The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1921-03-19

QallCn al FfOfl.
Col. Vladimir L.. Lebedeff, former
secretary of the navy in the RUSSIAN
Provisional government and member
Of the All-Russian constituent assem-
bly,, declares that the Red army Is In
a process of dis%integration and that
this is admitted by Trotzky, Bolshevik
minister of war, and other high Boil
shevik military officials.
Colonel Lebedetf, who is now in
Paris, terms the dissolution of the Red
army IAN inevitable process" and In
IA lengthy analysis shows that despite
their military successes the BOlshevik1
are helpless to stop it. He supports
his argument with quotations from the
highst Bolshevik sources.
Colonel Lebedeff, who is a member
of the party of Socialist-RevOlutionists,
visited this country some time ago. In
the summer of 1918 he was at the
head of the Russian troops who fought
for months on the Volga front, to-
gether with the Czecho- Slovaks, hold
ing the line against the Bolsheviki.
In June, 1918, eight months after
the downfall of the provisional gov
eminent, Colonel Lebedeff entered a
new ministry organized on the Volga
by the committee of the constituent
assembly. 1t was as a member OF this
ministry that he organized detach-
ments known as the Russian peoples
army, which dealt the Bolsheviki many
severe vlows and drove them from a
large part of the Volga territory.
Purely Class Army Plan Abandoned.
In his cabled statement Colonel
Lebedeff says:
1.-THE Bolsheviki government having
launched from the very beginning a
grandiose civil war, and seeking to
carry this war beyond the bounds Of
Russia and supplement the conflict
with a series of foreign conflicts, was
compelled to abandon its original idea
of a purely class army. The Bolshe-
Wiki soon realized that they required
armies of millions. The military move-
ments in the Caucasus, Asia Minor,
Chiya, Buchara and on the borders of
India, the concentration of troops
along the Polish. Roumanian, Es-
thonian, Latvian and Georgian Dor
ders, the great c~ontingents of troops
required for the pacification of the
Don. Kuban, northern Caucasus, the
Ukraine. Serbia. Turkestan, the Upper
Volga. the Urals. ETC., compelled the
BOlsheviki to adopt compulsory mill
tary service, the principle of which
they had hitherto opposed.
THE forcible mobilization of the
population for the realization of their
plans for foreign and domestic wars in
the name of the unconcealed dictator
ship of a single party contradicts in its
very fundamentals the idea of univer-
sal military service.
Universal military service, on the
other hand, is in direct contradiction
to the idea of the Bolshevik dictator
ship.
THE Bolsheviki realized this very
well from the very beginning of their
domination.
From this point flow the hopeless
attempts of the Bolsheviki to create,
in the face of this contradiction an
army along purely class, Communist
party lines.
Army Like Radishes.
1.-THE wars provoked by the Bolshe-
Wiki proved to be stronger than their
theories. The result has been continu-
Gus mobilization of armies-huge, non
class armies and, In the words of Trotz-
I, Iilya odichac-rad outside hut
white inside
1.-The Bolsheviki have recently been
compelled to introduce the system of
full responsibility of one soldier for
another. In a special order to all
provincial and regional army commit
tees and to all political divisions of
the army the central committee of the
Communist party sets before them the
following tasks:
"In granting leave of absence to Red
army men you must do so only after
subiecting them to the effects of thor
ough political propaganda by supplying
them with the greatest possible num-
Der of leaflets, pamphlets, newspapers
and gifts. You must follow the same
DOlitN Willie TIE ultn are eli IoulG, sup
plying the eSclelons with the latest
newspapers and literature and deyot-
ing the greatest attention you can to
the needs of the Red Army men-hold-
ing meetings. conferences and tri-
umphal receptions, with the participa-
ton of workmen's organizations. Dc
hot cease this work in the regions of
destination without carrying it clear
to the county seats and modifying for
this purpose the very best forces of
the army. Groups of three should be
immediately organized for the conduct
of this work, 10 be composed of one
representative from each of the fol-
lowing; fhe provincial central com-
mifteesof the party, the provincial pc
iitical bureau and the central proyin-
cill military headquarters.
To Push Propaganda.
similar groups should be formed