The Elk Mountain pilot., 1923-06-07
Patient Men MutInied


half years the patient men in the
field at last mutinied. That is why
their parents and brothers in the field
supported them. The Little Father
/ had failed them, and his minions had
betrayed them.
1t is not pleasant to recall these
dreadful episodes which reveal be-
trayal of a devotion faithful unto
death. But this story is essential to
right appreciation of events. There
is no savagery like that of trustful
people which finds its trust was being
imposed upon the whole time. Here
the retribution has been hideous in
all its aspects. But the provocation
was also revolving from every point
of view. To Judge Russia fairly that
must be taken into account.
think the British government is
therefore taking the right view of its
responsibilities when, through the
foreign secretary, it opens negotia-
tions with representative of the So
".
You can easily evoke resounding
cheers amongst the thoughtless by
declaring mechanically that you
will never shake hands with muir
der" In practice this policy has al
ways been a failure.
Turkey in Same Boat
If you decline to treat with Russia
as long as its present rulers remain
in power, then you ought to place
Turkey in the same catagory. The
military Junta that governed Turkey
has been guilty of atrocities at least
as vile as any committed by the Boil
sheveists. But at Lausanne we osten-
tatiously stretched the friendly hand
of Britain to the authors Of the Ar
menian massacrek And France and
1taly-yes, and America-also tend
cred the same warm handshake.
In these cases the innocent suffer
most. A refusal to trade with Russia
would not deprive the Soviet COM
missaries Of a single necessity or
comfort Of lifeC The Communists are
quite strong enough to take care OF
themselves. But the peasants-who
are not Communists-would continue
to suffer-. and their suffering would
increase as their reserves of clothing
and other essentials became exhaust
ed. And the people of this country
who need the produce of Russia for
their own use would also suffer to a
certain extent.
America can afford this exalted
aloofness. She does not need Russian
grain and timber She is exporter of
those commodities. But we cannot
do as we'll without them, and we also
sadly need Russian flax for our linen
industries, which are languishing for
want of it. Last year there were
quite considerable imports of Rus
sian produce into this country. This
year, owing to the prospects of an i'm
proved harvest, these imports will be
much larger. They are greatly need
ed here for our own consumption,
and they pay for exports of machir-
cry and textiles which the Russian
on his part badly requires.
World Needs Peace
But beyond and above all these ma
terial considerations the world needs
peace. In the old days conveyancing
attorneys in this country kept a
property transaction going on by in
terminable requisitions on the title
of the other party. They exercised
all their ingenuity and invoked the
added ingenuity of trained counsel to
probe for defects in the right of the
vendor to deal Those were leisurely
days and men could afford to dawdle.
Even then these exercises ended in
ruinous litigation. Today, time
presses and the atmosphere is dan
gerous for the plying of irritating
interrogatories.
1t is time we made up our minds
that the Soviets have come to stay,
whether we like it or no, and that
one or other of the formidable men
who rule Russia are likely to rule it
for some time to come. The sooner
we have the courage to recognize this
fact, the sooner will real peace be
established.