East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1919-05-17
HOLD AMERICA WILL
NOT GO BOLSHEV|K
BY c. ID. GRoAT

I Omitted Press Staff Correspondent
PARIS. (By Mail.)--That bolshe-
vism will never take any firm hold
/ In the United States is the statement
of American authorities here who
know economic and sociological con-
ditions both here and in the United
States.
They based their conclusions largely
on the fact that bolshevism has flour
! ished most extensively where the class
distinctions are the greatest-where
| the gulf between the rich and the poor
! is the widest. In this connection. they
pointed out that Russia was the first
/ nation TO fall victim to the excesses
of bolshevism. There the gap between
| the rich and the poor was the great
| est
Bolshevism does not surprise the
I men who have studied 1t. They point
out that every great war in Europe
has been followed by more or less
violent reaction. once it developed
into a struggle for more equitable dis
tribution of the wealth of nations.
Americans here who have been
keeping their finger on the pulse of
Europe believe that the pendulum win
swing back to more nearly normal
state. There has been much talk
that Germany would dissolve into boil
shevism. This may or may not be-
true. Some people coming out of Ger
many say they doubt it. The French
have recently been circulating what
purports to he a speech of Brockdorff-
Rantzau declaring that there Is no
menace of bolshevism in Germany, but
declaring that the threat will he held
over the heads of the allies in the hope
of securing a better peace than other I
wise would he the case.
Then there are predictions that
France will stir into revolution when
she finds that she must pay higher
taxes because Germany is not to he
forced to pay the whole cost OF the
war. as the politicians originally said
she would. But American experts
have told the United Press that they
believe there is more prospect of in
dustriaI unrest-and perhaps real
bolehevism-in England than in
France.
less Chance Here.
As for the United States, they say
that there are less chances of bOlshe-
vsm there than anywhere else. They
believe that America has prosperity
aneAu as Sp'H iS NtI Nbuuili'iiS al
readiusted. and they say that there is
comparatively little class distinction.
Some Of the experts admit that boil
shevism has been overpainted. One
high American official declared:
"T don't believe there has been any
more violence in Russia under bolshe-
vism than there was before. You re-
member the thousands In the Siberian
prisons under the Czar; and you recall
how many were slaughtered in that
regime Well there probably aren't
anymore killed now. The trouble Is
that bolshevism is simply a new form
of autocracY. 1t seeks to impose the
reverse of the former system.'
| None of the Americans thinks. that
! food is cure all for bolshevism, but
these experts do believe that food will
help. They point out that is has
worked we'll so far in Austria. that II
had a tendency to keep down violence
| IN Hungary. and that Russia is think
ing more sanely under the spur OF
! hunger.
! "If these people could have food
4 they would become more normal" u"
said one expert They would realize
4 that bolsheviSm is an extreme which
IL impractical
The experts do agree that a new in
dustriaI and economic. era is upon the
world