New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1918-02-06
THIS HAS HAPPENED IN RUSSIA.


great rents and the roof keeps cracking
into great holes. The glass in tie win
dows has long ago fallen out. There
are two stories to this house and they
are filled with people. The upper story
is an enormous airy hall. In that hall
live all those who possess more money
than they can ever possibly earn, more
money than they know what to do with
the capitalist class, in short. TEey
have managed, by means Of their wealth,
to conceal all the decay and destruction
that is going on in their part OF the foul
old house. They have covered the filthy
walls with pictures and statues. They
have concealed the holes in the windows
with draperies and tapestries. They
have covered the rents in the ceiling
with a highly decorated roof. And in
the midst Of all this decay covered
with beauty-tkey talk and laugh and
dine and wine and dance and entertain
each otker in thousand fantastic and
extravagant ways. Now, just below
this great hall is another hall of exactly
the same size, but cut up into null
titude of small rooms. That story holds
the great middle class. This middle
class spends all it's time in mending
the house, patching the ceiling so that
it will not drop down on them, leinforc-
ing the walls so that they will not fall
in on them, keeping tie frame together,
in short, only by eternal and indesatig--.
able efforts. Fellow this great floor,
with it's many cut-up rooms, is the cellar.
And in the cellar, in dark and muck,
live the laboring class. But for them,
the house would not stand at all; for tn y.
hold tie whole structure on their shout
ders. They lie in tie mud on their
hands and knees, their very forekeads
in TIE slime. Above them, the middle
class in kind of unctuous complacency
go on mending walls and pillars, never
once glancing down to see what is tie.
foundation Of their building. And above
tie middle class tie capitalist class go
on tinkering with beauty, trying to cover
up horror, regardless of tie two classes
over whose leads they dance and dine.
l have never been able to make up my.
mind which Of these two upper floors
is tie most horrible At tie top they
are reckless and ruthless at worst; care
free and tLoughtless at best. On the.
middle floor, they are SNUG and self.
satisfied. They demand nothing Of
those who are above; they give nothing
to those who are below. But that cellar
t is terrible place.
''Tke people in that cellar live and die
in darkness and starvation and sufo ca-,
ton and disease. They never see the.
light. They cannot move. It looks
specifically jet black there. However.
it is not really as black as it seems;
there is "a little light. For everywhere.
weaving in and out among them, SO men,,
bearing tiny lamps. These men whisper
rebellion into tie ears Of tie people who
hold the pillars Of tie house on their
backs. Some Of tie men call items elves
reformers. Some Of them call them
selves socialists. Some Of them call
themselves anarchists. And their mes
sages vary But, although they are all
suggesting different ways Of doing it,
and some Of them perhaps not as strongly
as Others, they are all urging these; bound
men to do the same thing. And that is
to rise up in tEeir might, throw the pillars
Of the tottering old house off TIER Shout
ders and let it crash to the ground.
Some day they will do that. And you
will see race of creatures, sWart, de-
formed, half -blinded, emerging into tie
sunlight Of the great outside world.
Working men Of tie world unite. You
have nothing to loze but your chains. !
I would rather have written those words
than all shakesI eare. Ines Haynes
ruin.