Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1920-08-07
PROBLEhSFACINC
STRICKEN WORLD
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction in
Europe Follow the Great
Word War?
HUMAN NATURE VS., lDEALIsM
connunis.ie Theory Of Ownership Of
Land. Put to the Test in Russia.
Has Proved Dire Failure
In Practice.
Article XVI.
~ FRANK coMERFoRo

sy FRANK coMERFoRp.
The bolshevik government seized in.
dustrv: the working men took aver
the factories. twas part Of the Man
Of communism. The promise was tha,
the specialization OF Industry would In.
crease production and free the work.
er7 from exploitation. The owners and
managers were driven from the plants
These men were Of the bourgeois class
I They had no place In the new scheme
Of things. They were tainted" with
success. They had intelligcntly and
efficiently built up their industries
/ This was enough. The boIshevik gov.
eminent denied them citizenship and
drove them from the enterprises thew
! had built.
Everything was to he owned IN
common private property of all kinds
had been abolished The men who
worked in the factories or mills were
TO be their own bosses. They were
part of the state, and the state owned
and operated everything. The goy-
eminent of the factory was to he by
committee, every man was the equal
of every other man orders were given
and orders taken with this thought in
mind. The result was insubordina-
ton. Every man was boss: all svs-
TEN banished; system made slaves
Down with system! The business
brains having been driven out, insult
ordination having come In, produc-
ton declined until 1t almost ceased
many workers gave up in disgust and
returned to their villages. The exodus
from Petrograd was marked. Prior
to 1915 PetrOgrad was city of nearly
100000. In 1918 its population had
shrunk to less than 100000. Fac
tories closed Again the theory of
communism, when put to the test
failed.
Trotzky Had Remedy.
Trotzky, in cOnfessing the failure OF
the b0lshevik program to successfully
sOcialize industry, charged 1t to the
sabotage of the intellectuals." BY
this he meant that the bOlSheviks
drove the specialists the technicians
and managers of industry, out of bust
ness; that the working men, not hav-
ing the training for these places re-
Quiring special sliII and knowledge.
were unable effic1esdy and successfully
to carry on the business. Having
pointed out the cause of the failure,
he presented a remedy. He truly said
that the intellectWls have the benefit
Of special training education and ex-
perfence, and that shops and factories
filed with machines, material and
working men, cannot be run without
the skilled manager, the intelligent,
experienced foreman. But Trotzky
has not lost faith In the plan Of in
dustrlal communism, nor has he lost
belief in the theory that II can be
made to increase production. He
says that the bourgeois brains, when
forced into the factories by the state,
do not work with the same ambition
TO make a success Of the business that
they did when II was their private
property and they had personal-prOfit
interest in its success. Thus they
are guilty of Withholding their best
from factory management under the
bOlshevik scheme of communism
This he calls the Sabotage of the in,
tellectuals." To eliminate this diff
Guilty he proposes that the bOlsheviB
government turn its attention TO the
education of the working men, pro
vide technical schools and schools
teaching business management, and
in this manner make competent man
ayers and technical experts out OF
workingmen. 1t is his opinion thai
workingmen educated to be experts
and managers would retain their class
sympathy and their interest In the sue
cess of the class struggle.
Had Forgotten Human Nature.
The bolsheviks are strong on theory
Trotzky fails to take into considera
ton some simple fundamental truths
He fails to reckon with human ma
ture as II is. He thinks Of 1t as Il
should be. Let us take an example
which illustrates and emphasizes thu
difference between bolshevik theory
and practical experience, Let us sup
pose that the boishevik government es
tablishes schools for the purpose o.
training men In business managemee
and for technical work. Then enrol
in these schools workingmen who. a
the time. are entirely "class con
scious." They are ardent communist:
when they enter the front door Of th'
school on the first day of their attend
ance. They attend school for severa
years. The time spent in school anC
the education given TO the men makes
q change in them. They become con
scious Of the power Of education. o
their fitness for a better class o
work. Education gives them a sens'
Of superiority, and do not meal
superiority in the arrogant or boastfu
sense. The trained mind is conscious
Of training. 1t is more ambitious
mind. The men are not less human
They want TO get out of education ma
terial benefits. They feel the sens
Of leadership. When they graduate
Famous Ecclesiastic