17 JULY 1920, Page 2

Meanwhile Poland has expressed her readiness to negotiate for an

armistice on the terms proposed. It will be observed that under this scheme General Wrangel, who has conducted his comparatively small operations with extraordinary success, is used, to his own disadvantage, as a makeweight. All he wants, as we understand, is to form an asylum in Russia where freedom and decent -government can be enjoyed, and where Russians can live--who no longer want to remain under the Bolsheviks. Still, we suppose that as the Poles have made a mess of things owing to their ambition and in spite of all warn, ings, pawns have to be given away if there are to be negotiations at all. Peace is essential if the world is not to be ruined, though past_blunders and follies have certainly made the paths of peace very unpleasant.