The Leader, enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1915-1921, 1920-05-14
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction in
Europe Follow the Great
World War?
CLASH OF FACT AND THEORY
SociaIstic Idea of Conditions in World
Where All Men Are on an Equality
Takes No Thought, OverIooks
Basic Fact in Nature.
Article XIV.
BY FRANK coMERFoRD.

ished private ownership of land, de-
claring all real estate the property of
the state. On February 10, 1918, they
issued decree declaring Ill state
loans, internal and foreign, null and
void, contiscating all maritime enter
prises and all private banks to the
state, and Matchmaking foreign trade.
The constitution established the
communism of land in the following
words:
For the purpose Of attaining the So
cialiZation Of land, all private prop
/ 9rty in land is abolished and the en-
| tire land is declared to be national
| property, and is TO he apnortioned
| among agrculturists without any com
I pensati0n to the former owners, in the
! measure of each ones ability to till
! it,"
The peasants of Russia seized the
land. They willingly followed this
! command of the new order, but they
! did not take the land as community
| property. They are not communists
| Their experience with communal land
| owning had never satisfied them. I'm
der the old regime the peasants were
| allotted land by the communal Mir.
| The Mir held title TO the land and di-
vided it by lot. The tenancy of farm
! or on the land was uncertain under
| the Mir system. The average length of
| the lease was about thirteen years.
| Then came a new distribution CT the
| Mir land. q new drawing. The peasant
was compelled to move to the new
| strip of land allotted to him from the
| drawing. This plan took from the
| peasant all inducement to put his best
into the land. He had no motive for
| improving the land: it was not his.
| At the next drawing it would probably
go to another, and he in turn be shift
ed on a piece of land which had been
| neglected and allowed to deteriOrate
Experience fired the peasant with one
| thought, one ambition, to own his own
land, to have permanent home,
something to wort: on and work for.
| So at the outset of the program to
soeialize the land we find the bolshe-
vik government attempting a commun-
istic program completely antagonistic
TO the wishes of the peasants
Led to General Disorder.
Between the villages in Russia are
the great landed estates, the propri-
etary land. These lands were the best
lands in the vicinity and were we'll
cared ~or. When the order to seize
the land was given, the peasants turn
ed toward the proprietary lands. The
Villages fought with each other for the
possession and division of these
tempting estates. This was the begin
ming of general disorder, small civil
Rar
| The bolshevik government attempt.
ed to force its program abolishing all
private ownership of land. They JUS
tilted the confscation of land, the
plan of land communism, by saying
that the earth belonged to the people,
that private title to land was immoral
and corrupt, that every man should
have all the land he could actually
woyk, and not an acre more. they ar
gued that If man had more hand
than he could work, one Of two things
would happen; either he would allow
the hand to remain idle. which would
be waste, or he would hire someone
to work It for him. They said the hired
man would be- either d farm laborer
or tenant; whichever relation he
bore to the owner Of the land, he
would be compelled to turn over part
Of his labor to the landowner. In one
ease 1t would be called rent, while If
he receives wages, the wages would
represent something less stlfan the
yafue Of the hired mans crop. This
you'd be the profit taken by the land
owner. They called this exploiting the
worker. Instead of this Condition. they
Iysasoned that the farm hand should
Mp,k fh's.laAd and keep the FIJI prod
iusf for the state. In the plan OF dis
tfGsiofA TIE state, the oynes Of every
fRfng. 1RQ1rfse6 an eUual dktr16ution.
tyse = shevfAs argued that their plan
WomMz fake q better citizen out of
Ilhp sirfarf sna give him an induce
&zt. tQNRasaz, BE yeas not TO work
- QN*eh. bot for the good Of all.
l4 @&9 q &be BIZ Of Neahsm, but en-
1See aHfayy 70 hpman nature. 1t
IA II b%M6yhed out by human be-
taeeE 70 7kfags 'hsrpeued. One class
| - Ae .lResEed the land only
! "a IN s H1ag5deg what t1ey and their
Al1 akA They seasoned, why