The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1920-08-09
EUROPE's PERIL.

i about time that the people Of the United States
OF America awaken to the fact that serious trouble
brewing Europe and pay attention to the progress Of
the Red army of Bosheyist Russia We have learned
to cost that grave disaster in Europe is somehow
surely reflected in this country The situation in Poland
has been kened to that of March, 1915 when the Ger
mans began their great series of drives that mperled
the world This comparison is no doubt overdrawn yet
the conditions not unlike The progress Of the Red
army is dangerous to Western Europe because it is
compact wel-direced force because It has an ideal
insane though 1t be- and because Western Europe is SO
poorly prepared to stem its tide And the danger is not
danger is in the spread Of the principles of Bolshevs
made infinitely active by the influence Of the VIC
tories Of its legions The Of Europe"
Charles H. Grasty, of the most accurate and con
sentative Of European correspondents in dispatch
the New York Times, have no comprehensive program.
Lenin and Trotzky have. 1t was program of world
wide destruction 1t evil and it definite. They
organized the greatest army in the world, well armed
well led and well fed They cultivated friendly relations
have doubtless watched Germany ceaselessly for
Encng favorable 70 surrounding strongest naJura
barrier to their progress westward"
The Poles played into their hands by their rash nva
sion of Russia giving them not only the and the
opportunity for Of conquest, but consolidating
Russian feeling and interest, to large extent in sup
port of it, If it is indeed true that Len.n and Trotzky
are bent upon forcing Bolshevism upon the world by
force Of aided by the working Of their persuasive
+bas 49,
of their armies constitutes peril not only to West
Europe but oall civilization It has been said again
and again that the Russians lacked the materl means
of maintaining effective armies but the fact remains that
they have maintained them and that they have been
constantly growing in power. The allies absorbed in
the difficulties of the peace elsewhere and in the sou
ton of their pressing individual problems, have watched
the Russian situation apprehensvey but in the strong
hope that would settle itself Apparently it has set
tied ITSELF but it starting out to unsette Europe
and he allies do not know what to do about it. Great
Britain alone seems to be moving into action, and the
reported dispatch of the North Sea fleet the
blockade against Russia indicates that she at least not
inclined further procrastnaton France says she
do nothing than help the Poles with munitions and
officers. The blockade is powerful instrument of
PRESTON but to what extent it will cheek the Russians
remains to be If it does not check them, if the
refuse to make peace and sweep on ove
Poland what is Europe to do about it? The Germans are
practically defenseless and great numbers Of them dis
posed no doubt to receive the Russians with open arms
as emancpators. The allied nations sick of war,
reluctant to take up again. and they
already burdened to the ground with their load of
debt Much depends, Of course, upon the actual pur
poses of the Russians They may not be extensive as
they pretend There also serious military difficult
ties in the way of their continued progress beyond thc
border, difficulties that will increase with every
mile of advance Neither Poland nor Germany has much
in the way Of food supplies to sustain them Yet Poland
is at the moment the only obstacle in the way of their
progress, and if Poland is crushed, likely
there is at present no military force to oppose the
ward march of the Bolshevists.
We in America cannot ay that this does not concern
u.s. 1t does profoundly and it would be folly to shut
our eyes and refuse to ook-St. Louis Globe Democrat