The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1920-04-15
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction in
Europe Follow the Great
World War?
MEN TURNING TO BoLsHEWsM
Something Profoundly DisquietIng IN
the Constant Repetition of Word
Which Seems to Convey Such
= Sinister Meaning
Article XII
BY FRANK coMERFoRD.

l met a young American major just
back from the French front. l had
known him for many years. Before
the United States entered the war he
was one OF the many impatient at our
delay. He believed that 1t was our
duty to join the fight when the ruth
less submarine campaign torpedOed
the Lusitania. sending TO cold, wet
graves American women and children.
distinctly remember his face as he
read the headlines in the papers tell
ing OF the murderous slaughter OF
Americans on the high seas. Now
when he greeted me he startled me
with his first words. 'SThe war is over.
I'm bOlshevik." I did not know what
the word meant, yet it carried to my
mind On impression. and while the i'm
preston was hazy. it was clear at
least IN one particular. 1t sounded
like the confession of crime
He had always been Of a quiet, con-
sentative type. Before the war one
would have judged him to be pacifist !;
he was even-tempere(l mild of manner.
and still think that before August
1914, he was a 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 a SOL
der. In this respect he was typical
Of 80 per cent of his -countrymen.
/ had spoken to him the day he en-
listed, for he was one of those who
volunteered, who might have waited
for CONSUMPTION 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
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 q 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! Why7 I was con-
founded. confused. The only meaning
/ gave to his remark was that he was
an anarchist. The word ''bolshevik"
sounded red to me. It fiared Of the
torch, photographed disorder, Iawless-
ness-it registered blood. violence, as
sassination, force, hate. insanity.
wondered how this nine-lettered 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 1t kept that so
fOuled it's soul? What did it really
mean-had it a definite meaning?
Was it a bug like the ''1u" germ? Had
1t 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
1t a postscript to the bloody war les
son. prOphesying more anguish and
tears than four years fighting had
brOughtf Would the world. coming
out Of the war bent, now be broken2
Or was it meaningless myth? Was
the word a boyle, bad joke, a night
mare pressing heavily on a tired, nerv-
GUS worlds head2
Seeking Words Real Meaning.
Or was the meaning that men had
shevism the message Of a new Mes
siah being cried down by the money
changers Of our time in the same way
their ancestors had silenced the word
from the Mount and destroyed the
Message Bearer with the lash and the
CROSSE
In every mind was the thought and
from every tongue fell the word. Rus
STA had given the world a word. It
had encircled the globe. Everywhere
people were speaking the word-it
found Judgment in every brain. a Iiv-
ing place in every language. Its use
had become universal. The old, the
young, rich and poor, the learned. the
uneducated, the serious. the simple.
the toiler. the artist, the poet, and the
peddler. the tinker and the thinker.
held the thought and spoke the word.
Men. women and children spoke the
word, read the word, and felt the
thought it carried.
To the nine hundred and ninety-nine
It was word Of Ili-omen. a word Of
terror and fear. To the one In a thou
sand 1t was word OF hope, a light
for the feet Of a stumbling world. and
the nine hundred and ninery-nine said
that some Of these people called boil
sheviks were dreamers Of a strange
dream. that twisted Idealism had made
them mad, that the majority OF those
who profess faith In bolshevism were
sick with a strange, social fever, that
they were mischief-makers, ne'er-do-
wells. criminals, that they sought to
burn the world.
made up my mind that I would
learn the real meaning OF the word.
The dictionary definition threw no
light on It's meaning. I came to the