With the "Die-Hards" in Siberia Part 6

To G.O.C. China Command. Through B.M.M. H.Q.

Headquarters B.M.M., Vladivostok.

SIR,--For State reasons I deem it necessary to give the following information that it may be forwarded home to the proper authorities.

About 2.30 P.M. on November 18, 1918, my liaison officer (Colonel Frank, of the Russian Army) informed me that at a meeting of the Council of Ministers, just held, the Council had offered to place supreme sovereign power in the hands of Admiral Alexander Koltchak. The admiral had first refused to accept, but that such pressure had been applied to force him to accept that he had at last reluctantly consented.

Further, that Admiral Koltchak had a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of "Supreme Governor of all Russia," and was calling upon the French Amba.s.sador in the evening, after which he would call on me as the Senior British Officer holding official position in Omsk.

About 9 P.M. Admiral Koltchak called at my headquarters. The following gentlemen were present to receive him: Lieutenant-Colonel J.F. Neilson, Captain Stephani, Colonel R. Frank (Russian Army), and Mr. Frazer (_Times_ correspondent). He wore the full dress of a Russian admiral.

The admiral, who speaks fair English, informed me of the circ.u.mstances and reasons for his a.s.sumption of supreme authority in all Russia.

An attempt had been made to combine all parties in the Government of the country to reduce it to a state of order, so that the people might be able to decide the future Government of Russia. The Council chosen by the Ufa a.s.sembly had tried to work together for this purpose, but had failed. The final dissolution had been brought about by a proclamation issued by the Central Committee of the Social Revolutionary party, which was intended to produce in the new army the same conditions that had destroyed the old army. The proclamation had been signed by the Social Revolutionary President, Chernoff, and when it was proposed to take action against those who were destroying the discipline of the army, two Social Revolutionary members of the Council, Avkzentieff and Zenzinoff, could see nothing wrong in Chernoff's subversive propaganda. It later transpired that both were members of the Social Revolutionary Committee which had issued the literature in question, and refused to either leave the Social Revolutionary Committee or repudiate the anti-discipline propaganda of their friends.

This brought the new Government to a complete standstill, and, faced with absolute anarchy, the Council of Ministers had no alternative but to dissolve the old Directorate of Five and centre the supreme power in one person, to whom the Council of Ministers would be responsible for the administration of their several departments.

I answered that the reasons, coupled with my own knowledge, appeared to justify the action, but I had heard that the Social Revolutionary members of the Directorate and others had been arrested, and that if this action supposed their execution it would make the whole proceeding look like an attempt on the part of the old army officers to destroy the present arrangements in favour of a return to the old regime. Further, if the people of England thought this was the policy of the admiral and his friends, they would not only lose the friendly sympathy of the English people but also of America and France.

Admiral Koltchak replied that at the moment he did not know the whereabouts of the prisoners, but he would make inquiries and inform me later. That his sole object in burdening himself with the overwhelming responsibilities of Supreme Governor of Russia in this sad hour of her history was to prevent the extremists on either side continuing the anarchy which made the establishment of a free const.i.tution impossible.

That if his action at any future time was not in harmony with the establishment of free political inst.i.tutions as understood by the Democracy of England, he would be convinced that he had failed.

I thanked him for his good opinion of my country, and called his attention to the letter of His Majesty the King to President Wilson, received at Omsk on November 14, 1918, in which the principles of democracy and freedom were exalted, and warned him that the free peoples of the world would resist any attempt to force the Russian people back under a system of tyranny and despair.

Admiral Koltchak replied that he had read the letter of His Majesty the King of England, and his one hope was that soon Russia might enjoy the blessing of equally free inst.i.tutions.

Omsk, Siberia, _November_, 20, 1918.

From Lieutenant-Colonel John Ward, M.P., C.M.G., Omsk, Siberia.

To G.O.C. China Command. Through B.M.M.

Headquarters B.M.M., Vladivostok.

_Further Report on Political Crisis in Russia_.

Following my report of the a.s.sumption by Admiral Koltchak of the supreme Governors.h.i.+p of Russia, I wish to add:

As I was unable to secure any official information relative to the whereabouts of the members of the Directorate who had been made prisoners during the night of November 17, I wrote to the Russian authorities (through Lieutenant-Colonel J. F. Neilson) on the night of the 18th requesting information upon the subject. On November 19, in the absence of information, I sent the following letter direct to Admiral Koltchak, the Supreme Governor:

OMSK, 19.11.18. 3 P.M.

From Colonel Ward.

To Admiral Koltchak.

After our interview last evening I sent you a note (through Lieutenant-Colonel J. F. Neilson) asking for information and some guarantee for the imprisoned members of the Council.

So far I have received no information upon the subject.

I have already told you that I am sure my country would look with grave concern upon any injury inflicted without proper trial upon these prisoners of State, and I should esteem it as a favour if you can supply me with information upon this subject.--Yours sincerely,

(Signed) JOHN WARD (Lt.-Col.).

Colonel Frank, my liaison officer, took the letter to Russian Headquarters, and on his return informed me that the admiral thanked me for my letter and that he was pleased to be able to allay my fears.

Three officers, named Lieutenant-Colonel Krasilnikoff, Colonel Volkov, and Lieutenant-Colonel Katanaev, had presented themselves at Headquarters and reported that they took upon themselves the entire responsibility for the arrest of the members of the old Russian Government, that they had not injured them in any way, that they were prepared to hand their prisoners over to the authorities, together with several millions of roubles, believed to be loot, and papers which they had found in their possession. That the admiral had placed the prisoners under a strong guard of his own, and had placed the three officers under arrest to be tried by court-martial.

He further promised that no harm should come to them, and that he proposed to convey them out of the country at the earliest opportunity.

_November 20_. 1 P.M.

Admiral Koltchak, hearing that a supply guard of my battalion was returning to Vladivostok, has made request that I would allow the railway cars conveying the State prisoners to some unknown point on the Chinese frontier to be attached to my train for purposes of secrecy and additional safety. I have consented, and have strengthened the guard for this purpose.

Omsk, Siberia, _November_, 21, 1918.

[COPY.]

From Second-Lieutenant P.C. Cornish-Bowden, 25th Battalion Middles.e.x Regiment.

To The Adjutant, 25th Battalion Middles.e.x Regiment.

Sir,--I have the honour to report for the information of the Commanding Officer:

1. The train conveying the four Russian political exiles (Messrs.

Avkzentieff, Argunoff, Rogovsky, and Zenzinoff) and the Russian guard, together with a detachment of British troops under my command, left Omsk about 2 A.M. on November 21, and arrived at Harbin on November 27. The journey was quiet. Most of the larger towns, where trouble was antic.i.p.ated, were pa.s.sed at night.

2. I have since been informed by the officer commanding the Russian guard that all traffic between Irkutsk and Chita was stopped by order of General Semianoff, and that the trains were searched for the exiles after we had pa.s.sed, but I have no evidence in support of this.

3. The exiles expressed the greatest possible grat.i.tude for the presence of British troops, and said that they mistrusted their own Russian guard, though I saw nothing whatever at any time to lead me to believe their suspicions were well founded.

4. On arrival at Harbin the exiles strongly pet.i.tioned me to accompany the train to Chang-Chun, and the officers in charge of the Russian guard being quite willing, I decided to accompany the train to the Chinese-Manchurian frontier. We reached Chang-Chun about 2 A.M. on November 28, and the exiles left that place by themselves by train on the evening of the same day.

5. We reached Harbin again on the 29th inst., where I parted company with the Russian guard. We reached Vladivostok on the morning of December 2. I immediately reported to the O.C. Detachment, and I reported the before-mentioned facts verbally to General Knox.

6. The conduct of the N.C.O. and men of my detachment on the journey was very good, and no increase of sickness took place amongst them.--I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant,

(Signed) P.C. CORNISH-BOWDEN (Second-Lieutenant).

Vladivostok, Siberia, _December_ 2, 1918.

I had already gained enough experience of revolutions to know that if I did not press my point vigorously Avkzentieff and Co. were as dead as mutton. I also knew that my countrymen have a rooted dread of dictators.h.i.+ps, and that if Admiral Koltchak's a.s.sumption of power was either connected with or promoted by the execution of his opponents without trial, a.s.sistance or eventual recognition by the British Government would be made almost impossible. My own agents had discovered the place where the prisoners were detained, also that they were to be quietly bayoneted in the night, as shooting would attract attention. I was also certain that Koltchak knew nothing about this. The whole business was in the hands of an Officers' Revenge Society, a body who had sworn an oath to kill just the number of Bolshevik Revolutionaries as there had been officers murdered by Trotsky's and Avkzentieff's people. Both parties had similar combinations which left the marks of their foul deeds on the streets every night.

The state of affairs was such that only by a dictators.h.i.+p could the most rudimentary order be maintained. I, a democrat, believing in government of the people by the people, thought I saw in the dictator the one hope of saving the remnants of Russian civilisation and culture. Words and names have never frightened me. If circ.u.mstances force on me a problem for solution, I never allow preconceived notions and ideas formed in the abstract, without the experience of the actual then existing facts, to warp my judgment in deciding the issue; and I am vain enough to believe that, had the same situation presented itself to Englishmen generally, nine out of ten would act as I did. I merely "carried on." The traditions of our race and country did the rest.