The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1920-04-02


been given more thought than human
beings. / am concerned with the dan
ger that these innovations promise, a
danger to the working men themselves.
a menace to law and order, without
which no one Is secure. without which
there can be no freedom.
Political Action Called Failure.
q ! heard speech In London that
deeply impressed me. 1t was applaud
ed by several thousand men and wom-
en--ayerage good British working peo-
pie. Most of the men wore service
badges. The speaker, a clean young
Engiishman of about thirty-fve, said:
Political action Is a failure. We
vote and we are betrayed. Political
parties are the agents of bands of
capital. Their purpose Is to keep the
workers apart, knowing that divided
we are powerEeSs. The only time they
are willing we should unite is when
war calls for men. What did we win
In the war; Nothing. We thought we
had stake In the game, that the hand
we were playing was our own Now
that it is over We have discovered that
we won nothing.
what did the working man ever
get by voting, except the worst Of itF
The word vote comes from a Latin
word, meaning to wish Who ever got
anything by wishing?
I'VE are like the story in BelIamy's
Looking Backward You remember
he spoke of a coach. On top of this
coach the capitalists sit IN the sun
shine enjoying the -tde- On the side
of the coach, hanging by their finger
nails and toenaiIs are the hundreds of
thousands who make up the middle
cfSss. Millions Of men are pulling the
coach. They are sweating and trudg-
ing-they are the working men. Run
ming along the side Of the coach are
millions more, fighting to get chance
TO get hold of the rope and pull the
coach. They are the idle. There Is
only one thing to do. That Is TO stop
pulling the coach let go of the rope.
Don't wish about tt: do IL The fellows
on the top Of the coach don't do any
wishtng-they boss and drive"
The crowd cheered. There is some
truth in the speech. 1t is true that
the working man has not had square
deal, but the fact that he has not had
fair treatment does not make the plan
of direct action a sane, wise plan.
Revolution would only lead to blood
and disorder and leave the very men
who revolted in a worse plight than
they are now. The millions who are
the majority have an infinitely better
weapon than force. They have the
ballot They are in the majority. Men
must think their way out of the will
derness- They cannot fight their way
out. When they try to they go deeper
in.
5oIsheVfsm Finding Favor.
I found the word bolshevism in the
minds and on the lips of the working
people of Europe. expected to find
them antibolsheyik if for no other rea-
son than that bolshevism came from
Russia and the bolsheviks made peace
with Germany while the allies were in
a death struggle with her with the re-
suit in doubt l found them confess
ing their faith in bolshevfsm, speaking
of it as a new religion, resentfng the
obstacles their own governments had
placed in its way.
In Ireland. the last place expected
to find a leaning toward bOlshevism.
| found an open devotion to it. The Irish
people are in many respects the most
conservative in the world. The only
radicalism they have ever shown is the
revolutionary spirit expressed in up
| rfSings for freedom. The Irish are q
| people of Renaissance and tradition
| The Celtic mind is devoted to form
| and custom. was present at the Irish
Federation of Labor convention hello
in August, 1919, at Drogheda. Tit
| delegates to this convention, repre-
senting 100000 union men and women
| went on record almost unanimously
for belshevism. / later learned tina
few of them, If any, knew exactl.
what boIshev:sm was. 1 asked lead
l luS Sp4Atl Vi lAtc SoANSnI1A Il hC uS
lieved in communism. the abolition o
the private ownership of property
and he said, ''Of course not; that
rank nonsense; socialism: impossible
and impractical" The pro and con o
bolshevism has from the begiunin
been partisan and prejudiced. Work
ing men are bolSheviks because en-
ployers are against it, and employer
are against it because the men are 70
1t.
Copyright. 1870. western Newspaper Union