The representative., 1900-12-13
REVIEW OF NEW BOOKS
COUNT LEO rOLsTOY GIVES HIS
IDEAS OF GOVERNMENTS.
WnuJd Aaolish All of Them-lEk p plains
How Imdlviduals =C9n Forward
Hiss scheme.
(From the Chicago Times -Herald.)

(From the Chicago Times Heraldo
The opening chapters of Tolstoy' 8
most recent book, The Slavery OF Our
Times deal particularly with labor
conditions in Russia, and therefore are
not of burning interest to this country.
AS one reads further, however, the IN
terest deepens, for the author states
his theories as to governments In gen.
eral and he shows exactly what has
been working in his mind to deprive the
| world of wonderful artist and to give
1t that more serious thing, reformer.
AS a reformer the illustrious Rus
sian is in deep and deadly earnest. He
is gifted with trenchant powers of ex-
| pression, and the fact that he lives up
| to his own teachings in SO far as he is
permitted, gives greater weight to his
| utterances. There are many, no doubt,
who believe him a prophet. But every
thinking person must admit that Tolls
toy, even if his reasoning be correct, is
so far ahead of his age that he is little
better than a visionary, so far as any
practical results are concerned.
Tolstoy has a genuine love for hui
manity, there is no doubt. He is sin
cerely grieved when he reads statistics
| which show that in England the aver
age length of life among working class
es is 20 years, while among the upper
classes it is 55 years. Such condition
as this he considers as subject OF
burning interest-a wrong that ought
to be not only talked about but
righted.
But when he informs us that all gov
ernments exist by force, and gives ex-
plicit rules to the individual by which
he may assist in the abolishment Of
governments, we hesitate to follow him
as leader, no matter how clearly and
cogently he states his position. Let
us without comment follow him through
a few of his most radical pages, that
we may observe the last stage in the
development of the greatest socialist
of the age Taxes, he says, are taken
by those who have the power of taking
them If nowadays some portion OF
these tributes, called taxes and duties,
are used for public purposes, for the
most part it is for public purposes that
are harmful rather than useful to most
people.
For instance, in Russia, one-third Of
the revenue is drawn from the peas
ants, but only one-fftieth of the reve-
nue. is spent on their greatest need, the
education of the people. The same
thing goes on not only in Persia, Tur-
key and India but also in all the
Christian and constitutional states and
democratic republics. Money is taken
from the majority of the people quite
independently of the consent or nom
consent of the payers and the amount
collected is not what is really needful
but as much as can be got. And it is
used not for the common advantage
but for what the. government classes
consider necessary for themselves-On
L
taking and keeping the riches of the
Transvaal, etc.
Governments, the author claims, are
not necessary. The cause of slavery
is legislation. Legislation rests on or
ganized violence. But organized vio-
lence is government, and how can We
live without governments? Without
governments there will be chaos, an
archy; all the achievements of civiliza-
ton will perish and people will revert to
their primitive barbarism." The exist
ing order of things is defended as
matter of course by those to whom it is
profitable; 1t is also defended by those
to whom it is not profitable because
they have become so accustomed to it
that they think they cannot live with
out it,
We see, however, that in the most
diverse matters people arrange their
own lives incomparably better than
than those who govern arrange them for
them. Without the least help from
government, duu OItou III opIIS VI CIiC
interference of government, people or
ganiZe all sorts of social undertakings
-workingmen's unions, cooperative So
cieties, railway companies and syndi-
Gates.
1t is asked: How can people live
without governments-th is, without
violence?"
But it should, on the contrary, De
asked How can people who are ra-
tional live, acknowledging that the vital
bond of their social life is violence, and
not rational agreement"
From the above excerpts it will be
seen that Tolstoy is nihilist. But as
he does not believe in violence, we
should perhaps discriminate by calling
him a peaceful Nihilist All attempts
to abolish slavery by violence, he con-
tinues, are like attempting to extinguish
fire with fire, stopping water with water,
OF filling up one hole by digging an
other. AS of old, SO now, people rule
over other people because some are
armed and some are not. Under the
heading, What Should Each Man Do?"
the author recommends:
He should, first of all, neither will
ingly nor under compulsion, take part
in government activity, and, therefore.
should neither be soldier nor field