The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-12-11

n community whjch lad demonstrated
the possibility ~ anarChi-m as WORM
able loci "A v lem mir Maud" describes.
rolstoy ~ n -ChriStI'n an ar hist- cor
rsctly. If the WI rhIng- are coTnpatioiet
and whose example would have bsen in
valuable Ia hi PROPAGANDA Cniortn-
hately the facts do not iii that view or
the case. declares MIR Mitide. who n
eminenilv qualified 20 ,udg" from his
close personal connection with the trans
portation of the huge colony from the
Caucasus In Canada. and still more un-
fortunately. the Tolstoyan-. anxious that
the facts should tit their theory. were
extraordinarily blind "a what was fairly
obvious To other beholdsrs. In was with
this mistaken view of the case that Tolstoy
wrote Ia Nerigin. The latter. who was
accustomed Ia he regarded by the ortho-
doN pouk hobors az an incarnation Of the
Deity. was quite unaccustomed TO play
second fiddle To any one; accordingly ON
coming into communication with the
Tol~toyan- in exile he set himself 10 so one
better than Tolstoy For instance. ne
suggested that people ought not 10 TIE
satisfied with making their own boots
"a hit at TohstoyI. hut ought 10 give up
the use Of all things made of metal,
since 20 obtain metal men have Ia be -ent
To labor in the mines lie also elaborated
n suggestion Tolsroy himself had made.
that tn. writing and printing Of books
is an evil. for the books are often harmful
and their production inv Olives An immense
expenditure Of labor which might be de-
voted TO tn. produCtion OF food ana
sh.ler for those who are in need.
The tendency IN rolstoy's nature TO
contradiction prompted him to point out
in reply the good books do. and e-pe-
c,allv tn. fact that there are 70 many
harmful books already IN the world that
TN. evil can now only be- met by writing
better books. n. also had something
sensible to -av about mining. After
setting forth these details with suitable
quotations from TolStoy's letters. Mr..
Maude plthly remarks. Reading theS~
letters. one regrets that 40 many people
Including myself have often urged
Tolstoy to tie more moderate and to rec
Ognize Ihe good side of existing industry
and institutions Had he but been sur
rounded nv people who played IN another
octave and outran him IN the adoption
of extreme conclusions We might have
had from him many more letters like these,
full OF sound. practical sense and show
ing an appreciation Of things A. they are
Unfortunately no one hit upon the ex-
ped..nt of oItCrowing him Systematically.
though MIR. Maud. elsewhere taxes Vladi-
mir TChertkoff with doing essentially
that very thing. with most disastrous
conseuuenCe- a. the world now knows.
and by the time Nergin adopted thaf
pleasing diversion Tol-toy had reached
the habit Crusted age 81 IS We use tho
words pleasing diversion adyis~dly.
and though we are running far in advance
Of our chronological order We may COM
p,ste that picture at this point. because
the consequences were destined to he eK-
perienced IN America.
VeriEin cont inued TO amuse his leisure
nv writing letters TO the Tolstoyans sug-
costing the moral desirabiilty OF setting
our horses ard cattle FREE, from the slsv-
erv Of having to serve vs.. and of ceasing
TO spoil rha earth by IIllage. Why not
live IN A warm climai. where fruits and
nut. riu.n Of themselves and man - free
To spend his lif. in cont enplation' Toll
s,ov 10 show the wrongfulne-a of modern
business and polit ics had dwelt on the eS
amp. of hrist and Verigin again went him
one better by pointing out thar we must
live a. H.. iiv ed. and We see that Christ did
no physical work nor did the Apo-t les
Moreover. II the place of residence il
rightly chosen clot hing il unnecessary
though Christ and the Apostles ate bread
and wore clothing because they were NOT
able all AZ once 10 go naked But Veri-
yin had no more idea Of adopting these
ideas himself than he had OF imposing
them on has followers he took good care
10 wrIt. hem only 20 he Tolls, oy ans. who
probably devoted due thought TO the ar
.,umen's and kept then, out Of the way of
the Doukhobors BY n strange irony OF
fate however those letters eventually
fell into he hands Of the Doukhobor-
and wor. responsible" for the pilgrimage
through Canada and the nudity paraie-
which cau4..i 20 much scandal and rouble
few wears lar.r
In his youth Tolstoy was evidently
much like other healthy. vigorous young
men with strong animal passions he
made. good resolutions and wrote them
down and hrok. them. like all the rest
II tn. we'll meaning world Then he
rryilarly rep.nted as not all IN. world
does and recorded his lap-.- and re-
p.ntanc. n very few comparatively
car" to do Resolving and rep"n,in9
appear :" b. tn" only stable feature 81
this period. for h. changed hi- course ~
study Irr"levantly AZ the kazan CnIv"r-
,tv. resolved 10 Engage IN civilian state
-.rvIc. and in military servIc. almost
simultaneously vowed h. would live
forever IN 81. Petersburg but departed 10
Moscow and the country. and at last az
the. aga II -. wishing 10 economic and
, pay ~ his gambling debts a. well as
20 c.cap, from IN. powerful fascina ions
,, ~ the gypsy choira which he and mis-
brother S@rgIus. also very susceptible
80 their charm. got 10 VISIT Sssnay
Polyana. he set ont for the Caucasus.
: In the career thus adopted. which led
, later 80 his sketches 81 5s.ba~topol and MS
= theory of non-resisranc.-. he found LEISURE
t. max. his first literary efforts. which
caused him - h" regarded AZ 81 great