The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-02-17
LIKE DOMESTIC CATTLE


 LIKE DOMESTIC CATTLE
 As I narrated in a preceding arti- cle the brutal red guard dominated the hundreds of thousands of people. who
 knew not which way to turn once the fabric of government had broken down. Consider these people They are not tigers nor lions nor wild beasts of any sort. They are more like dom estic cattle; calm ordinarily; peaceful by
 habit; a little stupid it may be; cer-
 tainly very ignorant.
 In times of surprise, shock, excite
 ment or sudden peril, when things
 happen which they do not understand,
 cattle may be driven wildly this way
 or that. They stampede. That is
 what was happening in Petrograd and
 generally in Russia. The bolsheviki, cunning, interruptions, ambitions cer- tainly, were utilizing these stampedts for their own ends.
 Kerensky unquestionably did not realize how widely the touble had spread; how completely the minimizing
 people had fallen under the sway of the bolshevili. There is no doubt that
 when the five regiments and the bat teries of artillery arrived at Gatchina from the front the men singing and cheering for tuS premier and mak king g very gallant and brave appearance. kcrensky believed his triumph was certain.
 He carried himself with an air. He addressed the soldiers with the same ringing tones and the same aspira- tional gift for oratory that had made him famous in a day. He still believed in his star-rather. he still believed in tie people Let 1t be written here that herensky fell because he had overesti- mated the intelligence and the patriot ism of his own people. He did not set out to be a Bona parte He thought that the necessity Tor dictator was hateful. He desired
 to lead rather than to rule. He was an idealist out and out. In these sen tlmentalisms and idealisms of Alex ander Kerensky lay the causes of his downfall and the collapse of the pro- visional government
 NEEDED STRONG HAND 1t IS too late to speculate, but the re- flection cannot be avoided that no revolu- tionary government was ever in history guiIty Of more deplorable weakness tha n that which permitted any such orsaniza- ton as the committe of workmen's and soldiers delegates ever to form What
 Russia needed when the Romanoffs were driven off was a strong hand.
 NO teIephone or telegraph messages could be sent to Petrograd to notify the caplnet that help was coming but K Ker- ensky ordered airmen to fly over Petro grad and to drop messages of hope. The hour for marching against the capital vas agreed upon, but difficulties be- gan to raise their heads
 General Dukhonin found the Cossacks suspicious and obstinate when he directed them to march to Petrograd against the ooishevlkl. The Cossa cks made it very plain that they did not care a pinch of snuff for the bolsheviki and that they would have been pleased to charge the 5olshevik mob, but they made it equally plain that they were through with Ker- ensky; that they would not fight for this man.
 The reason was Korniloff, the brilliant soldier and devoted patriot who though. to strike a powerful blow against the growing anarchy at the capital, but who was deserted by sKerensky at the very hour when a combination of their forces surely would have won. The Cossaclss put the case plainer than this They tod General Dukhonin that Kerensky had be- trayed Korniloff and that they would never follow traitor
 Dukhonin finally succeeded In induc- ing 20Oo Cossacks to agree to march to Petrograd, but their hetman said very
 'AhAiJ AAi"s siioy Wcio ludTCHl1S to- de- fend the revolution, not Kerensky, IT. those few gruH words was the epitaph. politically, of this man who might have been one of the first four or five of the earth's great, but who had collapsed be- cause there was too much idealism and not enough common sense in his makeup The troops arrived at Katchina on the evening of October 26, and Kerensky at once put himself at the head of this small army for the march against Petrograd. Within few hours 1t was apparent tha t the bolsheviki were well informed and well prepared. kerensky's sentimental idea of dropping messages of hope upon the city had been of no use whatever to his own supporters but had been of the greatest advantage to his enemies. They had been warned of the attack which was
 to come. Kerensky might well have sent them copies of his orders. DESTROYED RAILRAOD The boshevild destroyed the railroad from Petrograd to Gatchina in order to prevent the swift movement of Ker- enskys forces. On the highroads be- tween Gatchina and Petrograd and in positions carefully selected they placed light and heavy artillery. An army o1 1 40,00O, some of whom were working men l and women, fanatic followers of tho | bolsheviSi, dug trenches between Petro- 1 grad and Gatchina.
 | The next day, October 27 Kerensky'. l forces and the bolshevik troops clashec | not far from Gatchina. Temporar1,, h ANqE ar AIuIu Nl~