Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1920-06-19

canvass the wish and wifi Of the PEG
! pie at once, so they issued the prom
Use I have quoted above. The words
Of promise are printed I'm capital let
ters
u was their moral obligation TO
| keep this promise made 10 the people.
| 1t was necessary To keep II, II there
was to be genuinely free Russia.
| Who could anticipate and who would
dare write out and put into operation
| IN" plan of government without giving
/ all of the people of Russia Il chance
| 10 pass upon the plan and help fornu-
| late IL through their own chosen rep
roScntativ"S3
This was In" first promise the boil
! Sh"Vik leaders made to the Russians.
| They broke It. II has never been full
| filled, In the constitution and dcCrrcs
| Of the soviet government they have
! tried TO explain. excuse and Condone
this breach Of promise. Fairly in
| torprcted. all they have said in de-
| fcnS" of this abuse Of power, this viO-
! lation of trust, i in substance: 1T
| was necessary to dissolve the tdnS'i-
/ tu"nt Assembly; II might have inter
fcrcd with our plans; II might have
/ jeoPardi2cd soviet government" What
| right did they have to think, act, and
decide for the people any more than
! the ear had?
In speeches and writings Lonine and
TrotZky have since I'm yelled way
| suggested that the peasants elected
members Of the middle class TO
represent them instead Of peas
! ants. What of Il? If the peas
ants make mistakes they will learn
and profit by their mistakes. They
cannot become independent until they
get Glance 10 exercise independence.
No man can get muscle by letting an
other fellow use the dumhhclls. The
| Russians peasants, workers and
bourCcoiSc-nrc all human beings, and
government. to be democratic must
be. rs Lincoln put it. "of the people.
/ fer the people and by the people"
government that Is afraid of the inilu-
cnce and power Of three or four per
cent Of the people isn't able to live.
and II doesn't deserve to.
Gladly Obeyed Lenine.
Hcnine issued his famous order,
peasants, seize the land" This com
mand was obcyed with great cnthusi'
assn. They forgot all about freedom
and the constitutional convention.
They understood what land meant,
they had been taught that by being de-
MED It. They knew little about
political phrases and framework. The
order To seize the land tore from the
SerfS their heaviest chains. LCnine
became their itherator-hiS was the
voice that said seize the land"
Probably the peasants would have
done II an way. Disorder and unrest
had destroyed all respect for property
rights. Property rights had differ
ent meaning in Russia than elsewhere;
property rights meant the right to
beat human beings, TO buy and sell
serfs. Yet the fact that Lenine had
uttered the words made them reverence
and respect him, even as n man will
be thankful to one who has told him
to be careful of hole In the side
walk notwithstanding the fact he has
already seen 1t. Bolshevism started
with great popularity. This was the
secret Of 1t.
or course the order to seize fhe
land, all land, was based on the idea
| that the owners Of land held title by
and through their own wrongful con-
duct. God had made the ground and
sunshine, and those who had taken IT,
tie to 1t had only moved on and forced
others off. This is the way the boil
sheviks reasoned, and from this point
Of view they were consistent. From
the worlds point OF view Il was con-
fiscatiOn. II was dishonest. Many
people believe that acquiring property
is frequently the result of Industry
and thrift; in some cases the title to
property is based upon cunning, schem-
ing and force. All of us know that
there are some who are without any
private property because they pre-
fer to squander their time, dissipate
their energy and live shiftless lives.
After all, IL is a matter Of opinion, and
from the point Of view OF the bolshe-
viks the order Peasants. seize the
land" may have been justified
But when the order was given, the
peasants seized It not for the COM
munity but to own It privately. On
this point there can be no difference
Of opinion among honest, impartial,
fair-minded men, and when the peas
ants seized the land to hold, use and
own It as their private property they
we're guilty of taking title by the very
means others had taken the land, and
against whom they had complained
and cried Thief"
The Russian people have the power
10 think. They realize that they have
acquired property by the very methods
they have always condemned in 9TH
ers. Their natural selfishness may
constrain them to keep this property.
The sufferings they have gone through
may mitigate the offense, but one ef-
feet was Inevitable, and that effect
the most serious that could happen to
a people on the threshold OF free fu-
ture. ] refer to the weakening OF
their moral nature, the making Of
precedent justifying dishonesty. 1
nave found the Ill effects of this act