The Leader, enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1915-1921, 1920-05-26
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction IN
Europe Follow the Great
World War;
ERROR IN MEETING MENACE
Allied Governments Can Not Be Said
to Have Combated the BoIshevik
Movement in a Wise or
Prudent Manner.
Article xxx.
BY FRANK coMERFoRD.


Two things have tended to spread
and deepen the unrest of the world
since the signing of the armistice-
the attitude of the allies toward the
soviet government, and the attitude
of the conservative press and the en-
ployers of the world toward the work
ing class.
President Wilson summed the stu
alton up in a statement made In the
office OF M. P1chon ut the Quai
D'Orsay, Paris, on January 16, 1919.
The conference was called for a pre-
liminary discussion regarding the sit
uation in Russia. The notes Of the
conversations Of the conference par
ticipated in by Mr.. Lloyd George, Mr..
RalfOur, Mr.. P1chon and Baron Son
ninio give the substance OF the presi-
dents position in the following words {:
"He (the president) did not believe
that there would be sympathy any
where with the brutal aspect Of boz
shevism, If it were not for the fact Of
the domination of large vested inter
eSts In the political and economic
world. While it might be true that
this evil was in process of discussion
I and slow reform, 1t must be admitted
that the general body Of men has
grown impatient at the failure TO
bring about the necessary reform. He
stated that there were many men who
represented large vested interests In
the United States who saw the neces-
sity for these reforms and desired
something which should be worked
out at the peace conference, namely,
the establishment of some machinery
to provide for the opportunity Of in
dividuals, greater than the world has
ever known. Capital and labor in the
United States are not friends. Still,
they are not enemies in the sense that
they are thinking Of resorting to phys
ical force to settle their differences.
But they are distrustful, each Of the
other. Society cannot go on on that
plane. On the one hand. there Is d
minority possessing capital and
brains; on the other, a majority con-
sisting Of the great bodies Of workers
who are essential to the minority, but
do not trust the minority, and feel
that the minority will never render
them their rights. A way must be
found to put trust and cooperation
between these two.
president Wilson pointed cut that
the whole world was disturbed By this
question before the bolsheviks came
Into power. Seeds need SOIL, and the
bolshevik seeds found the soil already
prepared for them"
Unrest and its Causes.
There was unrest before the war.
It was due to the fact that the few
had more than they could use, while
the many had less than they needed.
The complaint against conditions was
taking form. Unrest was tending to-
ward action. There was a class con
seriousness. 1t was more than un-
friendliness. 1t was growing into DOS
tive hate. The war depression crys-
tallized it, and the war shock from
which the world suffered quickened
the eagerness for action. The desire
for change was more than agitation
1t had grown into determination and
resolution. Once the people had
doubts about their ability to get free,
decent lives through political action.
After the war suspicion Of the work
! ing class that the powerful interests
would and could defeat them on the
political field became positive convic-
ton.
The great mass of toilers of the
world coming out of the war In this
| frame of mind looked with sympathy
upon the Russian experiment with
bolshevism. 1t was the kind of SYM
pathy one has for the under-dog in a
fight, and Russia had been an under
dog in the struggle for life and lib
erty through all the ages.
Definite Policy Lacking.
Unfortunately for the world TO-DAY
the Allied Governments Of the world
have been without definite policy to-
ward the soviet government in Russia
Their attitude has been one of uncer.
tainty; purposeless antagonism OF
bolshevism. From the beginning the
Allies have opposed the soviet pro
gram and the bolshevik methods. but
their opposition has taken no con.
structive form Ait has led to nothing
it has amounted to a disorderly
scheme of interference. a general plan
Of annoyance. At first the people OF
the world were told that the Allies
would intervene and save the Rus
SLAMS from the rule of violence i'm
posed by the "Red" army under the
command of Lenine and Trotzky. The
Allies did not intervene; it was wei
that they did not. but they did wha-
was worse, they intermeddled. Wors
Of all, the Allied governments failed
to keep the public fully, freely ant
frankly advised as to what the Dol
shevik plan was, and the method: