Allied intervention in Eastern Siberia is now a fact. During
the past week the British, French, and Japanese troops at Vladi- vostok have been joined by some American regiments. Corre- spondents on the spot are sounding a note of alarm at the supposed growth of the German and Bolshevik forces opposing the Czecho- Slovaks. On the other hand, the American Government state that the 0ga:the-Slovaks in Central Siberia have taken Irkutsk. The enemy in Trans-Baikalia • is cut off from the west and must be short of munitions, so that the Allied Army should have no great difficultyi apart from transport, in dealing with him. Sir Charles Eliot has been appointed -British High Commissioner in Siberia. His long diplomatic experienoe and his knowledge of Russia and the Far East. justify the appointment. Sir Charles Eliot's talent for languages is almost proverbial ; he employed his leisure in the Petrograd Embassy not merely in learning Russian but in com- piling a grammar of the obscure Finnish tongue. A High Com- missioner who can speak to most, if not all, of the Siberians in their own languages should be very valuable to the Allies.
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