The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-04-01
|ANTI-SOVIETP
LAID TO POWERS
| BY CAPT. MARTIN
Ex-COmmander OF Ship
Board Vessel COrrObO-
rates Scaife
HOOVER IN PACT,
HE MAINTAINS
Displays Medal Of Honor
Bestowed By Kolchak
Leader

(Cepyriaht t9z4, TOR inc NSe'
WASHINGTON, March Bling
land, France and the United States en-
tered into secret compact in Paris, in
July, 1919, to finance the Kolchak-Den-
ekin- Yudenitch counter revolution
against the soviet government, Capt.
James V. Martin, formerly commander
of the United States shipping board
vessel Lake Fray, stated in an inter-
view Monday.
Under the agreement, Martin said,
England was to furnish airplanes, tanks
and ammunition; the United States
trucks, gasoline, oil, food and clothing,
and France miscellaneous military
supplies. 1t is charged that United
States surplus army supplies were
turned over to the Kolchak forces
under this compact, directed against
the soviet government.
Charges that a ship commanded by
Martin had carried supplies to the
counter-revolutionary forces were made
Sunday by Capt. II. l.. Scaife, former
department of justice agent In seek
ing to verify these statements, Martin
was questioned, and he related q story
which differed in some essentials from
Scaife's, but which remained the same
in its general outline. 1t is probable
that this will be investigated by the
Borah Russian committee.
Hoover Cited AS Agent
Herbert c. Hoover, chief of the Amer
lean relief administration, and now
Secretary of Commerce, represented
the United States at these conferences
Martin charged, and in August. 1919
acting as the head of the A. r, A.. or
dered shipload of trucks, gasoline and
food sent to the northwestern counter
revolutionary army at Reval. Russia .
commanded by General Yudenitch.
In support Of his charge, that Hoover
ordered him to Reval, Martin presented
receipt for cargo from the A. r. A.,
consigning a shipmen taken on at Bor-
deaux, France, to the Representatives
of the central supply committee of the
Russian armies"
This cargo was delivered under fire
to Yudenitch, Martin declared, and was
used in the abortive offensive against
Petrograd in the latter part of Sep
TENDER, 1919.
Called CamOufIage
Although the bill of lading was ad-
dressed to the central supply commit
tee of the Russian armies, Martin as
serted this was "a bit of camouflaRe
on the part of the A, r, A." and that
in reality tiag shipment was meant for
l,Yudenitch. ~ 8
To support this contention, Martin
produced decoration of the Order of
st. Stanislaus, third degree, and the
document comforting it on him signed
by General Yudenitch, and dated at
Reval, September 4, 1919. The exact
service he rendered to win this medal
Is not stated, but Martin declared It
was for delivering the sorely needed
supplies under the fire of soviet forces.
English Fleet Involved
A startling charge that the English
fleet was lying in the harbor of Riga,
and that 10000 Finnish troops were
modified on the border under orders
to cooperate with the white" revolt
as soon as Petrograd fell, was then
made by Martin. He declared that the
failure of Yudenitch to capture PetrO-
grad saved the soviet government from
complete destruction, because when the
white" troops withdrew, the British
fleet and the Finnish troops also were
withdrawn.
He attributed the collapse of Yude-
mitch and the Kolchak revolt to the fail
ure of England and France to live up
to their part of the Paris compact.
Great Britain and France both sent
shiploads of material to the white"
armies, but they were destroyed by
soviet forces before they reached their
| destination, he s0id