Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-03-25
PEACE CONFERENCE EFFORT
TO LAY DOWN NEUTRAL ZONE
TOUCH OF SPARK TO POWDER
BoIshevists Of Russia Said to
Play important Part in
Revolt in City Of
Budapest.

Washington, March 24k-Advices
to the State department today from
three widely separated European
sources tended to increase the anx-
iety of officials over the situation
in Hungary. Bolshevik elements ap-
parently had assumed complete con-
troll of the government of Budapest,
with a threat of renewal of hostili-
ties.
There was no indication as to the
extent of the control of the new.
regime beyond the capital and in the
absence of this and other details
officials were reluctant to discuss
the situation at length. 1t appeared
from today's advices, however. that
the crisis resulted from the line of
demarcation established by the peace
conference in circumscribing the
territory of Hungary and the general
economic situation in Budapest
The recognition of the extreme
claims of the Roumanians and
Czecho- -Slovaks and the establish
ment of neutral zones between these
lines and the limits allowed to Hun
gary, which zone was to be held by
the French until the final peace
treaty was completed, was said to
have been more than the old Hun
garian government was able to ac-
cept and remain in power.
Americans in Trouble Zone.
The safety of foreigners was
feature of the news that appealed to
state officials. A number of Amefi-
cans are in what was formerly Aus
trla- Hungary on various missions
for the peace conference and the
nter-allied food commission, but
most of them are in Vienna.
Senator Hitchcock, chairman of
the senate foreign relations COM
mttee, in statement referred to the
situation in Hungary and said be
believed it would do much to wipe
out differences between the nations
represented at the peace conference
and would aid in bringing about final
plan.
State department officials who ara
familiar with conditions heretofore
existing in Hungary were surprised
by the rapidity with which boi-
shevism swept into control in Buda-
pest and we're inclined to doubt that
it had succeeded in reaching out Of
the cities to include the, peasant
agricultural class. The :. peasants
were said to have been we'll salts
fed with their treatment under the
land-owning class and consequently!
would not be fertile field for the
propagation of bolshevism theories.
Revolution Accepted Fact.
One official suggested that the in
clusion of peasants in the new gov
ernment called the revolutionary
government of workers, peasants
and soldiers councils" instead of, as
in Russia, the government of the
workers and soldiers councils.
might be an attempt to persuade the
peasants to join the movement. ~
Iodays adyances came from Bel
grade, Berne and Copenhagen and
related to different features of the
movement; each however referred to
the revolution as all accepted fact
The Serbian advices declared that
the new Magyar government had an
nounced that hostilities would be-
gin last Friday night, but they did
not state against whom the hostili-
ties were ordered, or whether they
had actually begun. The Berne dis
patches threw some light on the per-
sonnel of the new government.
The appointment.of Bella Kun as
minister of foreign affairs was par
ticularly disturbing to officials as he
was for some time an aide -de-camp
of Leon Trotzky in Russia. The new
minister of war was described as
having been an orderly in the sec
ond army, who was once punished
for indiscretion in military affairs.