It was stated last week that the Supreme Council of
the Allies had recognized the independence of Georgia. The Georgian Republic is now the only part of the Caucasus which is not controlled by the Bolsheviks. They have overrun Azerbaijan, with Baku, and they have occupied Russian Armenia after their Turkish allies had destroyed the Armenian forces. Georgia alone holds out, but is threatened with invasion. The Georgian Republic has a Socialist Ministry and has received the approval of Mr. Ramsay MacDonald. But the Bolsheviks, of course, recognize no brand of Socialism but their own, and they regard " self-determination " as a mere catch-word for use against " bourgeois " Governments. - The Allies' recognition of Georgia presumably implies some sort of readiness to help her in resisting Bolshevik aggression, but the Georgians would do well to depend mainly on their own efforts.
