The Washington herald., 1919-03-30
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE.

ideas Of property which were ac-
espted five years ago-have no
considerable standing And
strong group of these individ-
ualists-namely the imperialists
and the various monarchists are
apt to be found standing upon
the side of the Bolshevist revoIu--
tionaries rather than with the So
cial evolutionaries. That phase
Of the situation will be elaborat-
ed below. Just here it is well to
consider the difference between
the two Socialist groups. And
first let us consider the Bolshe-
visits.
Mistakes of Bolsheyism.
Now one hears in Europe a vast
AMOUNT Of conflicting testimony
about the operations OF Bolshev-
ism, about the crudities of the Boil
shevist government; about the cru
elites OF the Bolshevist rulers,
great and small The truth OF the
stories of their operations. of their
failures, of their cruelties need
not be examined. For the sake
OF argument il may be well to
assume that the Bolshevists have
made great mistakes in establish
ing their government; that they
have done wasteful and awful
things. Perhaps they have de-
scended into sickening cruelties.
They may indeed have imported
Chinese executioners who have ac-
tually put their victims between
dc 1H L.
middle! In revolutions excesses
are usual In the French revolu-
tion they chopped people in two
rather at one end than in the
middle, and the place where one
Is severed by patriotic fervor of
ones neighbors need not be q
cause for parting company be-
tween such loyal allies as once
the French and the Russians were.
Indeed the whole question of rev.
olutionary eNcesses may as well
be waived at the moment to get
into the real question at issue-the
question of property rights which
is holding peace in allegiance and
threatens to disrupt Europe. The
Bolshevist philosophy and not the
Bolshevist practice Is at the bot
tom of what is dividing Europe
A fair definition of that philoso-
ply seems to be this: No man
may vote unless he works; no
able-bodied person may eat unless
he contributes something of social
advantage to the state. Now IL a
man may not participate in the
conduct of his country, and may
not eat without work which is
recognized as socially worth while.
his savings avail him nothing. And
so all real estate is nationalized:
and that means houses. Office
buildings. farms, vacant lots and
land, all stocks and bonds. mort
cages and evidences of obligation.
Practically all property is nation
allied. The rich and the poor are
upon a common footing, as are the
foolish and the thrifty. the wise
and the prodigal. The applica-
tion of the philosophy of the Boil
shevist. put in practice. tends to
reduce to a common and rather low
level the whole social structure 1t
is distinctly leveling down. rather
than a leveilng up process.
ReyoIutionIsts in Control.
1t is better to approach the
eXcesses Of the revolution, from
the standpoint of the philosophy
OF the revolution than from any
other. Now these revolutionists,
however they control govern
ment-and that shall be con-
sidered lateT-do actually con-
troll it. They make the laws
prOcIaiminE this natiOnalizinE
of all forms of investment once
considered as sacredly shielded
by property rights. They regard
this naturalization Of property
as a sacred tenet OF their gov
ernment, and they consider the
man or woman who Tesists their
degrees, laws and pronounce
ments, exactly as we in our
civilization consider the man
who resists the draft and op-
poses a righteous war. They do
not believe in the Tolstoian
theory of nonresistance They
believe in the use of fOrce-dO
these revolutiOnists. and when
they find a property owner re-
sisting the separation of his
property from his ownership.
stand him up against the wall
and shoot him. or if he is out of
the country, preaching against
the Bolshevist war on capital.
they punish his family, his wife,
his daughters, his mother, his
children-any one they can
reach. Punishment OF the in
nocent is also a part of our
F-rF1 1F
we incidentally. but inexOrably
reach a mans family by legally
disgracing him rather than by
killing them. 1t is rot a serious
difference in actual results.
Political Methods.
Now about political methods.
The leaders of this Russian revo-
luton are fanatics; they believe
that in their civilization idea
lies the hope of humanity. They
believe that if they can install it
in Russia a great end has been
achieved. They believe that Boil
shevism will spread over the
world. And while these leaders
distrust the illiterate Russian
mob. and frankly despise It, any
methods which will give them
control of governmental machin-
cry in Russia. these leaders be-
Iieve is justifiable as a means
to a greater end. They believe
in majority rule only after the
majority has been inoculated
with their ideas. A careful exam
ination of this creed will dis
close its striking similarity to