New-York tribune., 1919-10-22

oehef ne cant seem to articulate "nro
German" or "Bolshevist." It 10 E..,
dIscouraging. We don't see how h. :
ever going to carry on a political aro,,
ment. e1'
No'ning surprises Us more than N.
awe with which sound and stable en-
speak of red propaganda" Everv 81;
torlal and every speech carries tho :.
plication that this red literature ;s .,.,
singuiarly powerful and persuasive strs
tha' anybody who catches g GLIMPSE q,
1t is sure to drop his work fortbu;.t
and begin making preliminary rou.,
draft OF a bomb. The same theory ~.
vailed about German propaganda dur;o.
the war, when we acted on the rr;nc;nl.
that it was better to swat q dozen IN.
nocent men rather than let one wri,;n.
agent Of the Kaiser escape. Yet. look;ns
back on that particular propaoa,s.
problem from this distance, it is ev;d.,,
that George Sylvester Vierecks .rh.
Fatherland' was more useful nuh,;..
tion in drumming up support for IN,
war than George Creel's Official R,,
letin."
For our part We doubt whether Ii.
red propaganda of which wa hear 81
much is really any such literary dvn.
mite as the conservative press Seems >.
believe. We have read bales of Social;st
literature In our time, and most Of !,
was not one bit more exciting than .ha
editorial page of "The Times. 7, -.
country in the world is radical thought
so poorly equipped with spokesmen n,
America. In fact, among the writing
men we have hardly so much as a sinoi.
eloquent liberal. To be sure, Americs,
radicalism does draw TO d certain exter,
upon the writings of such Englishmen q.
Shaw, w. L. George, Bertrand Russen
and Gilbert Cannan, but we do not sim.
pose that the work of any Of these men
Is Included in the various tons Of rea
literature which the police are forever
discovering here and there.
Nothing convinces US SO firrnlv that
red revolution in America is not in IN.
offing as the lack of writing men of tho
first rank TO promote it. Everybody
knows the part that authors of real
genius played in paving the way for the
French Revolution, and the literature
from which the Russian revolutionis,s
drew their inspiration is not only volu-
minous but brilliant. As far ss we have
come in contact with it, the written
thought of American radicals is mona Of
1t of the first order. Theodore Dresser
might be classed as a radical, We SUP.
pose, but he seldom seems directly con.
cerned with political action. Moreover.
although to our mind he is a man Of
stature, he has small popular appeal
Max Eastman Is a finished and graceful
writer, but to us not a persuasive one
At any rate, the further toward the left
Eastman writes himself the more def.
nitely do we find ourself edging over
toward the right. Upton Sinclair has
an earnestness and doggedness abou.
his best work which win attention bu,
he certainly falls far short of being q
good writer. John Reed was brillian.
IN his series of stories about Villa and
Mexico, but the more vehement his eco
nomlc convictions have become the NOR.
prosy style has he developed
Not only is there no first class writin,
man Of radical tendencies In America
but not one of our popular authors car
be set down as belonging to anything
but definitely conservative group. FoI
our part, we intend to abstain from al
trembling about upheavals until tn,
Lardners. the Tarkingtons and th.
George AIDES begin to see red sns
write it.