The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1919-07-31

| indJuIily VI THO pSOPiS do q Siooo ny q
frank Dictatorship of the Prole-
tariat." Many of these Socialists de-
plore acts of violence, but they are
too willing to accept such acts as
inevitable and as the fruits of the sins
of Capitalism" and "industrialism."
At any rate, they are incapable of |
restraining the extremists, and must
accept full responsibility for their |
4 crimes.
AS to the practical results of the |
sccialistic experiment in Hungary one |
thing is certain-few are satisfied |
and many are disconnected. | have
already alluded to the fact that farm.
ers owning land and enjoying a rel
alive degree of independence are not
Socialists by nature. 1t is true that it
was only under the Karolyi Govern
Iment that the great estates are
broken up and the peasants admitted
to ownership on a general scale. But
the peasants were attached to the
soil They had visions of owning their
own small farms in the near future.
They distrusted those who denied
the private right of property. Con-
servative by instinct, the Hungarian
peasants feared the new Dictator
ship of the Proletariat" and stood de-
family in the midst of their grow
ing crops. They resisted the establish
ment of Soviet Councils in their vii
ages, and many were killed through
out the country. Bolshevism cannot
tolerate an independent class of prop
erty owners.
hen there were the workmen who
by frugality and honest thrift had
laid by comfortable sums for their Old
age. There were men who by super.
ior intelligence and industry had ac-
quired an. interest in or ownership of
the shop or business in which they
were employed According to the
Dictatorship of the Proletarat,"
such thrifty individuals had become
l members of the bourgeoisie. Their
+ savings were sequestrated with the
? rest. The barber who had only just
: recently become owner Of the shop
e in which he had toiled for years was
I now to 1e regarded as member of
v the hated capitalistic class. He
a could have no food card or be entitl-
S ed to any of the privileges of the pro.
g letariat, The number of such men
/ who had saved money and become in
: dependent was not inconsiderable,
and there were many other men with
# similar ambitions and ideas Of So
# briefly and thrift
e On all sides were to be heard sui
= len protests Many of the members
l. of the labor unions, though Socialists
S were most distrustful of what seemed
n to them a mad adventure Sober and
r industrious by nature. the ironworker
e and the wood worker could not ap
y prove of the confscation of the saw.
n ings of others and acts of terrorism
l. against people who had always been
e honorable members of the communi
d Is.
e The destruction of the old order
d without any satisfactory assurances
A. of wiser and better order could
N not fail to alarm thinking men. Il
r, could only appeal TO the discomfort
IS ed and to those in love OF adventure
Or 1t could not fail to demoraiize tli,
IL younger generation and disorganiz,
society.
IN Hungary, like Russia, had neglect
II ed its laboring classes, and has reap
10 ed the bitter fruits of its sins. New
rs ertheless, am confident that wis.
ID legislation by liberal regime, sncl
OF as was introduced by Karolyi would
at have rendered Bolshevism impossible,
n and socialism unnecessary. The En-
&C. tente by its stupidity threw Hungar,
to to the Bolsheviki In the meantime
o. blockaded and hungry, ravaged b,
~ war within and without, the resourc
lie es of the country are fast being con
Is sumed; its educated and productiv,
m class is being decimated Hungary i
ell now brought very low, and deliver
he ance is not in sight
to Many conclusions of an instructiv,
n character are to be drawn from thu
ut Hungarian experiment in Bolshevisn
The most important, 1t seems to me
IS are the following:
IT. |. All Socialists, whether you fin,
at them in Russia, Hungary, German,
ey France, England or the United State
er are agreed on the same Fundamental
of principles, and these principles max
ne a deep appeal. They may differ as t
by details of legislation and they ma,
to profoundly differ as to methods, We
is they are essentially brothers in IN
tie same cause; they share the sam
err class consciousness; worst of al
er they share. the same class hatred
They are united in the basic princi
ny pie, that every man is entitled to tn
Sc fruits of his own labor, and in its &C
&c rollary that no man is entitled t
"a. live by the labor of other men. Thes
lie men may deplore or approve acts O
OF violence committed by the Bolshe
SIS Wiki; they may lament the economi
a. blunders that seem effectively to dis
re credit socialism: and yet, they al
re profess the same fervid fanatica
N. faith!
at II. Another important conclusio,
n is that extremists who know exactl
al what they want and are willing t.
to risk everything to attain their end
Is. can completely dominate the modei
ed ates who are opposed to injustice an
n violence. A small minority of
I'd minority in both Russia and Hungar
have been able by their determine
of ton and courage to terrorize vas
10 majority
~ This is perhaps the most discourse
ry ing aspect of the situation because /
it. is fact blindly ignored by those in
e. tellectual Socialists, those near Bol
so sheviki In our midst, who seem Il
~ Ill