The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1920-04-08
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction in
Europe Follow the Great
World War?
MEN TURNING TO B0LSHEvISM
Something Profoundly Dlsquieting In
the Constant Repetition of Word
Which Seems TO Convey Such
Sinister Meaning.
Article XII
BY FRANK coMERFoRD.

| PACK from tne ErenCn front. l hau
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 II 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 I'm the papers tell
ing of the murderouS slaughter or
Americans on the high seas. Now
when he greeted me he startled me
with his first words, THE war is over.
I'm bolsheyik." did not know what
the word meant, yet ii carried 10 my
mind an impression, and while the i'm
preston was hazy, it was clear at
least in one particular. 1t s0undeG
like the confession of crime.
He had always been of quiet, con.
seryatiye type. Before the war enc
would have judged him to be pa.iiist I;
he was even-tempered, mild of manner,
and still think that before August
1914, he was a pacihSt in head and
heart. 1t was only the call Of Just
cause, the fight for an ideal in which
he believed, that had made him a sol
dier. In this respect he was typical
of 90 per cent of his Countrrmen.
had spoken to him the dag he en-
tfg+A1 Gov hn nF r,st,p
volunteered, who might have waited
for consCription and claimed just
exemption He was i'm 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
a 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-
rnle. 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 boIShevik Why? | was con-
founded, confused. The only meaning
| gave to his remark was that he was
an anarchist. The word "bolsheyik"
sounded red to me. 1t fared of the
torch. photographed disorder, lawless-
ness--it registered blood, violence, as
sassinatlon, force, hate, Insanity.
wondered how this nlne-lettered word
had become the vehicle for so mBny
sensations that disturbed peace of
mind and sounded alarm.
Where had the word come from and
what company had 1t kept that SO
fouled its soul2 What did it really
mean-had ii definite meaning?
Was it bug Ike the "ilu' 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 10 men," Would 1t rrn
aroond .hs world 40 a sGonrge2 Was
/ a ptst@1spt 70 the bloody war les
sen. ptoptess'ng more Anguish and
tears than sotr years lighting had
brongbt2 Would the world, coming
ont o. the war bent, now be broken?
Or was It a meaningless myth? Was
the word a bogie, bad Joke, a night
mare pressing heavily on tired, nery-
Gus worlds hpad2
Seeking Words Real Meaning.
Or was the meaning that men had
read into the word a lie? Was boil
shpvism the message of q new Mes
siah being cried down by the money
changers Of our time In the same way
their ancestors had sifenced 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
sin had given the world n word. It
had .enclrcled the globe. Everywhere
people were speaking the word--it
found lodgment In every brain, liv-
ing place in every language. It's use
Hhb b'' UNIV HllN tiShls liAt bl't TIC
young, rich and poor, the learned, the
uncduculed, 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 II cgrried.
To the nine hundred and nlnety.nine
II was a word Of ill-omen, a word of
terror and fear. To the one IN thou.
sand II was word of hope, light
for the feet Of a stumbling world, and
the nine hundred and nlnety-nne said
that some Of these people called Dol.
sheylks We're dreamers Of strange
dream, That twisted ideallsm had made
them mad, that the majority of those
who profess faith In bolsheyism were
sick with strange, social fever, that
they were mischlef.makers neer-do
wells criminals, that they sought t.
burn the world.
made up my mind that | would
/ l"arn the real meaning Of tile word
/ Tie dictionary definition threw nj
light on Its meaning. ! came to the