IN EUROPEAN RUSSIA
Nevanisk is situated just over the European boundary of the Urals.
Before the Bolshevik came it was a great iron centre, one firm alone
employing three thousand workmen. When I arrived there the various works
were practically derelict and its vast collection of machinery idle. The
streets were deserted, and it was estimated that half of its inhabitants
had been destroyed. It was, and now it is not. The few remaining
inhabitants were valiantly pulling themselves together, and if order and
some sort of law could be established, they were confident that they
could rebuild their life again. We talked to them and encouraged them to
continue their struggle against the blight that had defiled their homes
and their country. Their hopes seemed to revive from our assurance of
English working-class sympathy. I am pleased they did not know that we
had some people mad enough to wish to inflict similar wounds upon our
own country.
A pound of sugar cost thirty-five roubles, a pair of 3s. 11d. goloshes
two hundred and fifty roubles, one pound of bread seven roubles. These
were the things we wished to buy, and so made the discovery of their
price; we bought bread only, as the thing we could not do without.
Typhus was raging in almost every house. General Knox was inoculated,
but I decided to run the risk. Doctors had largely disappeared, owing to
the hatred of everybody with a bourgeois education.
I wonder what sort of jokes or fun G.B.S. could make out of it. There
_is_ fun in it somewhere. The contrast between the original idea of the
revolution and the outcome of those ideas are so grotesque in their
realisation that it looks as though some hidden power were indulging in
a Mephistophelian laugh at the expense of mankind.
We next arrived at Taighill, where the same effects had been produced,
though on a smaller scale. It was Palm Sunday, and the great bell of the
cathedral was booming through the surrounding pine forest calling the
faithful to prayer. In the square of the town near by a statue of
Alexander II lay in the mud, having been thrown down by the
revolutionaries. Quite near a white figure of a woman, intended to
represent the Enthronement of Liberty, had been hurled from its recently
constructed base, and formed the roadside seat of five or six of the
raggedest starvelings to be found in the world. An inscription on
Alexander's statue states that it was raised to commemorate his
emancipation of the peasants from serfdom. The Bolsheviks had not time
to write _their_ inscription; but it did not matter--the empty houses
and deserted streets were quite enough. By means of much elbow labour
they had smoothed out the inscription on the statue of the Tsar
Liberator and for the time made all things equal again.
The meeting at Taighill was a repetition of the others, and we passed
on to Kushva. This place had been badly mauled. The Bolshevik Commissar
was evidently an anarchist pure and simple. All the hatred of class and
creed which had generated under the Romanoffs found expression in this
man's deeds. The amount of venom which he put into his administration
and work was worthy of his cause. The effect of his policy, however,
produced results exactly opposite to those he hoped for. The first
evidence of his zeal lay upon the snow in front of the railway office. A
huge steel safe with the door wrenched off and the contents missing
indicated the strength of his principles. The official who had lost the
key was thrown into the well near by to stimulate the memory of other
safe-owners; but this official was not alone in his glory, for several
railway workmen who refused to help rob this identical safe found a
watery grave with their superior. Altogether over seventy people met
their death in this well, workmen, _bourgeoisie_--all in one holocaust.
But the majority were of no class; their only offence seemed to be that
they had called themselves Social Revolutionaries. They have been the
subject of the most bitter hatred by the Bolshevik leaders. The
Bolshevik contention is that for men or women to call themselves
Socialists, and then to hesitate to take a hand in the complete
extermination of the bourgeois ruling classes, now there is a chance of
doing so in Russia, is to act the part of poltroon and traitor to the
cause. The "treachery" is all the greater if the objector is a workman
or a workwoman.
The Bolsheviks are quite honest about their purpose--the transfer of
power and property by murder and robbery from the _bourgeoisie_ to the
proletariat. If a member of the proletariat is so mad that he refuses or
hesitates to act his part in this scheme, then those who have been
called by the force of events to assume a dictatorship on his behalf are
entitled to destroy him as an unconscious enemy to himself and his
class. In the same way no mercy can be shown to the Social
Revolutionaries who, while professing allegiance to definite proletarian
domination, shrink from definite action now that the time for action has
arrived.
The Bolshevik Commissar of Kushva, acting on this principle, succeeded
in a short time in raising a formidable opposition amongst the workmen
in the surrounding districts. When the local school-mistress, a girl of
seventeen, found a temporary grave in this sort of Black Hole of
Calcutta the wells of Kushva and Taighill became a dreadful portent to
the simple Russian _mujik_.
The opposition began at the big Watkin Works, where over six thousand
men were employed. Though possessing no military organisation, the
workmen decided to resist by force the entrance of the Bolshevik Terror
into their midst. With the help of several young engineers they managed
to regiment themselves into some kind of military order. They selected
with great skill the strategic positions for fortifications, and held
the whole district against the repeated attacks of the enemy. Once the
Bolshevik line of the Urals west of Ekaterinburg struck from north to
south, from Kunghure to the Caspian, as the crow flies, for three
thousand versts, except for one great loop enclosing the Watkin Works.
But in November, 1918, the Bolshevik line swept forward, submerging
these valiant workmen warriors. Admiral Koltchak's Chief of Staff
naturally concluded that the workmen had given up the struggle and had
made terms with their hated enemy.
This surge forward of the Bolsheviks had been greatly assisted by the
unfortunate defection of the Czech forces, who had left the front at the
suggestion of their local National Council. General Gaida had thrown up
his Czech commission, and had been given command of the right wing of
the new Russian army. The admiral proceeded at once to put his new army
to the test by an attempt to recover the lost ground and, if possible,
save the remnants of the Watkin workmen. Everybody now knows how, in a
temperature of over "60 below," these recently mobilised Siberian
recruits re-established the fighting fame of the Russian soldier by
sweeping the Terrorist forces from their positions and entirely
destroying them at Perm. Imagine General Galitzin's surprise when the
advance began to find these Watkin workmen still holding their district
and rendering valuable help to their relieving comrades! The Kushva
Soviet Commissar had built better than he knew.
This district is remarkable for the valuable and extensive deposits of
iron and sulphur, which seem inexhaustible. One huge hill has a store of
about 800,000,000,000 tons, almost untapped except for uncovering work
necessary to estimate its capacity.
The Revolution in Russia may alter a few things, but it can scarcely
effect much change in the character of its people. This iron mountain is
an illustration of the mixture of mediaevalism and modernism to be found
in Russia's industrial development. The summit of the mountain is capped
with an Orthodox Greek church, and desperate efforts have been made to
secure its removal to a less exalted and less valuable site. I was
informed that the mere suggestion proved almost fatal to its
originators, and by so narrow a margin did they escape that the proposal
is not likely to be repeated. I made the suggestion quite innocently,
and produced such a storm that only my foreign ignorance provided me
with a satisfactory excuse. I was asked: "Would you take God from His
place over this work?" One other thing I noticed everywhere. There was
not one important workshop from Irkutsk to Perm without its altar,
candles and all complete, and scarcely a business or Government office
without its ikon facing you the moment you entered.
I attended the Orthodox Easter celebration at Perm. The whole edifice
was crowded with people of every walk in life. I was not merely an
interested spectator, but one who believes that where man worships he
appeals to the same God no matter by what name He is called.
I watched this crowd, each holding a long lighted taper, stand for hours
making the sign of the Cross, while the gorgeously-robed priest chanted
the service and made sundry waves with his hands and gave certain
swings with the incense-burner. The responses were made by a group of
men with beautiful, well-trained voices, but the people looked
spiritually starved. Not one took the slightest part in the service
beyond an occasional whispered murmur, nor are they expected to. They
stood outside the pale; there was no place for them. I must say that I
contrasted this isolation of the congregation with the joint act of
worship as performed in our churches, both Free and Anglican. I looked
at these "Christian" men and women and thought of the butchery of
Petrograd and Moscow, the wells of Kushva and Taighill, and the ruthless
disregard of human life by both sides in this brutal internecine strife.
I wondered whether I had stumbled upon at least one of the causes. At
any rate, I did not forget we also had the heroes of the Watkin Works.
Nadegenska is the extreme north-west point of the Ural system of
railways, and is famous because of its great privately-owned steelworks.
These works were originated by a poor peasant woman, who developed the
whole district until it has become the most northerly Asiatic industrial
centre in the Russian Empire. The contrast in treatment at these
privately-owned works compared with those owned by the Government is
significant. The Soviet Commissar knew nothing about the business
himself, and appointed Works Commissars, still more ignorant of their
duties, to control the establishment. The result was that production
fell to such a point that the experts refused to work under such
incompetents and gradually escaped to other outlandish districts. The
manager stuck to his post during the battle of Perm, and by a judicious
distribution among the Bolshevik Commissars of the surplus roubles of
the Tsar remaining in his possession got them out of the works without
damage. This was an unheard-of situation, for nowhere else have the
Soviet Commissars left anything they could destroy.
It was interesting to notice that nearly the whole of the machinery in
these works was either of German or American make, the latter always
predominating; there was some English and some Belgian, about an equal
amount of each. I heard a curious statement at Kushva to the effect that
the German firms were always prepared to build and fit out a big works,
and run it for one year, without asking for a penny. Of course they
always first carefully examined the possibilities of the locality, but
the managers assured me that it was rare for German machinery to be
equal, either for use or wear and tear, to the English, nor was it as
cheap; but they could always get long credit from German firms, and that
was most important in developing new enterprises.
We set off for Perm, with a stop on our way at the Vackneah Turansky
Works. These works employed from four to five thousand men, doing
everything from smelting to the making of engines, carriages, shells,
guns, etc., and were the best equipped workshops I saw in the Urals. The
only complaint was lack of orders. The old régime did everything--nearly
all this great mineral district was developed under the personal care of
the Tsars. The Bolsheviks have destroyed the State control of these
establishments, and already the _bourgeoisie_ are casting hungry eyes
upon this great industry and the Omsk Ministers are rubbing hands over
the loot they hope to collect during this transfer. How vain the hopes
of those who looked to the Revolution to develop public control of all
natural resources! Already the State lands are parcelled out amongst the
wealthy peasants, who as a result of this robbery will establish a great
landed aristocracy, and, if I do not misread the signs, a similar fate
is about to overtake the great State industries with the creation of an
aristocracy of wealth.
At Turansky we picked up Sergeant Coleman, of the Durham Light Infantry,
the only Englishman who weathered the journey from Archangel with a
party of Russians who had started from the north to try and get into
direct touch with the Russian Army. They had made a circuitous route and
avoided the districts held by the Bolshevik forces, and therefore had
nothing of interest to report to us. The whole party, under a Russian
officer in English uniform, were attached to my train and taken to Perm,
where instructions awaited them to proceed at once to Omsk.
While examining the damage done during the street fighting at Perm we
encountered a mob of the Red Guard who had marched over their own lines
at Glashoff and surrendered to General Gaida. They were drawn up four
deep in the market-place for a roll call. I studied their faces and
general appearance, and came to the conclusion that if the progress of
the world depended upon such as these the world was in a very bad way.
They were Kirghis, Mongols, Tartars, Chinese, mixed with a fair
sprinkling of European-Russian peasants, workmen and others mostly of
the lowest type, but with just enough of the "old soldier" element to
make them formidable. A strange idea struck me that I would like to
speak to these men. The proposition, made almost in jest, was taken up
seriously by my liaison officer, Colonel Frank, who interviewed the
commandant of the station, Colonel Nikolioff, upon the subject. He at
first took up a hostile attitude, but when he gathered the substance of
my proposed address he consented, and arranged the meeting at the camp
for 6 P.M. the following evening, April 22. Of all the meetings it has
been my privilege to hold, this was the most unique. The Bolshevik
soldiers stood to attention and listened to me with great interest. One
or two were sailors, and some others could understand a little English,
as could be seen by the way they conveyed in whispers the points of the
speech to their neighbours. Madame Frank translated, and in beautiful
Russian drove home each point. Hers was a magnificent performance. As
she repeated my word-picture of their untilled fields, destroyed homes,
outraged women, and murdered children, not the ravages of an alien
enemy, but the work of their own hands, Russian against Russian, tears
trickled down their war-scarred faces. Clearly these men felt they had
been deceived, and would willingly endeavour to rectify the injuries of
the past. Some volunteered their services at once to help their Mother
Country to recover from the ravages they had made and administer justice
upon those who had led them into madness, but Colonel Nikolioff asked
them to remember that their crimes had been very great, and nothing but
time could heal the wounds and soften the bitterness their conduct had
created. Some asked that it should be remembered that they were not
Bolshevik in principle, but had been forced to become soldiers in the
Red Army, from which they could not desert until their villages were
captured by the Koltchak army, as their whole families, held as hostages
for their good conduct, would have been massacred. This they asserted
had been done in numberless cases where the families were in Bolshevik
hands.
The value of the rouble in Perm at that time was about one penny. My
officers and men were paid at the rate of 40 roubles to the £1. The
prisoners' camp was about three and a half versts distant, and the
duration of the meeting was one hour and five minutes; the droshky hire
for the journey was 100 roubles per droshky. Everything was in
proportion. For instance, common cigarettes were 1 rouble each. If I had
smoked twenty a day or used them between myself and my numerous official
visitors, half my colonel's pay would have gone. There must surely have
been something wrong in fixing the rate of exchange at Harbin or
"Vlady," 5,000 versts away, and leaving officers at the front in a stage
of poverty not one whit better than the people whose all had been
destroyed by the Revolution. I have no remedy to offer, but it is not
very satisfactory to receive your rouble at 6d. and spend it at 1d. What
is more! If I had been paid in £1 notes or sovereigns, I could have got
something approaching 200 roubles for each at the Perm rate! Wages had
increased under Bolshevik rule, but prices were such that one of the
petitions we had to forward to the Government at Omsk on behalf of the
workmen was that the wages and prices should be the same as under the
old régime.
On April 24 the ice on the Khama started to move about 5 A.M. It was a
very imposing sight. It moved first as one solid block, carrying boats,
stacks of timber, sledge roads--everything--with it. The point near the
bridge held for some time, until the weight behind forced some part down
and crunched its way through in one irresistible push; the other part
rose over the resistance and rolled like an avalanche over and over,
smashing itself into huge blocks which were forced into a rampart fifty
feet high, when the enormous weight broke the ice platform on which it
was piled, and the whole moved majestically off towards the Volga. Then
one experienced the peculiar illusion of gliding along the river; it was
necessary to plant one's feet far apart to prevent a fall. The Khama
near Perm is over a mile wide, and this method of Nature to herald
spring to these snow- and ice-bound regions lacks nothing so far as
grandeur is concerned. During the next few days millions of tons of
derelict timber passed on its way to the Caspian. The careless Russian
never thinks of hauling his spare stock off the ice until the ice
actually begins to move. He tells you that the proper time for the ice
to move is between May 1 and 5; that if it moves a week earlier it means
good crops, which would balance the loss of the timber, so that he has
no cause to complain.
It is no part of my business to deal with atrocities such as have
disgraced the proletarian dictatorship of Moscow. Where I could not
avoid them in my narrative of events, I have done so without reference
to the revolting details which everybody so hungrily devours. History
shows that it is not possible to avoid these excesses whenever the
safeguards of civil order are swept away by the passions of the mob. Our
own revolutionaries should remember this before and not after the event.
They should be considered not as a risk but as a certainty when once the
foundations of order are uprooted. At Perm the breaking of the ice
revealed some of the truth, and it formed quite sufficient evidence of
the callous behaviour of the Bolshevik administrators.
Below a steep bank a few yards from the Terrorist headquarters a small
shed was erected on the ice. It was called a wash-house, and during the
day washing was done there. At night the place, apparently, was, like
the streets, deserted, but as a square hole was cut through the ice, it
was an ideal place for the disposal of bodies, dead or alive. The people
knew that after an inspection of the better-class homes by officers of
the Soviet if there was evidence of valuable loot; the whole family
would quietly disappear, and the valuables were distributed by sale, or
otherwise, amongst the Soviet authorities. If a workman protested
against this violence, he disappeared, too, in the same secret fashion.
The poor women who used the shed during the day for its legitimate
purpose told from time to time grim stories of blood and evidence of
death struggles on the frozen floor as they began the morning's work.
Several thousand people were missing by the time the Koltchak forces
captured the town.
The ice in the shelter of the bank began to thaw before the more exposed
part of the river, which enabled the people whose friends and neighbours
were missing to put a rude and ineffective screen below the shed in the
hope of recovering the bodies of some of their friends. I knew about the
shed but not about the screen, until I was informed by Regt.
Sergeant-Major Gordon that he had seen several hundred bodies taken from
the river. The following morning I walked into the crowd of anxious
people who were watching the work. The official in charge told me quite
simply that they had not had a very good morning, for three hours' work
had only produced some forty bodies. I looked at these relics of the new
order; they were of both sexes and belonged to every condition of life,
from the gruff, horny-handed worker to the delicately-nurtured young
girl. A miscellaneous assortment of the goods, among other things,
revolutions are bound to deliver.
We held a big meeting in the great railway works which created quite a
sensation. The fact that the English were at Perm spread back to Omsk,
and four days later Japanese and French Missions put in an appearance.
If the French came to maintain their prestige it was a pity that they
did not choose a better agent for their purpose. I had been invited to
lunch with a very worthy representative of the town, Mr. Pastrokoff, and
his wife. I arrived to find the good lady in great agitation. A French
officer had called and informed the household that a French Mission had
just arrived composed of three officers; they would require the three
best rooms in the house, the use of the servants and kitchen; that no
furniture must be removed from the three rooms he saw under pain of
punishment, etc. The lady protested and told the French officer that
even the Bolsheviks had not demanded part of her very small house when
made acquainted with the requirements of her family, but the officer had
replied that any inconvenience was outweighed by the great honour
conferred upon her house by the presence of officers of the French Army.
It would not be polite to the glorious French Army to repeat Madame
Pastrokoff's reply. It only shows how stupid it is to send to foreign
countries any but the best men to represent a great and gallant nation.
I naturally reminded Madame that she was a Russian, living in her own
country, under her own Government, and she must report the case to the
Russian authorities, who would doubtless provide accommodation for the
French Mission if necessary.
The Pastrokoffs, coupled with the vivacious Madame Barbara Pastokova and
her husband, were among the most homely and interesting people it was my
pleasure to meet in the Urals. If you have never been in Russia you know
nothing of hospitality; you only squirm around the fringe of the
subject. The hospitality of our friends at Perm was truly Russian, and
I was sorry when we had to leave. M. Pastrokoff told me of the following
incident of the early relief of Perm from the Terrorist.
General Pepelaieff's army was stretched along the railway from Perm
towards Vatka, the junction of the Archangel Railway. The temperature
was over "60 below," the men were without clothes, thousands had died
from exposure, and other thousands were in a ghastly condition from
frost-bite. There was little or no hospital accommodation, and the Omsk
Ministers were deaf to all appeals for help, they being more concerned
as to how they could shake off the Supreme Governor's control than how
best to perform their duty. In the early days of February the feeding of
the army became a pressing problem, and still the Omsk Ministers
remained silent. On February 10 Pastrokoff received an imperative order
to appear at General Hepoff's office. At 11 A.M. he arrived to find nine
of the wealthiest citizens of Perm already collected. Looking out of the
windows they saw a full company of Siberian Rifles surround the building
with fixed bayonets. The general entered the room and sat at his table,
they remained standing. Looking at, and _through_, each one separately,
he delivered this cryptic speech: "Gentlemen, I have brought you here to
tell you that out on the railway between you and your enemies lie the
remains of our brave army! They have little clothes, but plenty of wood,
so their fires may prevent their bodies from being frozen, but ten days
from now there will be no food, and unless food can be secured, nothing
can prevent their dispersal or starvation. I have determined that they
shall neither disperse nor starve. The Omsk Ministers have forgotten us,
the Supreme Governor has given his orders, but these paltry people who
ought to assist him do nothing. We must do their work ourselves."
Reading down a list of the necessities of his army he said: "You
gentlemen will produce these things within ten days. If on February 21
these supplies are not to hand, that will be the end of everything so
far as you ten gentlemen are concerned."
"He allowed no discussion," said M. Pastrokoff, "and if he had we should
have been discussing it now, and the Terrorists would have re-occupied
Perm. I returned home and felt cold in the feet. I had a guard of
fifteen men placed on my person, the others the same. I knew that some
of my companions in distress were muddlers, but sent for my friend ----
and drew our plans for carrying out the general's orders. We were
greatly helped in this determination by witnessing the execution of a
company and platoon commander of one of our regiments under General
Hepoff's orders for having allowed thirty men of their company to desert
to the enemy during an affair of outposts. We saw we had to deal with a
man who never went back on his word."
On February 18 the general sent his aide-de-camp to inform the ten that
it would be necessary for them to put their affairs in order as they
would be taken to the front for execution, so that the starving soldiers
might know their immediate chiefs were not responsible for the condition
of the army. M. Pastrokoff was able to prove the things were on the
way, and only the disorganised condition of the railway made it
necessary to ask for a few days' grace. The general granted four days,
at the end of which the goods were delivered as per instructions. "What
did the general then do?" I asked. "When his soldiers were fed he burst
into my house and kissed me, and would have gone on his knees if I would
have allowed him. He has been here several times since, and we have
become great friends. He is a true Russian!" added Pastrokoff proudly.
We returned to Ekaterinburg on April 29, and were surprised to find that
General Knox and the Headquarters Staff had removed from Omsk and taken
up position there. The Hampshires were about to move up; barrack and
other accommodation had already been secured. The first echelon arrived
the following morning. An Anglo-Russian brigade of infantry was in
course of formation and seemed likely to prove a great success. It
offered employment for the numerous officers and N.C.O.s who had arrived
and for whom no proper place for work had so far been provided. It was
truly a stroke of genius for our War Office to flood us with officers
and men as instructors for the new Russian army, scarcely one of whom
could speak a word of Russian! I feel sure the Russians and ourselves
will get on well together, we are so much alike. Omsk and Whitehall are
true to type; they each first exhaust the possibility of error, and when
no wrong course is left, the right road becomes quite easy. The only
difference is in the motive. Ours is mostly because social influence is
always on the side of educated mediocrity, and theirs because self,
coupled with corruption, is their natural incentive to all exertion. We
have a different standard; all our theories of Government preclude the
possibility of hidden personal advantage in the transaction of State
business. The Russian view is that no competent official could be
expected to conduct business transactions for the State unless he
personally gains some advantage. If an official neglected a private
opportunity so obvious, it would justify the suspicion that his scruples
would make him unequal to the proper protection of the State. In other
words, the official who is poor at the end of a decent term of office
never should have been trusted with the interests of the community. It
is strange to hear them catalogue the proved cases of corruption amongst
officials of other countries. They never forget a case of this kind no
matter in which country it occurred. They argue that they are no worse
than others, forgetting that these exceptions only prove the rule,
whereas in Russia the honest official is rather the exception. After
all, public opinion decides the standard of conduct adopted by a
country. Morals change with time, also with countries and peoples. A
harem would be a nuisance in London, but stands as a sign of Allah's
blessing in Constantinople.
I returned to Omsk on May 3 to find that the snow and ice had given
place to a storm of dust which crept through every crevice of one's
habitation and flavoured everything with dirt and grit. It was, if
anything, worse than a sandstorm in the Sudan. The Sudan type is fairly
clean, but this Omsk variety is a cloud of atomic filth which carries
with it every known quality of pollution and several that are quite
unknown. I don't remember being able to smell a Sudan storm, but this
monstrous production stank worse than a by-election missile. The service
of a British soldier on these special trips is not exactly a sinecure.
The people at home who pay can be sure their money is well earned before
Tommy gets it. The south wind sweeps up from Mongolia and Turkestan, and
while it brings warmth to our frozen bones its blessing becomes a bit
mixed with other things before we get them. I only mention it, not to
complain! We never do in war-time!
A special dispatch from London arrived on May 5 which delayed my
starting for Vladivostok. If the object at which it aimed could have
been secured it would have been a beam of light upon a very sombre
subject. I had a lengthy conference with General Knox upon my tour to
the Urals and the facts gathered as to the mineral and productive
resources of the districts through which I had passed. The London
dispatch also occupied our attention, and as the Supreme Governor had
fixed the next day for my final farewell interview with himself, the
possible course of our conversation was also considered. It was arranged
that my journey to "Vlady" should be delayed until the matter referred
to in the dispatch had been dealt with in accordance with instructions.
My audience with the Supreme Governor was very cordial, and he
especially thanked me for the help I had rendered himself and Russia in
the dark days of November and December, 1918. He expressed the opinion
that my mission to the workmen had been a great success, and was the
first piece of definite work so far accomplished in the reconstruction
and resurrection of the Russian State. He pointed out that his own
labours were devoted to the one object of restoring order to the
country, but that this work could only be performed by a powerful army.
England had rendered him all help possible, but still the military
problem engrossed all his thoughts and precluded his taking active part
in the work of social reconstruction. He thought his Ministers and other
assistants would have been able to help in it, but he had been sadly
mistaken, and his experience had taught him that it was necessary to
learn everything himself and therefore he was all the more grateful for
my assistance. We took tea together, during which he informed me that he
was about to start for the front to arrange for a further push along the
northern line towards Vatka in the direction of Petrograd, with the
chance of forming a junction with the forces at Archangel, and if
General Knox would consent he wished me to remain at Omsk until he
returned. General Knox placed the London dispatch before the Supreme
Governor, and I remained to assist in settling its details.
On May 7 the Chief of the British Mission, Major-General Knox, asked me
to assist him in drafting the reply to the London dispatch. The heads
having been agreed to by the Supreme Governor, it was necessary to
consult with the Minister who assisted him with his foreign affairs. He
is distinguished by a sort of cleverness which borders very closely to
cunning. In a few years he will probably make a very able diplomat of
the old type, but whether that is the sort of equipment which will serve
under the new order, now in the throes of birth, remains to be seen. He
is Republican, having lived long in America, and honestly believes that
Russia must be directed in her orientation towards Republican countries
rather than to the evidently permanently and exclusively Monarchist
country, England. There I think I know more of his Russian
fellow-countrymen and better understand their character and sentiments
than he! But he is very young, very able, and his name is Sukin, and he
has time to learn.
In accordance with the wish of the Governor, the dispatch and draft were
shown to him, and a few hours later, while dining with a Cossack
general, I was asked if I knew anything about a dispatch from London
that was making a great stir amongst the members of the French and
American Missions. I answered that being a regimental officer, not
attached to the English Mission, dispatches were not my business, though
as a rule if important dispatches arrived, I heard about them; I had
heard of no dispatch which could upset the French or American Missions.
I informed Consul Hodgson, who was representing the High Commissioner in
his absence, of this, and it was decided to hurry on with the
construction and completion of the draft. It was completed in its final
shape by General Knox and myself in his train at the Omsk Vatka in
front of the Russian Staffka, 9.30 A.M., May 9, 1919.
Much of this Russian "Bill of Rights" had to be pushed down the throats
of the Russian official elements. The Supreme Governor never wavered
over a single point; his large democratic sympathies were satisfied by
his signature to what he hoped would be the foundation of Russian
liberty. How fortunate for Russia that she had such a man to call upon
in her hour of need! No matter what the final result of his efforts may
be, whether success or defeat, his was the mind and personality that
enabled this great people to bridge what looked like an impossible gulf
and turn their faces to the sun.
How fortunate it was that at this critical hour in Russian history
England was represented by Major-General Knox! I had never heard of him
till I went to Siberia, yet in him we have a man combining the courage
of the soldier with the higher qualities of a statesman, ready made for
the special business in hand. The British Empire doubtless, like Topsy,
"growed"! It is more an exhibition of race luck than genius. The way in
which we occasionally drop the right man in the right place is not an
act of Government so much as a stroke of chance. We make awful bloomers
in these matters sometimes, but in this case our luck stood by us to
some purpose. More than once, when the timidity of the "Politicals" had
almost destroyed Russian faith in our honesty of purpose, the robust
honesty of his personality turned the scale in our favour. Every Russian
trusts him, except those who have forgotten they are Russians. They
hate him. That is the real certificate of his worth. I can quite
understand the fear of some Labour elements at home that our presence in
Siberia may be used by reactionaries to re-establish the old régime. Had
I been at home I might have had the same feeling. But I was there, and
knew that it was our very presence which made that for the moment
impossible. The excesses of the Bolsheviks made the people, both peasant
and workman, hanker after the comparative security of the Tsars. The
reactionary elements would have been only too pleased to see our backs;
our presence was a safeguard against the absolutism for which some of
them scheme. The weariness of the peasantry and workmen with
revolutionary disorder gave the opportunity to reaction to establish
another absolutism which was only restrained by outside influence.
Major-General Knox does not write polished dispatches upon army
movements under his command, but he perhaps performed greater service to
humanity and democracy by his patient and efficient handling on the spot
of one of the great world problems.