The Elk Mountain pilot., 1920-03-25
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction in
Europe Follow the Great
World War;
HUMAN NATURE VS.. lDEALIsM
Communicate Theory Of Ownership Of
Land, Put to the Test In Russia,
Has Proved Dire Failure
In Practice.
Article XVI.
BY FRANK coMERFoRD.

BY FRANK CoMERFoRp.
The bolshevik government seized In
dustry: the working men took over
the factories. 1t was part Of the plan
Of communism. The promise was that
the socialization of industry would in
crease production and free the work
ers from exploitation. The owners and
managers were driven from the plants.
These men were of the bourgeois class.
They had no place In the new scheme
Of things. They were tainted" with
success. They had intelligently and
emciently built up their industries.
This was enough. The bolshevik gov
efnment denied them citizenship and
drove them from the enterprises they
had built.
Everything was to be owned in
common: private property Of all kinds
had been abolished. The men who
worked in the factories or mills were
to be their own bosses. They were
part OF the state, and the state owned
and operated everything. The gov
'ernment Of the factory was to be by
committee, every man was the equal
Of every other man: orders were given
and orders taken with this thought in
mind. The result was insubordina-
ton. Every man was boss; all sys-
tenn banished; system made slaves
Down with system! The business
brains having been driven out, insub-
ordination having come In, produc-
tion declined until 1t almost ceased.
many workers gave up in disgust and
returned to their villages. The exodus
from Petrograd was marked. Prior
to 1915 Petrograd was a city Of nearly
100000. In 1918 Its population had
ahrunk to less than 100000. Fac
tories closed. Again the theory Of
communism. when put to the test.
failed.
Tretxisy Had Remedy.
Tfotxky. in confessing the failure Of
the boishsvik program to successfully
sociafixe industry. charged II to the
"sabotags Of the intellectuals." By
this he meant that the bolshsv1ks
drove the specialists, the technicians
and managers Of industry. out Of busi-
ness; that the working men, mot hav.
ing the training for these places 10
auirins special skill and knowledge.
We're unable ehlcienuy and successfully
to barry on the business. Having
&6lnted out tho cause Of the failure.
he presented I fsMedy. He truly said
thst the intellectuals have the benefit
& special training, education and ex-
perience. and that shops and factories
filled with machines. material and
working men. cannot be run without
the skilled manager. the intelligent,
experienced foreman. But Trotxky
has not lost faith In the plan Of In
dustrial communism. nor has he lost
belief In the theory that II can be
made to Increase production. He
saws that the bourgeois brains. when
forced into the factories BY the state.
do not work With the same ambition
to make q success Of the business that
they did when 1t was their private
property and they had personal-profit
interest in its success. Thus they
are guilty Of Withholding their best
from factory management under the
bolshevik scheme Of communism.
This he calls the sabotage Of the in
teliectuals." To eliminate this DIM
Guilty he proposes that the bolshevik
government turn its attention to the
education of the, working men. pro-
vide technical schools and schools
teaching business management, and
in this manner make competent man
ayers and technical experts out oe
workingmen. 1t Is his opinion that
workingmen educated to be experts
and managers would retain their class
sympathy and their interest in the sue
cess of the class struggle.
Had Forgotten Human Nature.
The bolsheviks IRE strong on theory.
Trotzky fails to take into consldern-
tion some simple fundamental truths.
He fails to reckon with human ma
ture as It Is. He thinks Of 1t as 1t
should be. Let us take an example
which illustrates and emphasizes the
difference between bolshevik theory
and practical experience. Let us sup
pose that the bolshevik government es-
tablIshes schools for the purpose of
training men in business management
and for technical work. Then enroll
in these schools workingmen who. Mt
the time. arc entirely Glass con-
scious." They are ardent communists
when they enter the front door Of the
school on the flrst day Of their attend
apce. They attend school for several
wears, The time spent In school and
the education given to the men makes
4. change In them. They become con.
.c,oue NJ fhe mower of education, Of