Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-05-13
THE CHANCE OF RUSSIAN REACTION

One must Danish the conventional idea Of q cuun+e,-
revolution by the Russian aristocrats and conservatives
and accept the notion Of a diserchanted people rebening.
against their own leaders. The power of the genuine
'reactionaries is gone beyond recall. / Travelled across
Finland into Sweden in the same compartment with a
man typical of the class from which one has been led
to expect counter-revolution. He was a captain in one
of the old guard regiments. Every now and then he
relapsed into fits Of melancholy "Reminiscences and spoke
tenderly of the glories. the pomp and sp,endor Of tho
old empire-of the days when he used to attend the
wonderful balls in the winter. palace and was permitted
10 KISS the hand OF his empress But he always finished
bitterly with the statement that he was no Longer a
Russian. Not until my country has a government and
a flag of her own shall I again own or get foot in Rus
sia.' he said repeatedly.
There is pathos in the plight Of these fus1t:yes from
the country which they once loved and honored, bu.
there is little. chance Of a counter-revolution led bv
them.
The political pendulum has swung to its 1eft-mo.,
limit 1t has run all the way from LYON and MiIiukov
to Lenine and Trotzky. 1t is tinconceivable tina, it will
rest with the latter much longer than it .arried with
the for1per.
There is nothing unique in the political evolution
which has happened in Russia. 1t is natural for an
oppressed people to hail revolution as a millennium. The
cause Of their suffering and unhappiness was an in
iquitous and unjust government. Remove the govern.
ment and you automatically abolish injustice ana
tyaanny. This, I mean to say. is the way it appears to
the masses. The new government must either imme-
diately fulnn all the exalted expectations Of a new
government by the people or II is doomed to failure
1t is. Of course, doomed. The people decide they have
not chosen the men who really represent them. For
have not the people a supreme. unfaltering. If somewhat
= vague and undemonstrated wisdom which will make
errors and injustice Impossible? This, at least, is the
Russian Socialists hypothesis.
SO they delve into another political statun and elect
new leaders. Again the experiment fails. They have
not chosen the real champions Of the people. They dig
lower still. And SO Russian democracy tries all expert
ments and their failure begets a mood OF disenchant-
ment and discomfort which I have described. The pro-
letariat is beginning to feel and to express its doubts.
Perhaps the supposed wisdom of the people is a myth.
Perhaps at least until they are trained and educated.
it would be better for them to depend for leadership
upon the hated but more competent bourgeoisie. This
is the doubt which In assailing the sdisilIusioned people
of Russia In this way, SOLDERING public opinion, evolv-
ing slowly out Of the turmoil. is about to push back the
political pendulum. The question is. which experiment
has been least costly. least dangerous, promising the
nearest approximation to the revolutionary ideal. TO
this point the pendulum will race back and perhaps
stick. Perhaps it WIN stop again with Kerensky or it
may go back as far 80 Miliukov or some other repre-.
sentative Of the cadet party. But it cannot fan to 70
back. This will be the
Lewis In the Worlds Work.