Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1918-12-10

l8ooeoDeo - o4UusoetS Eos
Our Earth presents panorama u
which We hnd millions upon millions OF
square miles OF oceans, lakes, and
practically level lands. There Are also
bills By hundreds OF thousands, and
mountains hY some thouBands, but Of
the lofty, towering peaks, those which
overshadow oil tho rest, there are IN al
the world but comparatively few. A. tt
10 with the plains and mountains, even
20 10 i with peoples; there are millions
Of people. but Of those who BY nature
and personal effort are really qualified
to think and lead, there also are conn
parativsly few.
During the past two years We have
had the absorbing spectacle OF the mp
rising Of . vast nation Of whom 90 per
cent are uneducated. Regardless Of the
evils which the Russian people suffered
under their late, GEAR, II oanpot be claim.
ed that, 70 the present moment, they
have in any way bettered their condl'
ton. SO absorbed were those who re.
bslled In IN ideal, they through igno.
rance, could and did not comprehend that
only through wise and just government
u sno Sek8oss W0esNSO 70 .
liberty possible, or even any liberty at
oil. Intoxicated with the thought OF
freedom they became delirious, while
the pendulum swung TO the opposite ex-
treme. From yoke of grinding
authority they went TO no authority at
oil, for authority must be delegated to
and invested In tho few. Instead OF
majors and captains giving orders, tho
rank and file assumed to decide for tho
officers; In the navy, the crews told the
captain how to navigate the ship; and
shortly there was neither army nor navy,
but only chaos. To these soldiers and
sailors, untaught in tactics and naviga-
ton, Il seemed that to command success
fully al that was necessary Was to give
orders.
In statecraft there WAS moro evidence
of Judgment, where. men Of higher
caliber than tho soldiers and sailors
sought to guide the ship of state. But
here, likewise, the effort Was undertaken
BY those who-some really meaning
well-yet lacked education In the
management Of affairs, and thereby
came to failure. Even Kerensky had
not been In power sixty days when be
frankly admitted that many OF tho de-
cisions which - civilian he bad re-
garded a. highly ideal and necessary,
proved on trial to be both failures and
utterly impossible. And 30, belped like
wise by treacherous German advisers,
and pulled this way and that by count
less upstairs deter mined to attain their
own personal ambition, the structure fell
In ruins, rent from within and stormed
from without. And tho answer 10, the
small, unschooled mind cannot grasp
big ideas nsr execute them.
To tho new brakeman 40 he watches
the experienced engineer pull the
throttle and start the train, It seems %
though be could easily run 1t; the am.
bilious bank clerk sees the president
make loans, and thinks bis own position
more onerous; the medical student views
difficult operation performed so quick
~ and skillfully that he feels It 10 him
self to do the same In few more weeks
or months but only after years OF
practice and experience will these Same
beginners realize that what they 20
,houghtlessly dreamed can come only
through long years Of patient study and
exhausting effort.
And So with the well-meaning inten.
lions of the Russian socialists; they
dreamed of great reforms, only to find
that natural laws cannot be reversed
and that tho freedom they hoped for
can be bad only through wise laws just
~ administered; and that 10 the making
Of laws, trained minds, and experienced,
are tho absolute essentials. Instead
they worked social chaos, burning
homes and factories, destroying ware
houses and public buildings, all to no
good purpose whatever.
There are oceans and plains and also
hills aplenty; but of lofty mountains
that endure and command, and are
worthy to be looked up to, only one Il
set here and tbere.-H. 81. Windsor In
the December Popular Mechanics
Magazine.