The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-04-04
Christians in Caucasus Plan
Desperate Defence Against
Extinction
TEUTONS JOIN RED
GUARD OF RUSSIA
Siberian Soviet Promises to Hold Ter
ritory Against German INVASION
British and Americans Attend Meet
ing of Soviet at Irkutsk.


LONDON, April 4-The Turks have
begun their final effort for the extinction
of the Armenian people, according to a
despatch from Petrograd, whose reports
that the Turkish army has begun the
occupation of the districts of Batoum,
| Kars and Ardaham, in the Caucasus, by
virtue of the Brest -Litovsk treaty.
| The Caucasus was the refuge of most
of the Armenian people who escaped the
| wholesale massacre of men, women and
children in the ancient Christian state.
These massacres in many cases were di
rected by German officers. The Arme
mans and the Georgians have raised
considerable force and are prepared to
resist desperately, as they expect no
quarter There has been severe fighting
at several points. The Georgians have
seized most of the Russian warships in
the harbor of Batoum
The Turkish advance presumably fol-
lowed Immediately after ratification of
the Russo-German treaty on March 80,
according to Reuter- despatch from
Moscow. Russia evidently is prepared
to make any further concessions which
Berlin may demand The Bolshevik gov
eminent according to a Russian wireless
message, has disclaimed any intention of
permitting the red guards to damage leu
ton interests in Russia proper or in Fin
J land Berlin had addressed note to
| Moscow in which it was charged that Ger
man and Austrian deserters in Lenine' 5
capital are threatening to take forcble
possession of the Swedish and Danish CON
: sulates.
They are endeavoring," says the note
Ito put these prisoners into the red
guard. The civil and military authori-
: ties at Moscow are said to be powerless
r and in some instances to favor such ac-
, tivities. The German government eX-
poets Immediate energetic measures to be
: taken by the Russian government, and
] especially expects. the dissolution of the
war prisoners committee, composed of
4 these deserters under the leadership of the
4 Austrian Asennz, and the arrest OF all
] if its members"
About the same time the Bolshevib
government addressed the following note
: to Germany:
i Neither the councils of the central
s government nor the local authorities are
n sending red guards to Finland. If the
c German government has in its possession
! information that red guards are arriv-
i ing in Finland from Russia, the Russian
: government will make inquiries and take
. most severe measures against it."
I An Associated Press despatch from
. Moscow says that Capt. William K. Web
Z ster OF the American Red Cross and Capt
n ". l.. Hicks of the British military mis-
. sion attended a meeting of the centra
Siberian Soviet at Irkutsk. They were
n assured that less than 1900 Austrian
a prisoners throughout Siberia had been en-
listed i'll the red guards, and that al
;. these men were Socialists who had re
. nounced their Austrian citizenship. TIL,
% Soviet announced its intention to defen(
: Siberia against German invasion
The United States and Great Britain
were requested to permit free eXporta
ton of manufactured articles, especially
farm machinery, into Siberia The Sovie
officials also asked the assistance of tn,
!, allies in checking Cossack raids across
: the Manchurian border saying that the,
were unwilling to follow the marauder
into Chinese territory but were quite abb
I. to defeat Gen. Semenof and his follower
: if they We're prevented from escaping +
= Chinese soil.
|, A foreign trade and finance commission
u of nine members who include Nikola
Y Lenine and VI. Radek, will frame legisla
o ton for the establishment of a stat
% monopoly in foreign trade. 1T will dea
II with all economic relations with the Unit
h ed States, Germany, the Ukraine an
other countries.