The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1918-11-08
Russia and the Eastern Front"

Full confidence that Russia will recoy-
er is expressed by DR.. Z. ]. Dillon, who
has lately arrived in this country on a
Journey to Siberia, which may be cut
short by his desire to return to Europe
in time for the peace conference. His
opinion has value both because he knows
Russia better than almost any other
Britun, and because until President VIII
son gave the war new turn he was
profoundly pessimistie as to its outcome,
His knowledge of eastern Europe is ex-
eeptional, for after taking degrees in orr
entail languages and comparative philos.
ophy at the Universities of Petrograd
and Kharkoh. he served as professor in
the latter for number of years and
was for a time a journalist at Odessa.
He was we'll acquainted before the war
not only with the leading men of the old
regime, but with the leaders of the dis
ruptive forces in the empire, and had
private sources of information which
would have saved the entente govern
ments from disastrous plumbers, such as
the assumption that any anti-bolshevist
movement was necessarily also anti-Ger-
man. When the United States entered
the war he was extremely blue over the
situation because he knew in advance
what was going to happen in Russia.
In particular he was emphatic in de-
claring that Russia was out OF the war
and that it was futile TO try TO reconsti-
tute the eastern front. Upon this point
he has been so thoroughly indicated by
events that it is worth while to note his
present warning against trying to hasten
the restoration of order in Russia by
military operations: "The Russian is ex-
ceedingly sensitive to anything that
might seem humiliating. No friendly
power could use force with the Russian
people. | think the lines on which Pres
ident Wilson has planned to aid Russia
are right Dr. Dillon is not man who
can be accused of sympathy with bolshe-
vism; he wishes TO see the present gov
eminent ousted, and he believes that the
Russian people will take care Of that.
But the invasion of Russia by foreign
armies he believes to do more harm than
good. This is all the more the case be-
cause with the exception of the United
| States the great powers are viewed with
| distrust: about the United States the
Russian has no misgiving whatever. In
the case of every other power he is dis
tinctly suspicious He thinks Of the 9TH
err great nations as being imperialistic,
The fact that this may be far from the
truth does not keep him from thinking
so. But everyone knows that the whole
purpose of the United States is distinctly
| ethical"
| This advice comes from one intimately
acquainted with all sides of the Russian
situation, and it is in line, moreover,
with the teaching of history. Foreign
forces may help a nation to throw off a
tyrant's yoke; they almost invariably
| fail to put down permanently popular
movement, and as rule they drive a
revolution to savage excuses, On the
strength of unverifed rumoTs that Nov.
10 has been designated by the bolsheviki
| for an eve of st. Bartholomew or Sicil-
ian vespers throughout Russia, 1t has
been urged that new armies be FASTENED
to the rescue by way of the Dardanelles
and the Black sea. But if there were
such murderous project, of which there
| is no proof, obviously armed forces could
not in any way whatever be got to the
scene in tiRe to suppress mob violence,
nor are mons very amenable to threats
of retributioh
DR.. billions remarks raise the ques-