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Show Tscfemoff Is Looted Upon as St.ronoflan.of Russia Many Believe That He Will Yet Be Able to Bring Order Out of Chaos and Redeem His Country. By JAMES O'DONKELL BENNETT. (New York Times-Chicagro Tribune Ca.ble, Copyright.) STOCKHOLM, July 20. The man a year ago singled out from the throng of Russian visionaries as ' ' the man with a program, ' ' again begins to loom large on the horizon hori-zon of that distracted land. He is M. Tschernoff, former leader with Ker-; Ker-; ensky and Gotz of the Socialist-Revolutionists, but, unlike them, leaning to-;ward to-;ward the extreme left, a tendency ; which, however, the tragic events of I recent months are believed to have I caused him to somewhat modify. I Tschernoff was the minister of agriculture agri-culture in the second and fourth revolutionary revolu-tionary cabinets, and in both he fought valiantly for a program of radical land reform, with which his name is more .identified than is that of any other Russian revolutionary statesman. Because Be-cause his colleagues in the fourth cabinet cabi-net shilly-shallied on land reform and delayed a sincere consideration of his measures, Tschernoff distmstedly left them last October, since wnich time little lit-tle has been heard about him. But now again he comes forward, and for the identical reason that made him a man of mark before, namely, because he was the foremost representative of the proposition that there can be no ; stable order in Russia until a drastic land reform has been accomplished. are wearied of politics, and the apathetic apa-thetic millions of peasants are bitterly disaffected because the unjust distribution distri-bution of land has created" a class ot rich peasants called " kulacs, who oppress op-press their poorer neighbors. Identically Identi-cally unfair conditions prevail anion" laborers, some of whom are enriched while elsewhere complete stagnation Impoverishes the workers. Result of Elections. The Socialist-Revolutionists sav the recent elections favoring the Bolsneviki are meaningless, because in Petrognid, where those favorable to the Bolsheviki are employed, there is great pressure, but in the provinces, where the Bolsheviki Bolshe-viki have not had such great military forces at their disposal and a greater freedom of expression was possible, i Oral, Sormove and Nishni Xovogorod gave the right wing of the Social-Revolutionists and Menshevik large majorities. majori-ties. But the Soviets thus elected were forcibly suppressed. Also, there were not such defections from the Bolsheviki Bolshe-viki in the towns where the food supply sup-ply was good. The greater majority of the Bolsheviki supporters are asserted to be Letts, Finns, Germans and Chinese. Chi-nese. In Moscow Lenine is said to have 16,000 well armed Lettish troops, Finnish Fin-nish red guardists. and a battalion of Chinese which performs executions. Lenine Le-nine also is supported by organized detachments de-tachments of German war prisoners, who .suddenlv became internationalists and Bolsheviki just wnen the Bolshe- Program Announced. Many peasants are beginning to suspect sus-pect the Bolsheviki under present conditions con-ditions cannot accomplish such reforms. Therefore, the Socialist-Revolutionist leaders believe the peasants will rally to Tschernoff on tho- platform of actual land reform, thus simultaneously creating creat-ing a nucleus for effective opposition to the Bolsheviki and for co-operation with the entento in re-establishing the Russian war front against Germany. It is most characteristic of Tschernoff Tscher-noff 's faculty for formulating a concrete con-crete program and adhering to it, that already the Social-Revolutionists flocking flock-ing to him have been able to seize his program as something tangible amid the chaos, and to follow it as a road leading toward the light. Tho program's four principal points are: 1 Co-operation with entente intervention inter-vention in Russia 2 Resuming war against Germany with the aim of generaL peace without annexation or indemnities. 3 Recognition of the right of small nationalities to. determine . their own governments. 4 Summoning the national assembly. 5 All possible co-operation with the cadets. Co-operation Favored. Already tho Socialist-Revolutionists have decided to accept the entente's help and in every way co-operate with the entente in re-establishing the Russian Rus-sian front and expelling the Germans from all Russia, but they also insist ultimate peace must include the provisions pro-visions just given. ' Already the Socialist-Revolutionists have been asked by the large, but more or less isolated groups of workmen, disgusted dis-gusted with the Bolsheviki, to take au aggressive lead, but they feared Le-uine's Le-uine's suppression of premature local revolutions would only make capital viki needed them. The German troops stationed in Finland also paralyze anti-Bolsheviki anti-Bolsheviki efforts in Petrograd. Recently when masses of Petrograd workmen prepared to overthrow the local Bolsheviki, they were restrained by the fact that twentv-one miles away at the frontier at Terjoki stood a strong German cavalry detachment. Now, then, is it possible to overthrow over-throw the Bolsheviki? The Socialist-Revolutionaries reply: "The moment they are placed face to face with the Russian nation, the Bolsheviki Bol-sheviki cannot retain their power one second, but they will not lose this power until Russia is liberated from the German Ger-man yoke. Such a deliverance, the Socialist-Revolutionaries consider not only possible, but inevitable in consequence of conditions which daily press Russia deeper under the German heel." Dominated by Germany. . The Bolsheviki who state they signed the Brest-Litovsk treatv only under protest, pro-test, .now unprotostingly do everything Germany dictates. Hence intervention is inevitable and will not mean improper im-proper interference in Russia's affairs, but liberation. Either Bolshevikism will be overthrown over-thrown by true democracy, national assemblies as-semblies summoned and local zemstvos re-established, which is desired by the peasantry, or an explosion of popular hatred must come, and in it the Bolsheviki Bolshe-viki will be torn to pieces. After that, chaos. Such are the views of Tschernoff and 'his colleagues, who assert no other alternative al-ternative is possible, adding: "It is not worth while for isolated groups of exiles, like Isvolsky and Olge-Novikoff, Olge-Novikoff, to attempt to persuade western west-ern Europe there is a possibility of reestablishing re-establishing monarchy and owners of large estates. All reactionaries are completely powerless. Grand Duke Michael's name posses neither author- for him. , i Regarding the prospects for their sue- 1 cebs, the Socialist-Revolutionists large- i ly count on the prevailing disaffection ! among the workmen. A small number of workmen remain loyal to the Bolnhe viki, but the most of them now realize that the Bolsheviki can as little establish estab-lish Socialism as by the Brest-Litovsk treaty they were able to establish universal uni-versal peace. indeed, the majority of the workers ity nor popularity. The uprising of Alexieff and Kornilof f failed because the masses feared they meant the restoration resto-ration of czarism. " Tschemof f 's followers propose that after the entente lias helped them to overthrow the Bolsheviki, the national assembly shall grant executive powers to a ministry formed in agreement with representatives from the cities and I provinces, to be followed by a constitu- i ent assembly. |
