The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-05-21
SLAVS' FATE IN BALANCE
Intervention by Allies Is
a Question President
Must Decide.
OPINION IS DIVIDED
Nations Fighting Ger
many, However, Con-
trolled by United
Purpose.


Cision of the whole war---how to
make good his pledge TO help
Russia.
II was learned here today that
the decision rests practically In
Mr.. Wilson's hands alone. Follow
ing the pledge nc gave In his Red
Cross speech In New York Satur-
day night. he must quickly adopt
one OF these two widely divergent
views:
I. France. first Of oil, and also
Italy and England, have made
strong representations that the
Russian situation cannot he
worse They believe that allied
Intervention, with japanese and
Chinese. can have no effect worse
than the present state OF affairs.
They believe that II may go far
towards winning the war on the
western front.
g Many of the presidents own
advisers insist that intervention of
any sort will be fatal-that 1t Will
drive Russia body. boots and
beeches into the German camp.
The latter get remarkable con-
f1rmation of their opinion today
MaSaryk, Czech member of the
Austrian parliament. who is
under sentence of death for leav-
ing Austria when the war broke.
and who has Just arrived in
Washington from Russia. where
he was intimately connected with
both the kerensky and Bolsheviki
regimes.
DR. Masaryk says the only way 10
treat Russia is to recognize and deal
with the de facto government and
help the people economically back
to the peace and relative prosperity
which they seek above all.
Japan and China are awaiting on
the decision Of the other allies. Both
according TO authoritative reflections
of their attitude received here. are
anxious TO help. They look upon In
as the obvious channel
Both. however insist they will be
guided absolutely by the judgments
OF the allies.
And the allies. according 10 every
sign available here today, have left
the formulation of this Judgment in
the hands of one ma.n-W oodrov
Wilson.
Allies Stand Together.
acting in the best Of faith. All in
sist that they put forward their views
merely as the best way TO win the
war Each is willing to defer 70 tht
Judgment of the other. So that In nc
sense may 1t be said that the sltua'
ton has effected a rift in the allied
unity OF purpose.
But both the interventionists and
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. base their views
on what is, at best. policy of en-
lightened selhshness One side thinks
that the pressure on the west front
must be relieved. in order that de-
mocracy may trump in the end. The
other side asserts that 1t will be 8
poor triumph OF democracy II Rus
STA is either driven to Potsdam OF
crushed beneath an allied iron heel
President wilson throughout hia
utterances on the war having hewr
close 70 the line of abstract justice
rather than interest, thus rises in the
present crisis as the statesman whose
decision will, all In all. have the best
effect among the allies. In Russia
and even In. Germany,
There 10 reason to believe that al
of these considerations have been
formally presented TO President WI
son* Ii is known that the French
British and Italian representative
here mold TO their views so strongly
as 10 make II inconceivable that they
should withhold them from the White
nouse. Isatleeuons OF the opposite
view are perceived in many American
uftiCial quarters, and 1t is known that
III. Nasaryk has conveyed his I'M
presslons lnto authoritative circles
lnougn he has not yet directly con
Ierreu Win either President wilson OIL
Secretary Lansing.
LOOK al the map he said today
There you will see The reason against
allied intervention. II Ia many thou
sands of miles Tor the alleu troops
to travel before their arrive at Vladi-
vostok. henoe II is practically GER
tain that Intervention, II It means any.
thing. means japanese intervention
we KNOW by experiences what the
thought of Japanese Intervention does
in Russia. We have seen The storm
1t raises.
And once Japanese troops start
operations In tire Far East, see the
problem they must solve-the insuper-
able problem of distance. 1t is thou.
sands of miles from Vladivostok tc
the Ural mountains. and the IRA
mountains are hundreds of miles from
the heart of Russia, where the Ger.
man armies already hold full sway.
+, "As soon as they start across the
border, opposition to them Will be
gin, The Bolsheviki and their forces
will retire before them. destroying
the fine iron bridges of the trans
Siberian railway. And to destroy al
iron bridge in Russia today is crime
against civilization.
While they are doing all this Ions
vast task, the Germans, right on the
ground, will have consolidated west:
ern Russia against what they will cal
the menace of the East And Ger.