ItiSs RIGHT ATTITUDE TOWARDS RUSSIA. [To mc Eorror or rug
" SrEcraron."3 Sfe,—Your leading article in your issue of the 20th inst. about Russia is probably the best that I have read on this very vexed question of the British attitude towards the Soviet Government. But permit me to add that the Bolshevik problem is perhaps just as much Eastern as it is of the West. And it is in connexion with that which appertains to Asia that I wish to say that the future of Asian politics has to be safeguarded in quite the same degree as the economic interests of Europe. The problem is double-sided. You cannot recognize the present form of the Russian Government without also acknowledging the night over those regions of the Middle East, whose call for help is so constant and loud. Bokhara is a ease in point.
My contention is that a guarantee should be demanded of the Soviets that the national independence of the Central Asian States would be restored. I am no great believer in what is called " tuidertaking," but actual manifestations of such promises must be sought. Moscow has often forgotten its promises. Bokhara was an independent country so long as it suited the Reds, and now the "Noble Bokhara" falls to dust. It is, therefore, not enough only to stipulate the release of the Baku prisoners, but this country owes it to the East to see that all forms of propaganda are stopped in the Middle East. That should be done before a final step is taken to open any relations with the Soviets. What present Eastern disturbances cannot in one way or the other be traced to the Bolshevik plots? Nor Is the Red Movement towards India a mere bogy.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Previous page
