The Washington herald., 1920-01-05
Secretary Lansing Exposes
EUil Purposes Of SoUiet

treme. Complets Suppression e IN
but Bolshevfst papers since July 4
and imperfect Communication abroad
have no doubt left the outside verid
with hardly more than q surEestion
Of the true condition In Central
Russia
Since May. the so-caIled extrssrdi-
nary commission TO combat counter
revolution has conducted an openly
avoved campaign Of terror. Thou
sands OF persons have been sum
marty shot without even the form Of
a trial Many of them have no doubt
been innocent OF even the political
views which were supposed to supply
the motive Of their execution
Result Of High Tyranny.
The assassination Of Uritsky and
the attempt on Lenine are the re-
suits Of this high tyranny. Social
/ lists snce eo-workers with the Boil
sheviks have turned against them
the methods by which they formerly
STACKED the tyranny of the Czars.
Mass terror Is the Bolsheviks'
reply. The ofhcial press publishes
the following from Petrograd to-
day: In connection with the muir
der of Uritsky, 500 persons have
been shot by order OF the Petro-
grad Extraordinary Commission 20
! Combat Counter Revolution The
names of the persons shot and those
of candidates for future shooting.
in case of a new attempt on the
lives OF the Soviet leaders. win be
published later
are being made under general or
ders to arrest the better-to-do and
0f7 Ar~ma
istered prisons are filled beyond
capacity and every night scores are
irresponsibly shot Sentence IL
passed on the slightest grounds or
the general charge might be dan
gerous to the Bolshevist power
The situation cries aloud TO all who
will act for the sake Of humanity
Protest Goes Unheeded-
In the hope Of remedying the sit
uation the American ofhcisl fur
nished q copy of his dispatch 10
the State Department to Chicherin-
the Bolshevist commisssry for for
eign affairs. and to Bonch-Bruevich.
the executive secretary of the
Council of Peoples Comnisssries."
His diplomatic protest, however.
was not needed, it is alleged
The peasants particularly are re-
ported to feel the Dictatorship of
the proletariat. las applied by rep
resentstives OF the Soviet author
ity." Latkin. a Red army soldier
was interviewed by the Izvestis-
May z, 1919. He had just returned
from considerable travel in the
province OF Moscow. and gave this
description OF the gloomy" peasant
mind:
The peasants are dissatisfied
with war, are against the Red army.
and therefore give protection to
deseNers and persuade the soldiers
not to obey orders. The middle
peasant is beginning to cooperate
with the village capitalists in their
resistance to the Soviet authorities
socIaI-Eeonomic Failure.
Secretary Lansing informs Congress
that Bolshevism in Russia has proven
to be not only q social but an eco
nomic failure. The "Bolshevist pro-
grams for social reconstruction and
education are comprehensive and in
some respects good" it is scknowl-
edged.
1t is admitted that something ap-
parently has been accomplished in the
two centers. Petrograd and Moscow.
although indications are that PROBE
tartan Culture" has not reached very
far. The economical results Of Boil
shevist control. however. are seen as
a more clearly defined disaster.
The Bolshevist budget for the first
half year of 1919 shows a deficit OF
some 3O.oO0Wo.oo0 rubles. Specine
items include s,l56.7gS rubles to the
"All-Russian Central Executive Com
mittee" and 12.lEs. 80. sS7 rubles to the
red army. According to the Sew
eTnaya Kommuna- March :, 1913. Ry-
kov. the president of the Supreme So
Wet Of National Economy frankly ad-
mitted THE complete disorganization
Of The administrative machinery" TO
the Moscow Soviet on March 4. 1913.
Instances of the collapse OF the textile
industry through the early summer Of
1873. as well as the breakdown OF
sugar manufacture and beet root pro-
duction are set down.
Trsn.pertatien ut standstfn.
The stoppage Of all means of trans
portation is characterized as the most
serious aspect Of the Russian case
Not only the railroads are reported
to have literally gone TO pieces"
but river navigation. immensely i'm
portant in Russia. is declared to be
also at a standstill. Such chaos has
made for catastrophe situation
with respect to the food supply"
As result, popular suffering is
cruelty intense. and distress has az
i-cted not only the cities. but even
tile agricultural districts. To make
matters worse. the Bolsheviks have
introduced a class discrimination in
the distribution of food. This custom
operates, on the one hand. TO lessen
opposition through starvation. and on
the other. to bring into the ranks OF
their active supporters many uncon-
WINGED. but despairing recruits"
As far back as September ]. 1913.
the high cost OF living in Russia was
sky-scraping. At that time, Ameri-
can officials stationed on the Soviet
border gave these prices, as ones
prevailing at Petrograd:
Butter, $50 rubles a pound: salt, 81
rubles a pound; black bread, 1S9
rubles pound; dog meat, 30 rubles
a pound. and wood, 1000 rubles a
sazhen. approximately a half cord.
The Russian Bolshevist leaders as
sert this economic dissolution Is es--
sentially due to the allied blockade.
1t is an artificial condition brought
about by Russis's economic isolation.
Lenine and Trotsky argue. Secretary
Lansing denies this contention. de-
claring the Bolsheviks cannot really
sustain their allegation. With nnal-
fly. he asserts that ''Bolshevism -
not worked and Bolshevism has TO IT.
credit no constructive accomplish
ment."