New-York tribune., 1918-02-01

Il correspondent OF "Ihe jtmeSN or London
sends that paper the follozring account Of the
position and aims of the Ukraine, u section Of
Russia 7ehich has decided to establish itself as
a. independent nationality, and zchich is noe
the Central Po7cers
The Ukrainian movement in Russia is part
ly a national partly land question; any
discussion of it, therefore, must keep both
aspects in view and weigh their respective
claims. The Great Russians emphasize the
latter aspect, and claim that as the Ukranian
movement is provincial and social, the proper
solution is provincial autonomy. The ukrain-
ians, on the other hand stand for the recog
milton of their separate nationality and in
sist that the "self determination Of peoples
must be as fully applied to them to any
other nationality in Europe. They demand
that they shall be masters in their own home,
though they agree that that home must be in
federal Russian republic. The explanation
Of events in the Ukraine since the revolu-
tlon is to be found in the struggle between
these two opposing points of view.
The Ukrainan question is not of mere local
interest; it raises international problems in
which both Austria Hungary and Russia ,.re
directly concerned, for the Ukraine includes
not only the southeastern provinces of Rus
sia but large portion OF territory in East
Galicia, in Northeastern Hungary and in
Bukovina.
1t is in the latter territories that the ma
tional character. of the movement is mos,
pronounced. This is in the main due to the
nf Am ct,in i,nfo tl,o
war, which favored the Ukrainans of East
Galicia in proportion the old Russian gov
ernment prosecuted them. The result was
that Lemberg became the intellectual centre
of the Ukrainians, where refugees from Kicf
found a ready welcome.
Where Differences Are Greatest
But once across the Russian frontier the
question becomes more difficult. Differences
OF language, temperament and conditions OF
life between the Great Russians and the Tx
rainians do undoubtedly exist. In the west
ern parts, such Kieif, Podoia and Nolhy-
MIA, these differences are more marked, but
as one travels east they shade off in such a
way that 1t becomes almost impossible to
draw q boundary between Russia and the
Ukraine The Ukrainians claim territory to
the north as far as the governments of Kursk
and VOroneZh, and to the east as far as the
DOnetZ BASIN, whereas the Russians seek TO
contine Ukrainan autonomy within unduly
narrow limits. The final settlement of the
boundaries between the two will depend not
so much the nationality of the inhabitants
as the development of events in Northern
and Central Russia
Ukrainian propaganda abroad has dealt en-
tirely with the national aspect Of the uucs-
ton. and has proclaimed to Western Europe
that in Southern Russia there is a nation of
30,000,000 souls acutcly conscious of its dis
tinct nationality, striving to free itself from
the grip Of Russian centralism This may or
may not be true, but for the present the
issues in Southern Russia far too compli-
Gated to be judged single basis. 1t Ger
Itainly is true to say that there is a strong
anti-centralist feeling in the whole OF the
territory claimed by the Ukraine, but whether
this feeling is based on nationalsm pro-
vinciaism is an open question. There are no
natural frontiers on the east between Russia
and the Ukraine, and there is lttle there