The Washington times., 1919-01-12

Spartacus Stabbed His Horse.
Hr. Liebknecht, Take Warning.
Germany Is a Useful Horse.
Give Her a Chance.
By ARTHUR BRISBANE.
Copyright. Is1s.)


Copyright. Is1s)
In Berlin, the Spartacus gentle
men, extreme radicals, are not
satisfied with q republic. They
demand literal equality.
They cant have II until they
learn how to start every baby
even at birth. To do that they
would have to go back a few
hundred generations and even up
the ancestors.
The cart horses might pass reso-
lutions until the COW scome home,
they could never gallop as fast as
4he thoroughbred runner-for he
has been running in the bodies Of
his ancestors for centuries while
the cart horse has plodded
The man who has not read or
thought In the generations preced-
ing him will not make himself the
mental equal Of those whose an
cestors have been thinking for
centuries, or even two or three
generations. Very sad, but 1t is
true.
The cart horse, however, could
compel the swift runner to recog-
niEe the rights Of the cart horse,
and the man whose mind Is infe-
rior but who has the majority on
his side could compel the more
highly trained mind to work fair
ly. A real republic would do that.
Amy apparently successful effort
at absolute equality would simply
pull down the whole house of
civilization that Is partly built up,
and the majority would suffer
most, because they have more
heads to be hit by tn efalling walls
and they are not so quick-witted
about getting out Of the way.
Following Is the program of the
Berlin ultra-radicals who really
believe that actual equality is
possible:
They want to do away with the
police and cancel all debts They
want to take all wealth and divide
It up, all the people, to own all
the land, all the machinery, all the
houses, and only the proletarians,
meaning those thus far unable to
get ahead IN the struggle for life,
are to share In government.
There isn't anything especially
new about that program.
Il was the program In Germany
two thousand years ago, and more
recently Il was the program every
where, until men discovered that II
pays to give special rewards to
those with brains enough to rem
der special service.
Divide everything up and nobody
will have snything soon. II has
been tried, II doesn't work.
Declare that nobody shah own
ne hand. and nobody will culti-
vate II or fence IL or endure the
hardship Of winter on itor replant
the crops that fail
You must take human beings as
you find them, and the Spartacus
gentlemen with their experiments
viii once more establish that fact.
Here In the United States you
have a man like Edison starting
cut as what the Germans would call
a "proletarian." He used his mind,
developed the possibility Of sending
several messages over the same
wire, developed the phonograph,
electric light, and other things.
His brain brought him a great for
tune. although much less than it
deserves.
His ancestors a few generations
from now may be using the for
tune foolishly, perhaps even cor
rupting legislators with it. But
the people of that future day
should remember that all Edison
got and left his children was well
earned. Let them, with wise tax
alton, regulate Edison's descen-
(dants, but don't discourage the
new Edisons.
Old Vanderbilt in his little boat
from Staten Island to New York.
He had brains enough to encour-
age the early building of rail-
y-oads hare in TIA Fast larvae