London, July 29. Today I met a friend who has just returned from Germany, where he has been travelling all over the country for the last few weeks. He has much of interest to relate such as the fact that there is plenty of food in the country districts, although not in the towns, that no one is doing any work on the ground that ther do not wish to make the Allies rich, that the state of filth in big centres of population is inconceivable, that the German people are still at heart as truculent as ever, and only profess friendship to the English as against the French when speaking to the English, and against the English when speaking to the French.
His most interesting views are upon the attitude of Germany to-ards Bolshevism. He thinks that has not the remotest chance of any success, since the public is far too highly educated and is quite able to appreciate what these doctrines m practice really mean. They do not, however, mind scaring the rest of Europe with a fictitious theory that Germany may go Bolshevist. They think it may make the Allies more disposed to treat Germany sympathetically, although, he ridicules the idea "that they need such sympathetic treatment, factory is stuffed with coal ready for us the German view on the Bolds ready to sell. and filled with shevist, is probably correct, namely, that directly Russia is surrounded by nations who are at peace, the doctrines will probably collapse. Bolshevism can ably exist on military success, on armed propaganda, against every nation around it. he moment it ceases aggressive its people will their attention to home affairs and then the edifice which has been built up will come down with a crash. This is a very serious theory, but it is the one accepted here. It explains why Bolshevism, with the conqueror. If Poland, therefore, soes—and the Bolshevists are taking a very strong line—the next nation in order will be assailed. It may be Rumania, or it may be Finland, it will not be Germany because there are not enough people in Germany who believe in the doctrines, which can only be held by uneducated people.
Tt is, therefore, a question as to how far Bolshevism as an aggressive factor can go. It will always have adherents—a few of them—mn all countries. We have them here, although their numbers are not large, and are probably diminishing. The average workman may be Syndicalist, but this is quite different from embracing Bolshevist. doctrines with their tenets of compulsory labour and compulsory military service, no private property and State control of everything and everybody, The British_workman wants to get as much as he can for himself, like everybody else, and he is not in the least inclined to labour on behalf of w State which will give him only a daily pittance and use the balance of his labour for some cause in which he feels not, the least interest. We are, therefore, not much perturbed here about Bolshevism, nor are they in France.
It is clear that though we. may resume trade relations with Russia, there is nor the least chance of Bolshevism settling down 0 peaceful pursuits so long as the present military autocracy are in power. The Germans think that thin a knet period some one will assassinate both Lenin and Trotsky, since they carry On now largely under the protection of machine guns and large bodies of armed guards and then they an entirely new change will come Over Russia, in which, of course, they will benefit. They. will never associate themselves with the present regime because they pay importance to the assertions its stability and because they do not sce that, there is any opening for. its exploitation if the State prohibits private property. Th will, however, be quite likely that they will have to fight to keep the Bolshevists out of their country. With Poland overrun no barrier will stand in the Bolshevisb way. But they wilt fight, and it will rather curious not to Say amus ing if in the long run the ovér-throw of Bolshevism has to be attributed to German action, No one here believes any longer that this new social order has any real permanence although exists. It is a nuisance but not a bugbear.
Tue King has conferred the Albert Medal upon Mr. David racer, chief engineer, and Mr. Aaron Edward Higgins, third engineer of the str. Melville Dollar, for. bravery when on August 27 last year at Hongkong the main isi largo, propinee sot does not want peace with Poland) steam, pipe burst, falling, the which rests on a military autocracy, and energics ever since. He has|or any other country so long pt second engi been in the habit of staying for a' that country does not accept seamen.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.