General Horvat, who had been appointed governor of Kharbin by the Tsar, and who was vice-president of the Chinese Eastern Railway, had kept the old régime element in such a strong position that Bolshevism never got a hold in Manchuria. The General exerted his personal power in every direction. _He would not permit the Czechs who were already in Vladivostok to come to the assistance of their comrades in Central Siberia by means of his direct Trans-Manchurian line, and the burden of the military operations, therefore, in the capture of Tchita and Verkne Udinsk fell upon General Gaida, who was embarrassed by difficulties of transport and long lines of communication in unfriendly territory, and this action of General Horvat probably delayed the opening of the Trans-Siberian line for several weeks. The Bolsheviks, in retiring from the Trans-Baikal region, were forced to take the northern route by the Amur, where they were met by Japanese, Chinese, and American troops, or else to lay down their arms and go south, scattering themselves in North China. General Horvat, in his capacity as dictator in Manchuria, was able to show his sympathy now to one party, now to another. In the second week of September General Simeonoff was in favour, but the Allies were not. Later on the Allies were in favour, but Simeonoff was not recognised, and the struggle to maintain a balance of power exercised the minds of all diplomats except the American, who were content to wait until all these "natives" should settle their affairs in their own way.
The political situation in Vladivostok caused the greatest anxiety to all parties. In the early morning of July 3 the Czechs attacked the town from the surrounding hills and drove the Bolsheviks into the central square. At that moment the Bolsheviks were surprised by machine-gun fire from the roof of the British Consulate, H.M.S. Suffolk having contributed the guns and, we heard, also the men. The Bolsheviks regarded this as an act of war, and used it as a means of propaganda. The Allies and the Czechs took the town, put the Bolshevik civil authorities in prison, and declared that they would give the town a free election without the possibility of Bolshevik coercion. The Bolshevik civil authorities who were in prison were returned at the election, and the Allies and Russians who were co-operating stated that as the men who had been elected were serving their sentences in prison a new Government would have to be constituted. This action was used by the Bolsheviks for the purposes of propaganda. On the 12th of August a state of war was
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