The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-03-06
HOW BOLSHEVIKI
GAINED CONTROL
american Red Cross Failed to Aselst
In Combating PROPAGANDA Of
Germans and An
archists.

| UNITED Press Leased Wire Seryice.l
WASHINGTON, March 6--Failure
OF the United States to reply promptly
e. appeals from American Red Cross
mission in Russia for hep in fighting
the Dolshevtk, gave the bolshevik con-
troll, Raymond Robins told the senate
Holsheviki investigating committee to-
day.
Robins was member Of the Red
Cross mission in Russia. He said that
Colonel VIM. E. Thompson, command er
Of the commission. cabled to the Uni
ted States through the Red Cross ask
sng for 81 ,O00, 900 immediately and ST.
Geo 900 month for three months to
he used in anti German and antilbol-
shevfki propaganda.
1--WE waited long time for reply
said Robins, and when 1t came it
stated that representative of the
committee ON public information would
We sent to Russia to go over the situa-
ton. When this man got there the
bolshevilii had been in control for two
weeks" Robins declared that charges
! that Col. Thompson had tried to help
the bolshevili were untrue.
Robins declared that the allied prop
uganda in Russia was worse than moth
ing. 1t consisted, he said of Posters
telling how great France was: how
overwhelming Americans would be. 1t
riromised twenty thousand airplanes
snd four millions soldiers in a few
months.
\ when Russians saw that" said
Robins. "they said that IL as much as
the allies were SO strong and were go
ing to do so much, they, the Russians,
might as well go along home and see
u III. FS,1l IL L Y Il
through long years of fighting"
| Robins declared Trotsk5 was sim
cere friend of the allies and of revoIu-
tionary Russia He said that in Russia
there were only two things-either the
soyfets or the old autoc7acy must rule.
If 1t proved impossible to get the ne
cassary Russian rifles with which to
obtain control Of the government then
foreign rifles must be depended upon,
and the nearest foreign rifles were
; those of the Germans Robins said that
after careful survey of the situation
it was apparent to the Red Cross mis-
zion that the best means of defeating
the Germans would be through coop
Eration with the soyiets for the time
being.
Robins said that after the boil
sheviki took control he discussed with
Trotsky the question of keeping raw
material from getting into Germany.
"Trotsky assured me that he would
permit all the allied military officers
to be stationed along the frontier to
enforce an embargo against raw ma
terials getting into Germany. / was
a little dubious about the plan and
told Trotsky I thought he had some
thing up his sleeve. He replied that
it was all very simple, that he simply
wanted to keep the central empires
from getting any raw materials SO
that they would have to make a
democratic peace with Russia in ex-
change for raw materials. 1t was for
that reason that Trotsky delayed the
Brest conference so long. His theory
was that every day that import of
raw materials into Germany was de-
layed aided the Russian cause that
much more.
"Trotsky offered to put the Ameri-
can railroad mission in charge Of the
Trans-Siberian railroad so that NUM-
tons and other supplies could be
moved away from the Germans reach.
His purpose in both the embargo and
the railroad control matter was pure
Friendship for the U. S. or the allies,
but it worked to the same end to
which we were working, the defeat
of Germany.
For that reason / thoroughly favor
ed cooperating with the soviet gov
eminent"