Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-10-08 | Page 6 | Russian Situation

RUSSIAN SITUATION. Captain Spencer-Cooper of the British Brit-ish royal navy, who has spent somo time in Russia since the overthrow of the czar, believes that the country will eventually return to a monarchial form of government after trying Bolshevism, anarchism and socialism. He believes the policy of President Wilson in respect re-spect to Russia is wise and that much good will result in the future. Ho paints, a gloomy picture of present conditions. His opinion of Trotzky, which follows, is well worth reading: "Trotzky is not a man in any sense of the word. He is extremely clever, with a violent temper and a strong will. He has all The appearance of a man who has lived all his life below ground. He blinks. He has a cast in one eye. He is green, sallow, with a little goat's beard. He has clammy hands and R piercing eye. Ho is shrewd, clever; not bier. In a difficult situation he would lose all control of himself. He has a vitriolic manner, which reminds one, when he becomes excited, of nothing so much as an enraged snake when it ruin up and hisses in anger. He presents the picture, of a typical fanatic. On the other hand, he was the onlv man I saw who woro clean linen or who made any outward effort to preserve an appearance appear-ance of cleanliness. ' This is one of tho two men who control con-trol the destinies of millions of people. peo-ple. The other is I.enine, who, while described as an idealist by Captain Spencer-Cooper, is not any better guido than his colleague, who learned to take a bath once in a while anil change shirts occasionally wliilo in the United States. Sinco the British naval officer's of-ficer's return to London, conditions have beooroo worse in Petrograd and Moscow, but there is a distinct improvement improve-ment in sections of the country where tho allies aro refdoring order, and the end of tha Bolshevik regime cannot be long delayed. Defeat of the central I powers will hasten the downfall of I.enine I.e-nine and Trotzky, but we hopo that, after all the Russian people have gono through they will be intelligent enough not only to establish a ropublic, but to maintain it.