in-Chief. The Parliament unanimously voted special powers to the Government. Courts-martial are trying those arrested. No disturbances have occurred in other parts of the country.'

As the Esthonian Government is anxious to safeguard its credit and to be considered stable, I see no reason to think that its report is exaggerated. On the contrary, judging from supplementary information, I should consider the rising a more terrible event than it appears as reported. Detailed plans of Communistic action in case of success have been discovered, including substantial lists of persons to be executed. Had a Soviet Republic been established in Tallin it is likely that an Esthonian terror there would have ensued.

In the eyes of the other Cordon States the rising ranks as an event of first-class importance. The Finns were so much impressed by it that their supplementary budgets for naval and military defence were passed at once without a murmur from the Radical elements in the Diet. And although no cognisance was taken of the matter officially, yet it was greatly discussed at the Baltic Conference at Helsingfors, where representatives of Finland, Esthonia, Latvia, and Poland met to consider what could be done to serve their mutual economic interest.

Curiously enough, British Labour has been asked to render its sympathies to those who were executed or imprisoned as a result of this abortive rebellion, and we have the spectacle of an ex-M.P. of the Labour Party touring Esthonia under the guidance of an interpreter from the Soviet Mission in Reval, and then appealing to the British working men and women to sympathise with their persecuted brothers and sisters of the Baltic.

I gather that the Esthonian Government is stronger now that the Communist trouble has come to a head and has been dealt with. This political improvement also synchronises with an increase in economic stability. The export trade makes progress, inflation of the currency has ceased, and the crown in 1925 seems to be stable at 1800 to the pound sterling.

Nevertheless, though these factors favour the continued independence of Esthonia, it will be gathered that the political position still remains problematical. An aggravating source of weakness lies in the social and ethnographical muddle. Russians and Germans are strong elements in the new Esthonia, and these, having been dispossessed of property and of position, are not factors on which the Government can entirely rely. The working-class, though not ready for Bolshevism,

is discontented, owing to the difficulty of employers in finding adequate wages in the depreciated currency. Therefore, despite strong efforts made to quell Bolshevism, the safety of the present Esthonian republic, the northernmost buffer State of the European mainland, cannot yet be said to be assured.

The suggestion has occasionally been mooted that since Esthonia is a valuable portion of the old Russian Empire she should be held responsible for a proportion of the Russian debt. Soviet Russia, however, has publicly relieved Esthonia of any responsibility.

Chapter II. of Article XII. of the Treaty of Dorpat (February 1920) reads as follows:

"Esthonia will bear no responsibility for any debts or other obligations of Russia, and in particular for those which arise from the issue of paper money, Treasury bonds, foreign or international loans, or for guarantees of loans issued by various institutions or undertakings, etc.; all claims of the creditors of Russia for the share of the debts regarding Esthonia should be addressed to Russia only."

As Russia technically no longer exists, this seems a convenient arrangement.

It would, however, strengthen the position of Esthonia and other Succession states if it could take upon itself, even nominally, any proportional responsibility for Russia's debts. There is no diplomatic advantage to the young republic in being thus freed from Russia's debts.

VIII

IN RIGA AND DVINSK

DESPITE the famous limerick of the lively young lady from Riga, who went for a ride on a tiger, you must pronounce it Reega. The great city of the Baltic has a gentler-sounding name than those people think who will say Ryga. It rhymes graciously for the Lettish poets hymning the praise of their ancient capital.

Yet there are those who say they know all about Riga and Ryga, but nothing about Latvia. The Latvian Minister told me an amusing story at a farewell luncheon given to him recently by the Baltic Circle in London. A case was proceeding in the High Court, and mention was made of Latvia.

Before we go on," said the Judge," be good enough to tell us what is Latvia."

"It is one of the new Balkan States, my lord," was the reply, and the case went on. Latvia is the country of the Letts, and the Letts are a subdivision of the ancient Lithuanian race. Letts are Protestants; Lithuanians are Catholics; and their language is as close akin as Portuguese and Spanish. The Letts are a new nation but an old race. Never before in the world's history has there been a State of Latvia. And when the Great War began, Latvia was entirely unforeseen. Yet we have now a republic of several years' standing on a fair and not unprosperous land. The Letts of to-day, with their independence, have received a goodly inheritance of cities and towns, railways, bridges, markets. Latvia is not in a primitive state; it is well shod with stone, it possesses very fine buildings of all kinds. And Riga, its capital, is one of the finest cities of Central Europe. It has the greatest amount of trade of all the cities of the Baltic.

Riga was built by the Germans and Russians of several centuries. Though the red-peaked North-German roofs and narrow spires give the dominant note, there is an extraordinary diversity of styles and contours. The old cathedral was