The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-06-21


a group of arbitrary masters Of help
less subjects. if they govern through
the obedience of those who obey for
the sake of reward, if they impose
their arbitrary will upon their people.
that excellent system of government
becomes Hague, thing to be held
in check, perhaps to be cut out. urfn
a clear conception of the responsible
ity of freedom under law shall pre-
vail So a concept of a. Soviet may re
wholesome and the reality poisonous
So Russia has reacted from one bad
absoiutism to another worse one, but
now seems to he cropping toward the
light of moderation, in which pro-
gress all wish her we'll
Remedies for BoIshe,ism.
One Of my associates has said that
Bolshevisn1 is anarchy of mind based
upon an empty stomach. and in this
form it has appeared in Germany ana
elsewhere. l suspect there is much
force in the belief that square meal
and a good suit of clothes are prac-
teal rem edies for Bolshevism and
that employment at good wages COM
pletes the conversion.
English labor since the war, while
il has gained, has rejected violence.
and we may fairly expect that the
English genius for compromise ana
the wide opportunity that the great
! British empire offers for enterprise
and progress will see her steadily
through the present trying days.
! What. however, do we find in this
country? Are we drifting. and, If
So whittier? What is the character
| istic of the flowing stream OF indus
trial life in America? Organized labor
| during the war took and held upon
the whole a finely patriotic position.
! Has it ceased to be patriotic today?
! The employers, the leaders of indus
| try, Of this country. took, upon the
whole, during the war finely pa
! triotic position. Are they less pa
| tr'ionc today? Have they relaxed
their nation wide vision. put on the
! srectacles of near sight, and can they
! see no further now than within their
office walls, or is their vision confined
to the limits OF their own factories
| We have strikes and we have bombs.
| Are these the symptoms of revolu-
| tion9 Did the Soviet which had a
! brief inglorious career at Seattle
represent the serious aspiration and
purpose of any considerable portion
or element of our labor? What lies
i behind the complaints as to our social
structure which pour from certain of
| our weekly press What are the
| deep. underlying forces in the life nf
| labor? What are the ultimate pur-
| poses in the mind of capital? II has
| been said. and well said, that that
nation will prosper most and quickest
| in which the relation between labor
| and capital are most equitable and
most prom pity settled What pro-
| eress are we making thitherward?
We do not lack in the United states
| the leader of capital who opens the
| mouth only TO put his foot in it, to
show that he is stin lingering among
| the flesh pots of Egypt, is wandering
| in the wilderness. and has made no
progress toward the promised land.
| We do not lack, at the opposite OK
| IRENE. the man who speaks plain
| words as he calls them, in which
( he says the social structure here IN
I America is so adverse to the good of
| the toiler that no course Is possible
/ save to destroy it and that social war
! and that alone is the remedy: that
| the alleged capitlistic classes sit in
! oppression upon the vast mass OF
! mankind and hold them down that
| they may fatten at their cost; that
the door of opportunity is closed 70
I the humble and no one extends A
/ helping hand to lift them up: that
| there Is no such thing as progress out
| Of POVERTY: and that our evolution,
such as 1t IS, is so slow and so cruel
that it must needs be altered to rev.
1 otution ere the average man will
! have his chance.
Time to Think.
It is comforting to remember that
once there was an heroic prophet OF
the Lord, who faced the enemies of
his faith fearIessly and then. over
come by a sudden and personal dan
ger, fed far for safety. There he
| found time TO think, or, as we might
say perhaps. to digest his thoughts
| tnaturely and consider his country
as he saw II and the things that were
happening therein. The story goes
that there came to him in his ~etreat
a frightful wind that shook the noun
tains. but the prophet saw that what
ever the power Of that wind and how
ever great it's noise his God was NOT
in 1t. The wind was succeeded by
consuming fire. Again the prophet
saw with tho eye of his mind that his
God was not in the FIRE. After the
Are there came still, small voice.
and then the mind OF the prophet
knew he was In the presence of the
Lord We are not to mistake the
noise IF the bomb or the fire Of the
radical or the wind of the weekly
editor for the voice OF the American
/ people
The Lord In our story could speak
in still. small, voice for His was tne
! consciousness OF power, which ns>ds
not tpebe turbulent to be strong. Tho