Salt Lake Tribune | 1919-03-09 | Page 53 | Many Clergymen are Put to Death

II CLERGYMEPi ARE Pin) DEATH Murder of Ecclesiasts Is the Latest Feature of Bolshevik Bol-shevik Terror. Eminent Russian Economist Tells of Fearful Conditions Condi-tions Now Prevailing. LONDON", Feb. 20 (Correspondence of the Associated Tress). Murders of clergymen constitute tbe latest feature of Bolshevik terror in Russia, says Professor Peter Struve, a distinguished Russian economist, who has escaped from Russia and arrived iu England, after hiding from tho Bolsheviki for months in Moscow, and after a long Journey on foot to reach safety in Finland. Fin-land. He was compelled to disguiso himself to escape death at the hands of the adherents of Leniire and Trot- j zky. Professor Struve was representa- I tive from Petrograd in the second duma and a member of tho assembly convoked con-voked by Alexander F. Kerensky. ' ' Altogether ten bishops had been shot and many priests murdered, and the dean of Kazan cathedral and his two sons were drowned in the Neva by the Red soldiers," said Professor Struve. "Near Kotlas, all tho monks in one monastery were shot to death. Professor Kartasheff, minister of ro-ligion ro-ligion in Kerensky "s government, who has escaped into Finland, says that the present persecution of the church iu Petrograd is only comparable witb tho persecution of the early Christians. Try to Drown Noise. "In Moscow all tho shootings take place at night, but in Petrograd the victims of the Bolsheviki aro shot in the afternoon in the courtyard of the headquarters of the executive commission, commis-sion, and, in order to drown the noise, it is usual to start up the engines of motor cars which aro waiting in the vicinity. vi-cinity. "At the beginning of the Bolshevik movement I publicly expressed tbe opinion that not even a German would hold converse with a Bolshevik. As a Russian Constitutionalist, it is completely com-pletely inexplicable to me how any allied al-lied government can contemplate discussion dis-cussion of any sort, in any circumstances circum-stances or at any place, with anyone who calls himself a Bolshevik. "Those who imagine that there can be any pact between the forces of civilization civ-ilization and Bolshevism have no conception con-ception of the real state of affairs in Russia. The most moderate form of restoration of order and liberty in Russia would make the existence of Bolshevism impossible. "Bolshevism is complete tyranny, which is absolutely incompatible with any form of ordered liberty and constitutional con-stitutional government. It is entirely false to say that Bolshevism is a popular popu-lar form of government. Ir Trotzky would walk a verst through Moscow he would be killed. Chiefs Live in Danger. "No czar lived in great terror of his subjects than the chiefs of the Bolshevik Bolshe-vik government. There was more law and justice under serfdom than under the Bolsheviki. "It is untrue that the armed forces of tho Bolsheviki can offer any serious se-rious resistance to organized and well-armed well-armed pressure, aud the failure of the Bolsheviki in Esthonia, where they yielded before small but compact forces, is much more characteristic of their real nature than the successes they gained in the north and the east against the driblets which were put in action there. "To represent the Bolsheviki as being be-ing strong is not only false, but very dangerous, because it creates tlie verv impression that the Bolsheviki desiro to create. They aim at world revolution, revolu-tion, and to create a false impression of their power is to further their aims. Civilization must not shrink from the problem; it can be dealt with easily if it is grasped firmly. Tlie real strength of the Bolsheviki lies in the irresolution irresolu-tion of the leaders of civilization."