Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1920-05-22
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction
in Europe Follow the Great
World War?
RUSSlA'S LONG, BLACK NIGHT
Little Wonder People OF That Unhappy
Land Are Blinded by Freedoms
Light After Four Centuries
OF Suffering.
Article XIV
By FRANK COMERFORO.


For nearly four hundred years Rus
sin waited for morning. II was ter
rihlc night. Brutal dreams tortured
her She writhcd In despair. Time
moved slowly. Tn" clock licked
aCouicS The mir was thick with
rroaus. Motherhood bore slaves. Tn"
cradle was a coffin Feast days were
celebrated by masSacrCs. Cars from
Ivan the Terrible. 1914 10 Ntch"thS.
the last Of the VomanofrS, executed
In 1913. used the bodies and Souls OF
human beings rs manure To f'rtllz'
the soil IN which the rank weed of
Imperialism grew. History cnl~ them
cmpcrors. truth lhbcls them hrut"s'
torturcrs. murdcroEs. They bore the
brand of Cain.
II was lghtlcsS day. hopeless
night. for Russia. which began with
the curses Of Ivan and cud"l with 10"
execution of Nicholas. During this
night of three hundred and seventy
five ycara they marched the tr"admlH.
The world heard the endless tramp "t
feet. In the dark. great bodies sWay"d
with WEAKNESS. Heavy shoulders
were bent forward Strong logs
marked time on the trcadmill steps.
They kept time To the lash Of the
whip. II laid hare their backs ia"
backs Of young and old. of women ana
children ms well aS men Sweat formed
: into red froth ms 1t mingled with their
blood. They grew blind In the dun
- gpon darkness. They stumbled ana
halted only 10 be called bnCk to the
I monotony and drudgsry of the tramp
9 by the lash and the bludgeon. Their
5 legs rose and fell-they marched, but
u never forward. II was left, right left,
right: tramp. tramp, and always on
J. the treadmill steps In the hopeless
- dark. They mumhed prayers. but God
70 couldn't hear the curses of their mas
Y tiers drowned out their petltionings
II was so dark In the treadniil thar
even God could not see. and so God
lie forgot Russia. Forgotten, abandoned
IS they bent their great weary backs to
ce ward the sod. the grave offered rest
II was kind. The only thing they
- owned was their pains. They lived
- communism of suffering, a socialism
Of slavery.
10 The revolution of 1917 battered
be down the door of the treadmill Seize
- with wild Joy, they madly rushed to
mt ward the light. When they got on
'at in the open. saw the sky and sur
ny they were bewildered. In the fury o
nm rt,chod IN Ism
strange II Is pathetic that eyes bl1nc
NV ed by ages VI darkness bllnked In tn
tiy light. Il isn't surprising that the
me tried to reach the center OF the SUI
u. Suffering In the light is different froT
to suffering in the blnck the Russian
oh- knew.
ore When their eyes became nccustoTne
TO the light they looked around th''
she 10 soe where they were-tO learn wh'
md had been happening In the str;rng
on. beautiful world.
Il Tremendous Task Before Them.
y They had n task before them. II
was building of a free mans house. n hou'
10 In the light. house without oa'
NH corner. They knew little about ire
he dom. except that they wanted II WI
I've nil their hearts. Their experience Ia
bcon with slavery. They knew lit
about the practical work OF buildiI
n bouse In which freedom might u
IL pure and secure
They saw civilization with the ey
and OF a surgeon. They gnsped when th
saw that its body was covered WI
n moIirnant sore II was an "
fostering running. growing sore. IN
cent learned its name. II was written
Is ,ba Ioudest of chrOnicles-it was I
not ,ncurable. horrible leprosy of
per. world. II was cancer-fo'bRl
lair. They were told that II was the cat
the nj the nasty thing religion labeled
that poyerty had transformed Chr
we're ,maves struck In clay into nun
g of hacked souls, that the sickening m
ring ,or running from sores caused the
sat ,,o,cbes on the worlds body kno
mus ne red-light districts; that other
focts were the swollen blackish D
were hoiIs tho tenements and slums. III
wore sbuddered. Even the darkness or
ence treodmIil had not produced worse.
,ople They learned about poverty ~
zelos read its autobiography. In II u
GUM reod how It had robbed childreh
tiers their childhood. erased faith from
nent. minds Of men. modified women
less d-oodful traffic. They learned
have much of the thing called crime
,ecial noverty's work, that normality
rock morality are matters OF educat
would Tint TO be good requires knowl'
were Of right and wrong. They read
some statesmen called poverty THE FIX
into LEM. Reformers called liza curse
:, the became unpopular because OF I
South nersIstent attacks upon 1t. In
ycrdict of a thoughtless world u
who fought poverty were called i
haired men and short-haired wol
saw peonle did not stop to remember
n her these long haired men ana sh"rt-ha
off to women gave Of their time ana stree
lrned
heart, Acorns as Human F o