The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1920-06-10
MEN TURNING TO BoLSHEVISM
Something Profoundly Dlsquietina In
the Constant Repetition Of Word
Which Seems to Convey Such
a Sinister Meaning.
Article XII
BY FRANK comERFoRp .

was one of the many impatient at on
delay. He believed that 1t was on
duty to join the fight when the ruth
less submarine campaign torpedoe,
the Lusitania, sending to cold, we
graves American women and children
] distinctly remember his face as h,
read the headlines in the papers tell
ing of the murderous slaughter OF
Americans on the high seas. Nov
when he greeted me he startled me
with his first words, "The war is over
I'm a belshevik." I did not know what
the word meant yet 1t carried to my
mind an impression, and while the i'm.
preston was hazy. It was clear at
least in one particular. It sounded
like the confession of a crime.
He had always been of a quiet con-
sentative type. Before the war one
would have judged him to be a paciist
! he was even-tempered, mild Of manner
and | still think that before August,
1914, he was pacifist in head and
heart. 1t was only the call of a just
cause, the fight for an ideal in which
/ he believed, that had made him n SOL
der. In this respect he was typical
of 90 per cent of his countrymen.
| had spoken to him the day ne en-
listed, for he was one OF those who
volunteered, who might have waited
! for cOnscHption and claimed a Just
exemption. He was in the beginning
of his married life, with two very
young children. By profession he was
an engineer. Going to war meant
leaving a wife and two babies, leaving
q job that promised advancement.
recall his enthusiasm, the Intensity of
his patriotism, his quiet disregard of
the danger to himself. | am sure
that there was little hate in his mo-
rale He saw a danger to the world.
The honor of his country had been
offended against. He was an Ameri-
can, one of those upon whom the duty
fell, so he went.
He a bolshevik Why? I was con-
founded, confused. The only meaning
gave to his remark was that he was
an anarchist The word "boIshevik"
sounded red to me. 1t flared of the
torch, photographed disorder, lawless-
ness-it registered blood, violence, as
sassinatiOn, force, hate, insanity. I
wondered how this nine-Iettered word
had become the vehicle for so many
sensations that disturbed peace of
mind and sounded alarm.
Where had the word come from and
what company had it kept that so
fouled its soul2 What did it really
mean-had it a definite meaning?
Was it a bug like the "fiu" germ? Had
IT come among nations to destroy them
and to the hearts of men to silence the
heavenly message, peace, on earth,
good will to men," Would it run
around the world as a scourge? Was
it a postscript to the bloody war les
son, prophesying more anguish and
tears than four years fighting had
brought? Would the world coming !
out of the war bent, now be broken?
Or was it a meaningless myth? Was |
the word a boyle, bad joke, night
mare pressing heavily on tired, nery-
ous worlds head?
Seeking Words Real Meaning.
Or was the meaning that men had
-ead into the word a lie? Was boil
;hevism the message of a new Mes
,iah being cried down by the money
hangers of our time in the same way
heir ancestors had silenced the word
rom the Mount and destroyed the
DOSAGE Bearer with the lash and the
ross?
In every mind was the thought and
rom every tongue fell the word. Rus
ia had given the world a word. II
ad encircled the globe Everywhere
eople were speaking the word-it
ound lodgment in every brain. liv-
1g place in every language. Its use
ad become universal. The old, the
Dung, rich and poor, the learned, the
neducated, the serious, the simple,
he toiler. the artist, the poet, and the
the tinker and the thinker,
ED the thought and spoke the word
len, women and children spoke the
ord, read the word, and felt the
fought il carried.
To the nine hundred and ninety-nine
was a word of ill-omen, a word of
rror and fear. To the one in a thou
md 1t was word of hope, a light
II the feet of stumbling world, and
e nine hundred and ninety-nlne said
at some of these people called boil
eviks were dreamers of strange
cam, that twisted idealisn had made
EN- mad, that the majority of those
ho profess faith in bolshevism were |
TX with strange, social fever, that d
ey were mischief-makers. neer-do-
Ills, criminals. that they sought to {
IN the world. Y
made up my mind that | would e
i'm the real meaning Of the word. s.
e dictionary definition threw no v