3rd—THEY ABOLISHED THE NATIONAL DEBT.
This naturally enraged the holders of Russian bonds—and there were very many people who had invested in these insecurities, especially in France. It 1s true that the action of the Russian Government, as the "Manchester Guardian" pointed out at the time, was, for a Government which had already abolished large property in land and other forms of private ownership, "more or less consistent." It is also true that much of this debt represented money lent, not to the Russian people, but to a corrupt and tyrannical Tsardom, and that, indeed, some of the capital thus subscribed had been used by the autocracy to shoot down the Russian workers in 1905. Nevertheless, in the opinion of the bondholders and their friends (and, of course, we must all agree!) this action placed Russia right outside "the bounds of civilisation." Some little hope, however, still remained:
"The vast wealth and resources of Russia will be there, and available to pay her debts, when the Lenin gang has run the short length of its tether,"
said the Financial Editor of the "Daily Mail" (December 8, 1917), whilst a little later the Japanese Ambassador is reported ("Daily Express," December 24, 1917) to have made the threat that
"Japan would hold the Maximalist Government responsible if Japanese capital in Russia were endangered, and would reserve the right to intervene, if necessary; which, if forced to do so, she would demand territorial compensation."
At any rate, we can assume that
the bondholders and International Financiers will never forgive the Russian Government for this.
The reasons for Allied intervention in Russia thus became perfectly clear,
Allies Encourage Civil War.
The events which followed the establishment of the Socialist Republic in Russia are too numerous and complex to be detailed here. Their narration would fill a book, which has yet to be written. Later in 1917 we came across the interesting item that "large numbers of the well-to-do classes (of Russia) are migrating to Archangel." An early straw! And from the time when Socialism was first put in active operation in Russia down to the present moment the efforts of the Capitalist classes and the Capitalist Press of Western Europe have been directed to encouraging every movement in Russia—middle class, capitalistic, reactionary, royalist, militarist or Nationalist—which might embarrass the central Government and destroy the Socialist State. Sometimes it was General Korniloff who was thus favoured, sometimes General Kaledin, sometimes General Alexieff, sometimes Admiral Koltchak—sometimes it was the Cossacks, sometimes the Ukrainians, sometimes the Finns. Any stick was good enough to beat Lenin with—although, alas and alack! some of the sticks broke in the process and others left many a muddy stain upon the hands of those who used them. And how the sea of carnage and misery has been extended and deepened by this support of Civil War and internecine strife!
Two Bad Shots.
Two very bad shots were made by the Allies in this connection. The Ukraine is a very rich part of Russia. It is the region of the famous "black earth," upon which great crops of corn are grown. It contains the cities of Kieff and Odessa. And it was hoped that by withholding the corn and coal of the Ukraine and Southern Russia from Petrograd the Bolsheviks would be
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