The Washington herald., 1919-03-30
Compare Bolsheoik Philosophy
With Red Rule Conditions


America it is the creed of the
Snug banker who used to send
out his heelers with a wad OF
money to round up his delega-
tion to the county convention,
which he would send to the State
convention, so that he might
have a finger IN the pie of his
state and Federal government,
and pull out such plums from the
pie as he needed in order to dis
tribute the drippings from the
plum upon a meek and docile
yeomanry! 1t is the creed OF
despots and Junkers and auto
Gratis and bosses and believers in
Representative government" ev-
erywhereI They only ask that
they do the representing. And
Lenine and Trotsky are spirit
uaI brothers of Wilhelm and
rammany and the steam roller
crowd everywhere. Saving peo-
pie in two between boards is
the way Lenine and Trotsky
function, knocking them in the
head in childhood by fixing the
school board is another. but not
method. Something may be said
in favor of each device by the ad-
vocates of orderly government.
And the one earthly desire of Len
inc and Trotsky is to establish law
and order!
War on Opponents.
The revolution, they say, must
begin somewhere. We control Rus
sia. they reason, so let 1t begin
here. In effect they declare war
upon every human being of any
country or cline who refuses to
accept the doctrines of the revo-
luton. So they go to Poland with
their army. (And they have a
good army. 1t Is growing stronger
every day, well disciplined, well
generated, we'll manned.) They
promise every peasant who fights
in their army a good house In Lem
berg. rent free, II they take the
town-a good house and a chance
to loot the unpatriotic persons who
resist the nationalizing of prop
erty. Slowly. by these methods,
they expect to conquer the world.
Propaganda is their meat and
drink. By it they will thrive. And
don't think that they are hypo-
critics; they are crusaders in what
they feel deeply is a holy cause.
The Bolshevist tyrant has been
fed all his life upon upper-class
tyrany. He knows no other way
to function; for society has taught
him no other way. And society in
Russia has taught the peasants to
respect no other form OF political
persuasion. So we have in Russia
society overturned. but unchang-
ed. The government by the work
ing class is as sure that it is dl-
vinely appointed to rule by the
iron hand as the upper class was
sure OF its holy calling. Each
philOsophy-that of Bolshevist and
that of the autocrat-is the phil
osophy of the right of might, of
the necessity of force rather than
moral suasion. And each group
plutOcrat, autocrat or Bolshevist is
sure that it is heralding the better
day
The oppos.ng philosophy is the
philosophy OF what may be called
the evolutionary socialist, the set
at-a-time op3ortunist. the Chris
tian democrat. The advocates of
this theory of political and social
progress. believe that the ease of
life. breadth of view and spiritual
development which are apparently
manifest N the so-called middle
classes of life, by all the rights
Of humanity belong to those who
work with their hands. as well as
to those who use their heads. They
believe that shorter hours of work,
better shop conditions. better hous-
ing. cheaper and better education
and longer school years, hence
greater opportunities to grow spirit
ually by reason of shorter hours
and cleaner environment and more
money to spend upon comforts and