Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1920-05-15
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction
in Europe Follow the Great
World War?
RUSSIA'S TRIAL OF SOCIALISM
Ultimate Good to the World Looked
for From the Practical Test
Now Being Made in That
Country.
Article XIV.
BY FRANK CoMERFoRD.


handing trial. n test. The demand
has been growing. Before its advo-
Gates can he silcnCcd they must be
shown. out of the test of socialism
In Russia is bound to come good.
Whether the theory Is practical one
or not, putting II to the test will an
swer question. satisfy a demand,
and tend to quiet unrest
The falr-mindcd investigator cannot
deny that there was Justification and
reason back of the effort to try the
remedy. Tint the world has been suf-
fering from poverty cannot be denied.
| have found few men, even among the
conservative. responsible leaders of
business and governments I'm Europe.
who did not admit that conditions I'm
the world before the war were not
right; that some change In the order
Of things was inevitable; that the dis
satisfied elements in society were com
Ing together and that unless men were
given better lives. they were deter
mined to fight. The working man was
deteriorating physically under the
strain OF brutal working conditions
which cxnCted too many units of phys
ical energy for the number of calor-
les of food he was getting. The haemo-
globin count, the red cOrpusclcs. were
disappearing from the blood Of the
working people. II was not theory /;
one could see II In the faces and move
ments of the people. Medical men
recognized the fact. A walk through
the poorer district Of any Industrial
city I'm Europe furnished plenty OF
evidence Of this alarming condition.
Men, women and children were resort
ing TO false stimulants to keep up.
Tea, coffee and alcohol were being
used in increasing amounts.
Always on Verge Of Want
Men were stretching their arms and
yawning. SqualOr and filth furnished
the homes. Many lived In abject pow
erty, many more lived on the border
line Of the garbage alley. Few were
able to accumulate even the smallest
surplus. They could not by scraping
and denial get week ahead Of the
/ game. II had become a hand-tO-mouth
existence, a weekly, monthly fight to
meet the grocery bills. buy stockings,
shoes, and the scant amount Of clothes
to cover their bodies. II was bread
''ss aud cone Tor sfss tfsst. Bread WITH
jam and tea for dinner, tea and cheese
for supper. Sausage sometimes took
/ turns with cheese. Once week. the
| Sunday repast, a great stew, n few
vegetables and a bone. In the Latin
countries II was the same, except that
tea. The great majority Of men found
themselves poorer and older at the
end of the week than they were at its
beginning. over the worklngman's
head was suspended night and day by
a thin. weak thread. the dreaded sword
OF poverty. Men feared that the thread
might break any minute. 1t was the
thread by which they held the thing
called "job." What did they care
about the rights of private property
erty. The socialists had willing list
eners when they ranted about com
munism. II promised to give these
people property, to give them com
mon ownership Of everything. II
wasn't hard to convince them that thi.
was better than ownership OF nothing
The bolsheviks of Russia are en-
titled to the presumption of goot
faith In selecting the MARKHAM formula
II is only fair to them, and TO the rem
edy, to examine the experiment will
a mind free from prejudice. In admit
ting the good intentions Of the Dol
sheviks | am not conceding that bol
shevism Is practicable, workable; tina
Il has succeeded or can succeed. Flo
the present am trying to fairly Civ
the whole story of the effort. It 1
as foolish to try to answer the Dol
shevik propaganda by calling the bol
shevlks ugly names. rs 1t would b
stupid to accept bolshevism becaus
its advocates are sincere.
Need for Calm Consideration.
Russia IS the patient. II we are {
intclligently Judge the treatmer
called bolshevism, II is necessary {
get complete history Of the paticr
and examine the conditions undo
which the experiment was tried. An
doctor who is n scientist would folio
such n procedure I'm handling n NEE
: ical case If doctor announced
J the scientific world that he had rem
edy for cancer. which at the preser
time is an incurable physical diseas
Just as poverty Is n social one. ii
. scientists would give hearing to h
y theory. seek fair test for 1t. kee
. their minds open. and Judge the eff
D cacy of the remedy by the results
- produced. Communism, as trea
;: ment. cure for poverty. has new
e been put to the test on a scale and
o circumstances which Justify any pos
tive Judgment as to whether or n
- the plan is n practical one. AS | ha'
written, the Russian bolsheviks inst