The Elk Mountain pilot., 1920-03-25
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction in
Europe Fellow the Great
World War2
WHY BoLsHEvIsM is MENACE
Governments and Men In High Place
Have Erred From the Beginning In
Their Methods Of Fighting
Its Propaganda.
Article Xxx.
BY FRANK comERFoRp.

great propaganda urlNe " uiihS
about disorder. 1t was, and Is, GRIM
inal conspiracy to destroy the peace
of the world 1t is an appeal to the
discontented. an effort to mobilize the
unrest OF the world under the red flag
of violence. In cunning and complete
ness bolshevik propaganda Is In
class by itself. 1t is poisoned publicity.
The bolsheviks carefully kept their
methods out of their propaganda.
They emphasized the poverty of the
world. They pictured conditions. al
ways charging these conditions to the
inequality of distributing and laying
the blame at the door Of the capitalist
system. They invented fine-sounding
phrases, in which they concealed the
seeds of hate. They quickened the pref
udices OF the people; they pretended
to sympathIze with the poor. They
urged men to unite and strike for free
dom. Had the governments Of the
wrold met this propaganda with the
truth and common sense. they would
have used every available agency to
tear the mask from the bolshevik gov
ernment and show the working people
OF the world the true character Of that
government and the methods by which
It sastains itself. The allied govern
ments contented themselves with tell
Ing the people that bolshevism was
bad. dangerous thing, pitfall. In
stead, they should have thrown search
light on II and let the people see Its
rottenness and its danger. Instead of
ADh do ON nHd
falsehood with abuse. fire with fire.
they should have fought fire with wa
ter, propaganda with truth, cunning
with frankness, and an enlightened
and educated populace would have
turned a deaf ear to bolshevik propa-
ganda. The "Red" peril In the world
would not be the dangerous menace
It is today.
Working People Took Alarm.
The working people noticed that 4
portion Of the press previously allied
| with the "interests" and against the
right Of the people. thundered most
bitterly ayainst the bolshevik govern
ment. This class Of papers denoanced
bolshevfsm. called It names, bit gave
statement q the truth about bolGAe-
vism. They were a. "red" N their con-
servatlsm ~ the Reds were false in
their propaganda. The newsDapsrs Of
this class have not the confidence Of
the general public; they ha~s long
been under suspicion. Ths Ssashsvik
propaH.ndists wers In . osttsf posi-
ton 10 Eet sssults than tAss eonser-
vatfve press, and for three rsasons:
nrst. the bdisheyiks had IN sympathy
Of the workers. Of the world because
OF their connection with the liberation
Of Russia; second. the bolshevfks ap-
peared as me under-dog IN the hght !;
thSrd. the conservative press suffered
from its past reputation ~ Ire mouth
piece OF those who stood IN the way
OF better living conditions for the
great majority. Many leading business
men. captains Of industry. followed the
example OF the conservative press and
denounced bolshev1sn instead Of ex-
posing It. These men were under suspi-
efon and their attitude eonnrued the
belief growing In the minds Of the
workers that bolshevism would benefit
workers IN their eWn cpuntr1es when
they sought better conditioas. working
people remember that most Of the re-
forms that mss come has been wrung
from the same conservative class; sell
dom, II ever, hts right beea con-
eeded to the wosk1ng class. They have
had to fight, strike for It. and even
IN this hour some Of the leading iig-
ures Of the employing minority call
men bolsheviks who are not commun-
lists, who are not bolsheviks. On the
contrary. they are good citizens, seek
ing, as they have a right to seek. a
larger share, a fairer measure of the
things they produce. These methods.
these attitudes, have reacted in the
minds Of men who toll, and have
heard many of them accept the chal-
lenge and proudly boast that they
were bolsheviks, although In truth
they were not.
L-a InvsstIsatazA s!asfalrixv IEsated,
Someone drew a curtain Of silence
around soviet Russia. At least SO 1t
seemed to the people. Men who came
out of Russia and brought with them
reports which displeased their govern,
ments were abused, their reports sup
pressed. Built, Robins and Steffens
are examples in America. The public
at once came to the conclusion that
these man had found conditions in
Russia good that bolshevism was q
safe, sane plan Of government; that
It was succeeding. OF course, this II
not the real story these men brought
out Of Russia, but the abuse, heaped
on these msn. the silencing OF these
men, spoke louder and more eloquent
ly than any report could have done.
An DnKiish paper went 70 far a. to