Omaha daily bee., 1919-04-15
The Menace (?) of Bolshevism.

liz "CNdSC W VI DoisuCNAsAh'
Omaha, April 10, 1919.-To the
Editor of The Bee: The Bee has
| long been recognized as. you might
say, the advance herald of the best
| interests Of the state of Nebraska,
and as such has a power extending
far beyond the boundaries of our
| beloved state. 1t is a matter of
pride to Nebraskans that today it is
voicing the feelings of the people in
the discussion of the proposed league
of nations, and is we'll balanced on
that other much discussed question,
the menace of bolshevism.
I note that many look at bolshe-
vism as another name for socialism.
If that view is correct then the fear
of bolshevism in America is not SO
serious as many think. The greatest
menace of socialism to American in
situations lies in the insincerity of
the average socialist. They talk
earnestly and INCREASINGLY for So
cialism during the entire year till
election day and then ninety per
cent of them quietly vote the demo-
cratic ticket. The general trend of
sociaistic argument is toward aboli-
ton of American ideals and embrace
ing the entire world. The result is
they cover too much territory.
The present feeling of interest in
America, in my opinion, is not caused
from bolshevik influences. 1t comes
from a feeling on the part of the
great American people that Ameri
can ideals are suffering by reason
of misconstruction of the constitu-
ton by men who have taken oath
to Uphold it in spirit and action.
The suggestion has been made
(and comes from autocratic source)
that our congress would better be
abolished, but since precedent has
been established that the president
of the United States may go "romp
ing'' all over Gods creation and final
ly establish headquarters in a for
eign country, the people feel that for
the safety and preservation of Amer
lean principles the constitution
should be so amended that the office
Of president be abolished. There Is
no gain, seeing the fact that the
office Of president has become far
more autocratic than the makers of
the constitution ever intended and
much of the distressing discord in
congress Is due to that fact. The
strife between factions in congress
binders proper work by that body
and it should be the duty of the
president to smooth over those diff
culties by nonpartisan suggestions
and actions. The reverse has be-
come the custom.
For several months past congress
was greatly handicapped by the fact
that while we have a president, he
has seen fit to move to a foreign
nd hos 70 IN
in the affairs of America as far as
can be observed Had the Office been
va ant congress would have been
able to take more responsibility and
much more would have been accom-
plished.
In the next year the points sug-
gested above will begin to take on
more definite form in expression
from the people, as being a solution
Of the questions which are agitating
our country.
With new and unlocked for pre-
cedents being established, the rights
and desires Of the people are grad
ually but surely naught. The indie
pendent liberty-lovin spirit of
Americans will not permit such con-
ditions without making a decided
effort to regain lost ground. We
cannot and dare not try to cover.
too much territory such as attempt
ing to settle the questions or take
sides in strife between contending
foreign nations. Let rs take care of
our own family properly, and attend
to our own potato patch, and the ex-
ample Of right government will do
more to help foreign nations than
wasting time talking across the back.
YARD fence.
That is the surest method of prop
erly meeting the menace of bolshe-
yism. L. J. HARRIS.