The New York herald., 1922-06-21

uOQlueQ IOIm dlmOSt certainty Will
His brain is not badly affected,
breakdown Of memory. Five minutes
all about it. Strenuous efforts were
fact Of his grave condition, but after
the first few days without success.
The news has caused CONSERVATION
everywhere, save among the extrem-
lists, who see chance for seizing
power.
The middle classes especially are af-
fected, as it is no secret that latterly
Lenihe had become convinced that in
the development of trade and industry
lay the only possibility Of the saliva
ton of Russia. The whole trend Of
his recent policy has been directed
toward strengthening these. productive
and moderate elements in the nation.
And, despite the covert opposition of
Leon Trotzky the Polish agreement
was beginning to bear fruit.
Middle Glasses Most Affected.
Now Russia is likely to be thrown
back into the melting pot. And, as a
prominent Moscow engineer remarked
yesterday, It's the middle classes that
will be used as fuel for the fire that
will make the pot boil"
This may be too pessimistic view;
the struggle for mastery has hardly
begun as yet, and it is certainly un-
decided. Lenine's lieutenants, A. I.
Rykoff, Leo Kameneff and ]. v. Sta
lin, have been spoken of as likely to
form a sort of committee Of public
safety That they will make an at
tempt in that form is extremely doubt
full. for If they did they would have no
chance for success. None Of them
has the requisite personal prestige;
none of them has a personality which
could for a moment be pitted against
that of Trotzky, Zinovieff or Radek.
II the moderate elements are to sue
ceed in their efforts for seif-preserva-
ton it will not be by means of a COM
mtitee of three of this mediocre COM
position, but by the union of all the
serious and able men whom Lenine
succeeded in rallying to at least nom
inal allegiance to the Soviet cause.
Leonid Krassine and George Tchit-
cherin. men who in recent months
have been in direct contact with the
realities of the outside world, would
have to enter the combination. The
difficulty is that these men, while all
in the main moderates. have a wide
divergence in views and aims between
themselves, and 1t will not be easy
to devise a working formula accept
able to them all There is no give and
take in Russian politics and never has
been; give and take is utterly alien
to the Russian temperament.
= Trotxky Against Modcrntes.
!. AS against this loose combination
of moderate forces, suddenly deprived
of the leadership of latter day
Lenine, stand the extremists. headed
by the strong personality of Trotzky.
the War Commissar. who at least
knows what he wants and has the
executive ability required to secure it.
The contest is an unequal one. But
Russia Is a country of such unlimited
and unsuspected possibilities that no
one at this time of day would be wise
to constitute himself a prophet.
II must not be forgotten that the
Bolsheviki raised Frankenstein
monster of their own--the Red army
tae t,..t q de- "a
Red army that will decide the issue.
One encouraging feature OF the situa-
ton is that Trstzl<y has not yet dared
to use that formidable weapon. for the
creation of which he is so largely re-
spon sibe, and this encourages the sus-
picion that his grip on the army Is
not as strong as believed. On the
other hand this. IL correct. Is pregnant
with dangers of its own. Trotzky may
decide, IL he cannot reckon confidently
on the support Of the army at home,
that the wisest course. would be to
eliminate the army for a time from
home politics by giving It employ
ment abroad.
That would mean war with Poland
and possibly Rumania- II is not at all
unlikely that this will be the line
adopted, and that the question of new
foreign adventures will provide ma
terial for the first trial Of strength
between the rival forces struggling
for mastery in Russia.
There is. however. another aspect
which should not be left out Of the
count. Trotzky is a Jew. Faithful to
his racial traditions, the Russian Jew
has not been slow TO take advantage
Of revived facilities OF trade, and al
though outwardly Trotzky has ceased
to be in communion with his Jewish
brethren there are signs that he is
not utterly Indifferent to their inter-
ests. There is just the possibility that
the Jewish influence in the extremist
wing may be strong enough to upset
the plans of the war party. At the
t@t .t.ft, q