A-Meniorable Election: A Notorious Bolshevist Document:
"Ancient China Lifeboat: Outstanding Errors of Wembley Faow. Our Own' Connesroxpast, London, Oct. 30.
This election: has made its own! in the process of the controversy. Tt will be called the "Bolshevist lection," by reason of a document alleged to have been sent by Zinovie" (whom the Earl Birkenhead: always' eareftilly calls "Alias Apfelbaum" to designate his German-Jewish origin) to Mr. Arthur McManus, the leader of the Communist Party in this country, No similar document hi ed to the same extent Election before. Apparently. "Daily Mail" secured a copy of this letter, which was in the possession of the Foreign Office, circulated it to the newspapers and notified them that it was free to be used on the Friday morning preceding the election: lust Wednesday. The Fore Office knew of this"and issued the letter itself, together with a very strong letter of protest to M. Rakovsky, the Soviet Charge d'Affaires. The Foreign Office pointed out that no Government—éould tolerate an arrangement with a foreign Government by which the latter was in formal diplomatic! relations of a correct kind with it, while at the same time a propagandist: body organically connected with that foreign Government encouraged and even ordered subjects of the former to plot and plan revolutions for its overthrow. The Foreign Office added that the Soviet Government either had or hed not the power to make agreements. If it had the power it was its duty to carry them out and see that the other parties were not deceived, If it had not this power and if responsibilities which belonged to the State in other countries were -in Russia in the keeping of private and irresponsible bodies, the Soviet Government ought not to make agreements which it could not hope to carry out, Tam sending the actual text the Zinoviof letter by this mail, but {in substance it contained instructions: to British -subjects to work for the violent overthrow of existing institutions in this country and for the subversion vf His Majest armed forces as a means to that end. for they rolled up in hundreds of thousands, and: the polls were the biggest very sad but not. discouraged, wisely Yemarks:—"There is another duty laid upon us all. That is to reason with British Communists and persuade them. to drop their notion that a few obscure people could somehow bulldoze this country and hold it down by. force." The Government deserved its fate because it has shown extraordinary subserviency, firstly, to the Bolshevist and' then to our own Communists. It recognized the' Bolshevist Government, concluded, with; them the Treaty' which took the first steps towards guaranteeing the loan and praised Russian trade, enterprise and" good qualities fon every electoral platform, regards our awn Communists, it withdrew the Campbell prosecution, treated them lightly throughout its term of office despite their insistent machinations, including rather disgraceful meeting in Trafalgar Square on Sunday, used their assistance at the polls, although it pretended not to recognize them, paraded: the Red Flag universally to the exclusion of the Union Jack, and sang the Red song, "The Red Flag," instead of the National Anthem, whenever opportunity offered. 'A few of the better-class Labour leaders took a different line, if they dared, but they very rarely did dare, because the extremists have govern-Jed this election. There you the whole explanation of why La-hour broke down. Had it not been 89 much dominater by its wild men it would, T think, have done better.
It is rare for us to have such a Jandslide, though we had one in 1906 and one in 1918, Such a lands means, of course, that the Conser\ tives, "if properly led, main in office for at least four years, but they will only do so if they have in addition to good leadership which Mr. Baldwin would like to give, though he is not intellectual-a "ie programme; all the brains at their disposal, Thus we ought now to bring back into the Cabinet Mr. Austen Chamber. sy has raged.
No one knows whether it is genuine or a forgery. The opinion of the Foreign Office clearly is that it is genuine, and this fis entitled to respect, because the Foreign Office know how they got it. No one else knows. Some suggest that it was intercepted in the post in this country, others that it was captured in Russia. The Russians deny its authenticity and demand an apology from the Foreign Office, while they equally offer to submit the matter to arbitration. Most of the Socialist: Party here {ilso deny its authenticity, but they fare very much hampered in this attitude by the action of the Foreign Office.
Mr. Ramsay Macdonald has come out of the incident very badly.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.