The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-07-30
THE COMPLETE Boil
SHEVIST
BY Marion Couthouy Smith.

larger says that Germany Is still
lager says that Germany Is still
acting on the hypothesis that there
is in the victorious camp a powerful
cohort which a be induced at least
indirectly to help her. There is such
a cohort, but 1t is not powerful: in
deed, 1t Is not a cohort, only a squad"
Assuredly we have to keep in mind
that 1t is only a squad. compared with
the great body Of n thinkers. zone
the less the squad in this country is
in a position to rouse some apprehen-
sion as to its influence on the present
and comma generations. Leaving out
the active element-the /. w. W. ag-
~itators, the bomb-throwers. the So
cialist Left Wing" which may show
merely a ~nenacing gesture-we have
an element to deal with that may have
a more sinister effect than its appar-
ent insigniicance would lead US to
predict. That is the teaching ele-
ment; those in contact, not only with
children in schools. but with the
young unreasonable minds that
have u~nbounded faith in their own
theories and in their departure from
tradition. 1t is just this departure
that fascinates them. We can dismiss
the young ''intellectuals' with a
'pooh-pooh," but the are among
/ iItoSF IN ttittt dlifi U.S. VET are QP-
termined not to be OF MS: and they
may lead younger feet into strange
pathways.
IAN New Is Right"
II am a teacher" said one of them,
in connection with a merely academic
question; and some of his hearers
wondered what his influence would
be in matters not merely academic.
How is it," the writer was asked
by another Of similar type. that you,
who are in spirit still youthful, can
follow the beaten track of the old.
in this crisis?" To him all that was
young was new. and all that was new
was right. There was no question of
reason or logic in the matter.
"Bolshevism,' says one who seems
TO have nothing in common with Boil
shevism except Its pose of departure.
lis the coming government Of the
world" Their is" writes another
"in the element you speak of" Il. e.,
the pro-Germanism of the viereck
following) "a true Americanism be-
You'd your poor conception"
"Reach Same End"
These sayings, accompanied as
they often are by a great show of
righteous indignation. and by some
thing akin to personal insult-for
your true radical begins by throwing
courtesy OFerboard-sre shallow, IL.
10 zeal. even absurd. the only sign.f-
them are teachers or ~literati, or-most
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. In very few cases
are they men of light and leading;
hut they are on the outskirts OF the
region OF light and leading, and they
are treated in%dulgently by those
greater than themselves. They are
going about, talking, p~ersuading, mis-
leading-always putting up their lit
tie fight for forces subtly inimical to
the reconstruction of civilization.
And they are-however. individually
Iunimportant--in the ranks of the
teaching element.
1t is curious to note how their vari-
GUS starting points converge. One
emphasizes Bolshevism, another paci-
ficism, another Socialism," another
forgiveness for Germany, another
sympathy for the Sim Feiners.
Many are Irish, many are among the
clergy, preaching a morbid and per-
verified Christianity. One thing they
can all be relied upon to promote: