Evening star., 1919-08-03
:Onthe Great Divide Between On1sk and Moscow

Omsk was four days late ceiebratine
the armistice. but the ministry gavs
a banquet In honor Of the allies. In
viting all the diplomatic and military
representatives Of the vtctors. vodka,
being manufactured again in Siberia
by tho state. was served in generous
quantities despite the price Of 1e
rubles and IS kopecks bottle ($8.4s
according to the pre-war value Of the
ruble).
Before the celebration was many
hours old Cossack colonel, the lead.
ing politician and boss" Of Omsk.
compelled the orchestra. at the point
of his pistol. to play God Save the
Car" Col. Kosek. the official dsle-
gate of the Czechoslovak national
council, protested, threatening to
leave IL that "reactioRary" tune wss
heard again.
Within a few minutes the band
played merrily the czar's anthem, ana
all the allied representatives left.
Whether this was staged or not.
whether Kolchak knew OF the plans.
no one with the exception Of the in
.triguers can state definitely, but this
banquet was the feast OF doom for the
all-Russian directory. Two days later
three members were arrested and "es-
corted" out of Siberia by guard OF
Russian and British troops.
y The directory was shanghaied.
actually transferred there, and Pre-
mi nj eli
behalf Of the Siberian government
and the ministry. Of the all-Russian
government. asked Admiral Kolchak
to take over the supreme command"
with dictatorial authority. And he
did. And he became unpopular And
his enemies multiplied Most of the
Russians and foreigners met in the
heart OF Siberia at the time con-
demned him. but they did not know
that Kolchak knew how to handle
men; that instead Of being the puppet
Of the czar's. discredited military
clique he would make them his
puppets on the stage Of Omslk, satis-
fied. but harmless.
vologodsky, however, had done the
very thing he ,professed he would not
do. but then statesmen universally
have the habit Of saying not what
they think but what they wish to ap.
pear In print. Although the premier
was the chief politician Of the ST.
berian government he was devoting
most of his time to the economic
needs Of the country, and when I saw
him q few days before the coup d'etat
he devoted most Of his talk to the re-
adjustment problems Of Russia. The
war had SO disorganized commerce.
and transportation that the whole ma
tion was in rags; even Vologodsky's
collar and cuffs were several times
too large for him and worn thread
bare.
1. So vologodsky. who was a country
lawyer In Tomslx, but who. had be-
come the strongest character in the
Siberian government. handed over the
reigns OF authority in Omsk to Kol-
chalk. And the admiral took them.
with Arm grasp. and still has them
at this writing, seven months after
he assumed ONCE.
That was in the evening of Novem.
Der II. 1918. The following morning.
without the knowledge Of any ono
else. and almost before he began
work in his new Offices in the Tomsk
railway building. the largest and
finest skyscraper of Siberia. he
walked across the yards to the track
where the special train OF the French
ambassador was standing. Eugene
Reynault still had his head bandaged.
following an automobile accident of .
few days before. but received the
supreme commander" in the salon OF
his car and talked to him about Rus.
sia. Omsk, Siberia and the world
period of reconstruction.
II the whole world could only have
been in Paris. And II only part Of
1t could have seen Omsk on the day
of the armistice; could have seen Si-
beria or Russia. But the world was
too intent upon the affairs Of Europe
to bother about the troubles of Omsk
and the efforts Of the patriots there
to bring new life to Russia. The war
was over in Europe, but not in Rus.
sia. Alas! 49,
4 4 4
Kolchak, short. strong. energetic.
serious. cool and determined faced
Reynault. the ranking allied diplomat,
and made a solemn pledge to call for
an election to the constituent sas-
sembly II he succeeded in reaching
Moscow or Petrograd. II. Those were