The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1920-09-02

Of the constitution, we learn the loca
sovlets may, with the consent Of tn
peoples commIssars. flower the ag
qualification for voters"
What splendid opportunity thll
Joker In the constitution offers FOL
political jockeying. If the central pow
er discovers ii Is about to lose con
troll Of d village or rural soviet. It has
the power to nip the uprising In The
bud. The peoples commlssars can ar.
range with the minority In the soviet
In question 10 reduce the age limit and
| give the vofe TO young boys and girls.
! When Il Is remembered that thes con
| stitution directs the peoples commits.
sar of education to Introduce IN all
schools and educational institutions Of
| RUSSIA the study and explanation aud
justification OF the bolsheyik constltu-
ton, II Is not hard to understand that
young people into whose minds have
been driven and drilled reverence
for bolsheyIsm and its msthods, could
be expected to vote for and support
the bolsheyik program.
Best Cltizons OiSfranchised,
Three groups OF people classified by
their occupations are permitted citl.
zenslIp. They are the members Of the
army and navy, the working men and
women, and the peasants who do not
hire labor. Every one else is made an
outcast The man who has saved
little money, earned In the sweat of
his face, and invested 1t. is not per
mltted to become a citizen; the man
who has a little shop--It may repre-
sent the sacrifices and savings Of his
whole life-comes under the ban, he
Is unfit for free citizenship In bolshe
viz Russm The farmer who hires
help, and almost every farmer is com
pelted TO employ help In the harvest |
time Is a criminal exploiter and he |
Is denied the right to vote or hold |
an office.
The man who devotes his life to
religion, who comforts the poor, visits
the sick, the servant of God, is driven
from the political house; he Is denied
the right to vote. II is dangerous TO
give the thrifty, the Industrious, the
vote. The fact thar Jhey were born
in Russia, that their parents and
were natives to the soil
Tor centuries, means nothing. These
ones speak the Russian
language; Il Is their only tongue.
Their blood has had a part in Russian
The bolshevik constitution
'Xlles them. They are natives without
'sty and industry they have saved a
little; because they have tried to get
m. Lenine says such people are filed
With dangerous ambition; they are
climbing the ladder of capitalism
hey are dangerous to the proletarlat.
The soldier Is not an employer of
nbor; he cannot be; he is given
ote. The sailor Is not an employer of
lbor; he cannot be; he is given
ote.
The constitutional provision defining
citizenship puts premium on indo-
nee, penalty on industry II encour-
ges waste; II Furnishes economy; 1t
iakes the successful an outcast; It
iakcs OF the ne'er-do-well a citizen
thrift and industry are
rmes those who possess these quail
les are branded as undesirables
iey are denied citizenship.
No Possible Justification.
Lenlne tries to justify all OF this
Ia, |
capitalism to socialism 1t is necessary
} rule with I'm iron hand. Capitalism
lust be destroyed. The system must
G uprooted. Even so, what right has
enlne, without the consent of the
IA Iority. to take citizenship from ma
4? Where Is the force of his argu-
lent? Even admitting, for the sake of
rgument, that communism, bolshe
ism, is panacea for all the ills of
ne human race. what right has Lenlne
nd his minority to force 1t on the
aople Of Russia? Conceding his creed
for the common good, Is 1t not his
rst duty to make the people see and
Understand Its virtues, and then, by
nd with the majority consent, put the
'eed 70 the test? TO assert that his
'ogram Is economic does not change
e fact that his methods are not dem
ratio. The Lenine system Of dis
the people is bound to de-
oralize them.
How can a people be free without
aiming self-rellance, without trying
II governments Proclaiming people
ee does not make them free. Free
IN is action, II is thinking. 1t Is the .
ility to govern ones self 1t comes
ON experience and exercise In gov.
ming ones self. The definition OF
eedom is self-determination, and the
,rd self is an important part OF
e definition Admitting for the mo-
mt that Lenine is trying to govern
e people for their benefit. although
is not giving them thinking part
the government, does II not follow
az his methods incapacitate the
ople for self-government2 How can