Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1920-03-30


The Russian revolutionlst must b
a man and a half for it has take.
three men to write his life: AIber
Rhys Williams. an English socialist
Col Raymond Robins, head of tn
Rec Cross mission in Russia. and Ar
thur Ransome, an English attache A
the court Of Petrograd. These me-
tell their story and estimates Of the
mar firsthand. They were with hin
when il happened. This book is tn
first collection of authentic informa.
ton about the Black Prince of bol.
shevism, the inspiring demon of world
revolution, the overthrower q.
thrones, the manufacturer of history
while you wait, and the present rul-
er OF two fifths of the globe. Lenin
mastered n revolution to set up a
more far reaching one. His father
was head of a gymnasium school an I
became one of the minor nobility
mis- brother was hanged by the car
Lenin served his term of exile in S.
IBERIA, tren, forbidden to live in n
large city of his native country, was
driven to reside as an outeast in the
capitals OF Europe, and in 1910 had
forced himself to the headship CT
the international social democracy.
He did good preparatory work for
twenty five years and was ready
when the opportunity came to step
into the rulership of 10, 0O0, O0O hu-
man beings. So far he has held on.
He has built a government, has rals-
ed an army and today Is directing
the revolution in Germany. He is pic
tured rs a man without magnetism.
who speaks in low tones, without
rhetorical or oratorical efforts, has
never MADE the big noise or dono the
arm waving and clinched fist act so
prominent in men like Hiram Johi.-
son, and yet has never failed to car
ry an audience even when it came
armed With repeating rifles to take
his life. He had to leap from world
.obscurity to a throne. As O statesman
he was more than obscure-he was
what patience, what training, what
mastery of detail, what consistency Of
-
the red revolutionary impulse ittook
to achieve that sublime leap. And
1t is not yet certain that he can b.
dethroned, endorsed, or conquered,
until he shall have run his course.
Lenin has been accused of being
the hired tool Of the kaiser, coll
bloodedly b~etraylng his comrades for
gold OF junkerism. John Spargo, the
American socialist, accuses him of
herding the ignorant ana appealing
to the hasest passions. But he never
met the man intimately as these three
foreigners did who write this book.
At the university of st. Petersburg
we find him working sixteen hours a
day and winning a prize for a thesis
the visual organs of worms. In u
revolutionary congress in 1904 Lenin
introduced every question that he is
now trying to solve as the head Of
actual Observation-Disclosures
OF the proletariat, confiscation Of cap
ital and property, and the doctrine
of revolutionary action 70 its extreme
In the realm Of ideas Lenin
is an aristocrat with the preference
Of a grant patrician for men of brairs
1.-The only real aristocracy in the
world. lie once said; For every hon
est bolshevik there are thirty scoun-
drels and sixty nine fools.' He be-
lieves at heart in the absolute free
dom of the masses, as far transcend
ing the teachings of Jefferson as JEFF
surpassed the rankest tories
Of his time. Hear his faith in the ur-
dark people of the lat Q realm
Of the GERS: Make man free and
he creates. Under the quickening
touch of the new spirit there have
grown up ten new universities, scores
IF theaters, thousands of libraries
md common schools by tens Of thou
Let us quote Raymond Rob
ms, the American who has lecturad
Salem: Russia has a revolution.
Lenin did not make 1t. He led 1t but
he did not make 1t. Yet he does lead
/. And he leads 1t all the time, as
much us he can, toward work--to-
the task Of actually earning a
living in a living world. He is calling
engineering advisers now, for fac
DRY managers. 10 get them he Is
to compromise with American
BUSINESS men. If we make It difficult
his government to compromise,
will make his compromises ara
ret his factory managers whore he
the quickest and easiest