The Allies on Wednesday adopted an important proposal by President
Wilson with regard to Russia. Every " organized group" in Russia and Siberia is invited to send representatives to the Princes' Islands, near Constantinople, by February 15th, to confer with Allied representatives " with a view to ascertaining the wishes of all sections of the Russian people and bringing about, if possible, some understanding and agreement." The sole condition attached is that the parties invited should pro. claim a truce, and that armed forces directed against non- Russian territory, Finland, " or any people or territory whose autonomous action is in contemplation in the fourteen articles," such as Poland, should be withdrawn. We earnestly hope that the invitation will be accepted in the spirit in which it is tendered. It does not commit the Allies to any line of policy, and it pro- claims their desire to help Russia. It fulfils the purpose of Mr. Lloyd George's original proposal, which was to obtain trustworthy news from Russia, without risking the complications that might have been caused by inviting Bolsheviks to Paris.
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