Polk County news. [volume] (Benton, Tenn.) 191?-1983, 1920-04-01
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction in
Europe Follow the Great
World War;
MEN TURNING TO BoLSHEVISM
Something Profoundly Disquieting in
the Constant Repetition of Word
Which Seems to Convey Such
Sinister Meaning.
Article XII
BY FRANK coMERFoRD.


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 it was our
duty to join the fight when the ruth
less submarine campaign torpedoed
the Lusltania, sending to cold, wet
| graves American women and children.
| / distinctly remember his face as he
read the headlines in the papers tell
| ing of the murderOus slaughter of
/ Americans on the high seas. Now
when he greeted me he startled me
with his first words, "The war is over.
I'm bolshevik." ] did not know what
the word meant. vet 1t carried to my
mind an impression. and while the i'm
preston was hazy, 1t was clear at
least In one particular. 1t sounded
like the confession of crime
He had always been of a quiet, con-
seryative type. Before the war one.
would have judged him to be paeifist;
he was eyenstenipered mild Of npannera
and ! stin think that before Ii ssan,,
1914. III Aas u aaellsst hi \
heaaa. L ssass isr saiI u lsSf7
cause, the fight Tor an ideal in which
he believed. that had made him sol
dier. In this respect he was typical
of 80 per cent of his countrymen
| had spoken to him the day he en-
listed, for he was one of those who
volunteered, who might have waited
for conscriptfon and claimed just
exemption. He was in the beginning
of his married life, with two very
young children. BY profession he was
an engineer. Going to war meant
leaving wife and two babies, leaving
a job that promised advancement. l
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-
rale He saw a danger to the world.
The honor of his country had been
against. He was an Ameri- |
can, one of those upon whom the duty !
fell, so he went.
He a bolshevik! Why? | was con-
uuuuCu, lhC pllIS IlIdIIIS
gave to his remark was that he was
an anarchist. The word "bolshevik"
red TO me. 1t flared Of the
orch, photographed disorder, lawleSs
less-it registered blood, violence, as
'assination, force hate, insanity. l
how this nine-lettered word
lad become the vehicle for so many
sensations that disturbed peace of
mind and sounded alarm.
Where had the word come from and
what company had 1t kept that so
ouled its soul? What did it really
1t definite meaning?
Vas 1t a bug like the "flu" germ? Had
come among nations to destroy them
nd to the hearts of men to silence the
message, "Peace, on earth,
,ood will to men," Would it run
round the world as a scourge? Was
/ a postscript to the bloody war les
on, prophesying more anguish and
ears than four years fighting had
rOught? Would the world coming
ut of the war bent now be broken?
Or was 1t a meaningless myth? Was
he word hogle, bad joke, a night
rare pressing heavily on a tired, nerv-
us worlds head?
Seeking Words Real Meaning.
Or was the meaning that men had
cad into the word lie2 Was bol-
hevlSm the message of new Mes
ah being cried down by the money
hangers Of our time In the same way
leir ancestors had silenced the word
'om the Mount and destroyed the
Iessage Bearer with the lash and the
.Oss7
In every mind was the thought and ,
'om every tongue fell the word. Rus I
n had given the world word II ;
I'd encircled the globe. Everywhere {
,ople were speaking the word--it
'und lodgment In every brain Nv {
& place in every language. Its use d
Id become universal. The oil. the /
'ung. rich and poor, the learned, the y
lcducated, the serious the simple. 1
Q toller, the artist. the poet. aud the 5
ddler. the tinker and the thinker, n
I'D the thought and spoke the word. n
en-, women and children spoke the "
ord, read the word, and felt the q
ought II carried. s.
To the nine hundred and nlnety.nlne II
was a word OF ill-omen. word of q
rror and fear. TO the one in thou.