Great Falls tribune., 1922-04-16

lHt NSllCd conference Is u Hdi3 va
measure of this sort Tchitcherin is
George Seated alongside of the dele
gates of the great nations who fought
in the war are the representatives of
a government created in lawlessness.
violence and crime. The soviets be-
trayed the allies at Brest- -Litovsk: as
sassinated members of the constitu-
tional assembly, exterminated social
lists and strikers instituted terror in
free republics like Georgia, and to use
the words of Emma Goldman,
''strangled revolution Now at Genoa
the delegates at the conference seem
to have forgotten all that.
Calls Joke "Sinister''
When Tchitcherin spoke Of disarma-
ment, although his government only
exists through the savage pressure Of
a million and half bayonets, it was
only a bad, even sinister joke on his
part. Barthou's protest, although
strictly in accordance with the agree
ments of Cannes and Boulogne, was
received with murmurs among the
audience. 1t was small matter,
know, but it was intolerable for every
Frenchman conscious of the moral
value of his country and it's sufferings
in war and in peace.
The same might be said of any in
cidents that tomorrow will cause q
quarrel between the allies and the rep
resentatives Of the sovets. This al
ready has happened in the cases of Ru-
mania and Japan.
The humillating condescension CON
spicuous in the Moscow people prob
ably will prove doubly sterile. First
because the soviets have frequently de-
ciared they regard no engagement
binding with bourgeoise government,
and second because Russian iDforma-
ton represents the soyiets at the end
OF their tether playing the Genoa game
as one of despair
Situation indescribab!e
The Russian situation is ipdesscrib
able despite the passive character Of
the Slav. 1t cannot last much
longer. When Lenine. Trotzkv and
their associates We're faced with CON
crete resistance such as kolchak and
Denekin were able to muster, they
easily triumphed
Today they are about to be faced
with the unanimous, full and concen-
trated resistance of the millions
styling themselves mo party This
crowd of discontented people consists
OF peasants and workmen of the middle
classes. officers and soldiers. priests
and lntellcctuals, famine victims and
the populace of religious communities
exasperated over the looting of their
churches. The strength Of the boil
shevlsts also has been undermined by
the unprecedented corruption Of their
government
Bribery existed under the czar. but
certain regulations existed, as is
shown by the famous words in
Gogols play. "you steal more than
your rank allows" Today everybody
in Russia is stealing more than their
rank allows. Ienine, moreover. has
set to his credit in foreign banks a
very considerable sum-
Seek Profitable Deal
Under these circumstances the only
hope Of the soviet representatives at
Genoa is that because of the promis-
cuous nature of the conference, they
may be able to make profitable bust
ness terms with one or another of the
nations. They hope to return to Rus
sia with a re-glded shield and exploit
the benefits of recognition which
exists already in fact. if not in law.
Is this in the interests Of western
powers? Methinks only to ask the
question is to answer it.
Lloyd George. who since 1919 bas
desired to invite the soviets to Paris
to confer together. has succeeded
after three years in making his views
prevail. 1t remains to be seen
whether he. will not he the first to
repent. The French people sincerely
think the Americans are lucky not to
have barked UP this alley. Time
will prove who is right.