Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-04-17
STATE SOCIALISM YIELDS
BITTER FRUIT IN EUROPE
Slow Recovery Of Old Central EN-
pires Is Traceabie, at Least
In Part, to Too Much
GoNernment

W paralysis of Europe can be at
tributed to so many different causes
that almost any facilc commentator can
make out a momcntarily passable case
it Is significant that conditions are most
desperate in countries which have re-
garded socialism as a prime agent Of
reconstruction. This view excludes
Russia, for there the principles of COM
munism in vogue are scparablc from the
socialiStic ideals which have stirred and
inspired a brilliant series of enthusiasts
from Plato and More to Herbert Spen-
Ger and Henry George.
The socialism which the post war
Germany and Austria and the new
Czecho- Slovakia have been trying out
is aimed toward emancipation and
bcneficcnt uplift. The aftermath Of war
upon which the foundations of such a
policy were laid must. of course, have
handicapped any remedy, red, reaction
ary. socialistic or democratic. But
whatever the obstacles. the fact remains
that theories of government. cherished
in various guises for centuries. have
been put into practice. and that much
misery and bur,/'n of peculiarly irk-
some restrictions accompany the result.
B. F. Kospoth, European correspond
ent Of the EVENING PUBLIC LEDGER
in an article printed elsewhere in this
newspaper, indeed attributes the Ger
man delay in fulfilling the treaty terms
to governmental machinery which has
made the route to economic recovery
exceedingly rough. Socialistic taxation
has been onerous. A complicated bu-
reaucracy has replaced the old tyran-
nous imperialistic system. The ex-
change is something which by no means
accords with traditional American no.
tions of democracy, with n once lauded
system of free competition and with the
concept of liberty sought through indi-
vidualistic progress.
There are. however citizens in this
republic today who stigmatize such
doctrines as hopclessly old fashioned.
There are we'll meaning analysts of our
social and governmental structure who
have looked and are still looking toward
socialism as cure for many ills. 1t
is fair to refer them to a contemporary
adventure. For despite the impossi-
bility of reading tho European situation
as an incontrOvertible test, certain reali :
ties can be considered and they are
highly suggestive. 1t may be profitable
to remind ourselves that no actual trial
OF socialistic government by a major
nation was ever made prior to the
great war.
For the system in theory there was.
of course, no lack of apologists. While
united in certain elemental beliefs, these
spokesmen of new order viewed the
case from widely disparate angles. The
hypothesis Of a socialistic session at
tended by Plato. Campanella. More,
Robert Owen, st. Simon. Fourier
Rebel. Marx, Lassalle. Carlyle. Nor
ris. Ruskin, Henry George. Bellamy,
Jaures and Ebert. however interesting
does not inspire thoughts of harmony
And yet one tenet may be regarded as
congenial to these variegated minds. II
is possible to view them all as advocates
of benign yet vigorous extension of
governmental authority, as champions
of reform through the aggrandizement
of the state.
In some degree these rcformcrs were
all patPrnaliStS. SO also in some de :
gree are numerous contemporary Amer
leans, even those who are convinced
that they are standing for the freedom
of the individual.
The truth Is. and it may as we'll he
faced. that state socialism has made
impressive progress since the glowing
days of 1S4S, and that sometimes its
growth has been 50 subtle that it is
scarcely realized. Governmental func-
tion has immensely broadcncd Special
legislation abounds.
Resistance to the movement is. how
ever. increasing in the United States.
particular example of this attitude
is the return of the railroads to private
hands. The bulk of public opinion was
"mphatically against government own
ership. The prevalent disposition here
is to cling to democracy, when it con
tlicts with state socialistic methods.
In shattered Central Europe after
the war popular sentiment moved in
the opposite direction. The forces to
which we have looked there for a re-
cOvery. necessary to the whole world
have not been bolShevistic. That is alto :
gcthPr another story. But those influ
Pnccs which stood for order in shattered
Germany and Austria and in the new =
born Czecho Slovakia have avowedly
carried a well meaning socialism to a
new extreme.
Time was when Endorsement of such
a course would have been called lad =
vanced.' Eminent scholars and NH =
losOphers subscribed to state socialism
as the successor of indivdualistic dem
oCraCy. Now that the long -envsaged
experiment has at last been made. a
survey Of its effects has practical per
tinencc.
Mr., Kospoth paints the results of
eighteen months of socialism in Central
Europe as disastrous. A new bureau
Cracy has emerged which, however meri =
torious its intentions, has ministered In
oppression. The dissatisfaction of the
mass of citizens has resulted in a diyi =
sion which clouds the future. NAL
contents among the radicals have drifted
toward bolshevism. Another element
has pursued political salvation under
the equally detestable banner of junker
autOCracy.
1t was these classes which provoked
the recent upheaval in Germany. De.
mocracy is squeezed between them.
The soCialistic governments have
been wastrels, squandering funds in
multifarious machinery formerly left to
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