as the
ruling power in European Russia the
reports about Siberia establishing its
own government became more definite,
and with more news coming from actual
centers Of population. Sometimes the
news filtered across the Ural mountains
by way of Moscow and Petrograd;
sometimes it filtered out through Har-
bin. in Manchuria, and through japan.
The latest intelligence came by way
Of Harbin, with some echoes from Petro-
grad which served to confirm 1t. This
intelligence was that q constituent as
sembly, presumed to be representative
Of different sections Of Siberia, was IN
session at Tomsk. This assembly SEEM
ed to be chosen under the forms pro
vided by tho bolsheviki for the con-
stituent assembly which met at Petro-
grad early in January anu was oic-
solved by cannon ana macnne guns
when the bolshevilsi found that they
were not in control Of it Something
Of the same sort seems to have nap
pened at Tomsk. for the reports re-
cetyed were. Of a battle between the
bolsheviki and other n raans were Killed
and the town subjected to piuage.
what has happened since tnen Is a
tyon TomsS is in western Siberia. on spur
of the Transsiberian railway. 1t is.
therefore, in rail communication with
Moscow and Petrograd. as Wen as WIN
Irkutsk and other centers OF popula-
tion in central and eastern siberia.
While II is known that rail communt-
cation is very much interrupted. some
trains do get through, and the pol
sheviki would be able to ,,5e sena H. sne,r aa
T6DT064n1aI1VcSt IL AoAAAS>As
rious districts In central and eastern
Siberia also would De aoie 10 sono e"eif
chosen delegates
Whatever may be the immediate out
come OF the situation at Tomsk, and
whatever may, be the lease OF power
OF the. bolsheviki, there .ts little Ques-
ton about the strength OF the move
ment for an Independent siberia. ANY
eovernment at Petrograd. whether an
archist, democratic or royal. VIII nave
to reckon the conditions which make
for an independent Siberia. Geography
IL the principal one. The Ural noun
tains form the natural boundary be-
tween European Russia ana siberia.
Thew may not be called a barrier since
the railway line has penetrated them.
buttn every other sense the two vast
regions are separate and distinct Even
the Arctic ocean. on the north, presents
different aspect TO Russia and to 81
beria.
The common notion of Siberia 10 based
on latitude and climate. Because part Of
1t ts in the arctic circle the whole vast
region has been assumed to be almost
beyond the pale Of civilized occupancy.
Notwithstanding that much has been
written describing Siberia as 1t is. the
common notion ssstiIl that 1t is at only
fof penal settlements and that the nj
hilists and -other political extles were
sent to these settlements as living
! death. This 10 not far from. the truth.
INT the inhospitable~ regions in which
. the penal settlements were placed are