Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-06-08

ago-a boy with blue eyes, a
tall forehead and a talent for writing
and later for speech making.
This boy heard his father say, not
once, but every day, that the railroads
negotiated for laws, state and munich
pal. and that they increased the
freight rates of all the men who OPP
posed them SO that such men were
driven out Of business, while their
competitors, taking their medicine in
silence. flourished.
Then one day the boy saw his father
hire teams and men and go to the
hills for coal with which to fire his
boiler and drive his engine. The rail.
roads had cut Off the fathers supply
Of fuel. because the father. in the
newspaper that he owned and of
which he was the editor, had declared
that certain railroads were corrupt
and domineering.
1t had been a fierce and protracted
contest between the father and the
railroad and now, in the depth Of a
northern winter, the earth like granite
and covered with ice and snow, came
the order that 1t was supposed would
cause the temporary suspension OF the
belligerent newspaper.
But coal was obtained and the war
went on and the boy. learning to set
type and to write, to run the engine
and each morning to get the paper
onto the press and into the mails,
became his fathers chief Of staff in
the pitched battles that eventually
released Iowa and brought the rail-
roads under subsection.
So began the experiences and the
education Of one of the ablest and
most aggressive socialists in the
United States. The boy was Charles
Edward Russell, who twice ran for
governor in the state of New York
and who, with Elihu Root and others,
was sent to Russia in 1917 by Presi-
dent Wilson on a grave diplomatic
mission for the government.
The railroads undoubtedly turned
young Russell into a radical After
his graduation at St. Johnsburg Acad-
envy, in Vermont, where he was sent
by his father. who was a steady and
enthusiastic Congregationalist,h he be-
came a writer by profession. And for
thirty eight years he has been what
might be called the friend Of the
masses.
During that time the faraway coal
incident at Davenport was Offset.
probably, on a thousand occasions.
For more than a generation Mr.. Rus
sell has been writing increasingly
books "a dozen at least), editorials.
essays and articles. Also for fifteen
years he has been addressing public
audiences in all parts Of the country.
Mainly. his subject. in type or on the
platform, has been capitalism and the
reputed iniouities thereof. 1t might
be added in passing that sometimes
1t is a serious matter to make foe
man Of a boy. Always, barring un-
expected events, he grows up. and his
prejudices often turn into clubs, with
which heads are cracked that for long
have forgotten his existence.
To this day Mr.. Russell bears
around with him in his coat pocket
the card that shows his membership
in the printers union. An agitator
he has been and now Is and. perhaps.
always will be, but he Is also stu
dent and a philosopher. Things are
not right, he says, but they are much
better than they were formerly. This
he admits, and then he proceeds to
explain his own formula with q COM
posture that distinguishes those re-
formers who have more to lose-their
self-respect for example-than a
Wanted hold on the downtrodden
classes.
Furthermore, Mr.. Russell and
others Of his category have lived
through and come out Of the war
with a broader understanding OF
American character. And the result
has been that many Of these men
have left the socialist party. which.
they say, when not reasonable was
apathetic during the bloody contest
with the Turks, Austrians and Ger
mans.
For once this nation was united and
they studied Americans In the mass
and not by divisions, and found them
sound, self-sacrificing and admirable.
1t was a tremendous discovery and
one that will hereafter temper speech
and written language to the truth as
1t Is. At his heart. It was seen, nearly
every American, whether he wears
overalls and q Jumper or q SIS suit of