New-York tribune., 1918-07-11
The Voice for Chaos

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During the last few weeks there has
taken place in this country very pro-
nounced reaction Of sentiment against
the Bolsheviki in Russia. The fantastic
nature of the regime that came with
Lenine and Trotzky is admitted even by
those who long persisted in believing
what they wished to believe, instead of
facing the realities. No longer is it pos
sible to ignore the implications of such
facts as that the Bolsheviki, protesting
that they would never make q separate
peace with Germany, delivered Russia to
the enemy at Brest- Litovsk; that the
Bolsheviki, protesting their belief in
democratic government suppressed the
Constituent Assembly; that the Bolshe-
wiki, protesting their faith in the revo-
luton, are now shooting the social revo-
lutionists, and that the Bolsheviki, pro-
testing that they abhorred German
money, are negotiating a German loan
and allowing the enemy to "exploit" the
assassination of the German Ambassa-
dor at Moscow.
Yet the German-serving propaganda
in this country for the Bolsheviki has
not been abandoned. 1t has only been
modified. For the subtle nature of the
modification consult "The New York
American" On June it came out boldly
in favor of Lenine and Trotzky. "Trotzky
and his Bolshevik colleagues" it said,
conceived true democracy to mean not
only theoretical political freedom and
equality, but actual political economic
freedom and equality" The American
people should understand, it said, "that
the Bolsheviki have committed no act Of
treason OF disloyalty to their allies" and
chat they have done nothing we in their
circumstances would not have done" TO
finish it's case it denounced as capitalis-
tic all who thought differently about the
Bolsheviki.
None of this may be safely repeated
at this time. Against doing so there Is,
for one thing, the fact that the public is
beginning to know the enormities Of
the red rule introduced by these two
great democrats" Lenine and Trotzky.
Against doing so is the fact, also, that
there now exists in this country evidence
enough to convict both Of them in court
of law of having sold out their country
to the enemy. We understand that this
evidence is in the hands of the American
government, and partly explains the
change of heart that has taken place at
Washington.
No newspaper, least of all one that
has come under the eye of hot popular
suspicion, would dare any longer to sup
port Lenine and Trotzky But they are
merely the agents. What Germany
wishes to maintain in Russia is self
consuming helplessness, a state of polit-
ical and physical impotence. And there
is still something that may be safely
said, provided it be said discreetly, to
assist this German end.
"The New York American" knows how
and says it. On Tuesday it printed a
full-page editorial under the title
"Much Misconstrued Russian Situation
Awaits Momentous Exercise of Our
Presidents Wisdom" Neither Lenine
nor Trotzky is mentioned. 1t is all about
the peasants and workers who rose up
and overthrow autocracy; about the
Soviet government, which resembles
the elements of our American democracy
which are the most stable and strong"
and which rests upon 'local self-govern-
ing bodies like the famous New England
town meetings." There is a fling at
Kerensky. And then it is proved by
falsehood that the Bolsheviki cannot
mean anything sinister or fearful, be-
cause it is only name-ten letters out
of the Russian dictionary. "The word
Bolsheviki," says "The New York Amer
ican,' "is itself the Russian word for
majority"
That is sheer lying. The word Boil
sheviki means, literally, the extremists.
The effect of the article is to produce
upon casual minds the impression that
the German chaos now existing in Rus
sia is a democratic order ordained by a
ma ioritv of the RrSeiap peop1e ord +ho+