New-York tribune., 1919-05-13
The Furthest Outpo.t
By Elias Tobenkin
Special Correspondent of The T,ib,,,.

minlseration which came here to In
'es''sate the food situation in r,y..
ANA concluded its work with -.
70 the Lithuanian- Bolsheyist fror+
TWO miles east Of Kovno. The commi..,o,
consists of Major Ross and Captain r.,
ils'er' U. s. A., and a Red Cross reprssccn..
'iSe' and was sent out from Warsav T.
ooionei Grove, the head of the Poland D,
ilef Mission. The Tribune corrssn..,
accompanied the mission.
After half an hours ride the n.rtr e.,
''seif In village containing $50 hor,..
ana was received by the Lithuanian
mandlng officer, who was former,v
'"'. ~ 'ne RUSSIAN army. The commander
eSplalned good-naturedly that the land ~.
american commission was standing On va.
tne 1urthest outpost of civilizations .,s
that across few kilometres was M M.n,.
Land, where the Bolsheyists ara n ....-.,
he also explained that the section Of front
under his control was the most imnort,r.
as the bolsheviks are anxious to srt.r
hovno, where direct railroad line rrrs
into East Prussia, and the Russ,ar D.,
shev1sts are anxious to connect IL With 49,.
konigsberg Spartacists The Bolsh.vi.+.
likewise expect help from the Sparts.,..s
Who are believed to be thick in the German
army occupying Kovno and Lithuania.
The Bolshevist front is primitive and
violates every tradition Of the wsr front
They have no barbed wire entanrlements
and no trenches. Two-thirds of the soldier.
have uniforms, and only few have had
more than two months military TRAINING
Inc only thing that marks these peasant
boys in homespun as soldiers is their mill.
tary hats with yellow band, which evsrv
one OF them. wears to justify his carrv-
ing gun. The commander then exnIs;nod
that warfare with the Bolshevists was large
ly OF guerilla nature and in that sne.
clal section was largely defensive ON the
part of the Lithuanians He said that the
Lithuanian army was only two months old
that its numbers all told are not over ten
Thousand men, and it is handicapped by the
lack OF ammunition and clothing. Never
tneless, he feit confident of victory over the
Bolsheviki because Of the zeal with which
the peasant boys were fighting, and thcy
had the whole-hearted support of the Litb-
uanlan nation, which it gives it's army.
The commander then said:
Fighting Hungry Wolves
"Lithuania is fighting the Bolshevist
army in the same manner in which it
would fight flock of hungry wolves or a
forest fire. The peasant boys fight for
their existence and the survival of their
homes and possessions, which they have
saved up in the course of generations, and
even centuries. Not even 10 per cent of
the Bolshevist troops who are fighting US
have any conception Of the idealism which
men Of the type Of Lenine see in Bolshevism.
To the Soviet army hereabouts Bolshevism
as practical proposition means plunder
and robbery. When the Soviet troops oc-
cupy Lithuanian village they strip the
population by taking the bread, produce,
cattle, clothing, wagons and implements
and sending them back to the devastated
interior of Russia. We have hundreds Of
instances where the Bolshevist troops, on
occupying Lithuanian territory, left but a
single shirt to each person and requisi-
toned the rest Our war here against
Bolshevism is simply struggle for sur
vival-hence the desperate bravery with
which our boys fight despite the cold and
handicaps.
"The peasant population Of Lithusnia has
made this fight against Soviet Russia a
family affair. Daily from ten to fifteen
peasants drive up in their carts to visit
their soldier boys and to bring them food,
shirts freshly knitted woollen gloves
and socks"
He then stated that, bad as was the
condition Of the Lithuanian troops, the
Bolshevist troops were in even a worse
plight, and that recently several companies
of starved Bolshevist soldiers surrendered,
and when questioned most Of them wept
bitterly and said that they entered the Boil
shevist army because it was a last refuge
from starvation and death. AS soldiers
they could at least make provision for
themselves by robbing and pillaging,
The Propagandists
He then added that invariably the Bol.
shevlsts send with every regiment a soldier
of an agitation committee which spreads
proclamations among the population-pAfnt-
ing glorious pictures Of what the Soviet
government would do for the peasantry. To
counteract this the Lithuanians spread
proclamations couched in phraseology
similar to that employed by the
Bolshevists, but the sense of which
is anti-Bolshevist. Until recently the
Soviet government would send secret
agents with such Bolshevist propaganda
into Lithuania, but now the Lithuanians
counter attack by sending their agents
with anti-Bolshevist literature into thefSo-
Wet lines. This is the most dangerous
part of the war, for, while both Russians