The toiler. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, 1921-06-04
EDITORIAL PAGE OF THE TOILER


enemies, that this apparatus works
now much better than it did a year
or two ago. 1t is adjusting itself, be-
coming finer, more complicated. I'll
now takes into consideration the
particular condition of particular
provinces, cities or individuals. AS.
soon as there is more wheat, more
corn, more meat, more butter, more
iron, more wool, more coal, more
tools, more paper-the apparatus will
work much better, the present short
comings will disappear and the peo-
pie will have little reason to COM
plain.
Let us reiterate: the whole machi-
merry is new. 1t began to function
some three years ago. 1t had to do
its work in time of great suffer
ing, in time of instructions and
counter-revolution within the coun-
try, time Of wars with both inter-
nal and external enemies. And yet
Russia has convincingly proven that
country can do very well without
private trades, without merchants,
storekeepers and spectators of every
kind. The law is now permitting the
peasant to sell his product in the
free market to private people, but
| it does not permit the existence OF
the trader, the middleman.
(3) The revolution has established
| the general law, that he who does
not work, neither shall he eat. This
| is not law only on paper, it is a
law practiced in everyday life. There
must not be found citizens in Russia
who do nothing. Everyone must DO
some kind of useful work, physical
or mental. Ordinarily everyone selects
his or her work according to his
or her knowledge, experience and
inclinations; to be sure, with the
consent of the state. Sometimes,
though, the state directs the work
of one kind or another when the
state thinks that necessary,
This, PEOPLE say, is against human
freedom. But this freedom does not
mean that one should have the right
to go about doing nothing useful and
living on what others produce. Sure
enough. it would have been much
better if people attended to the
work to be done willingly, without
having to be forced to it. But peo-
ple do not become transformed with
L in two or three years, and the new
society must go on functioning
Therefore the state compels the peo-
ple to serve society, which ultimately
improves the life of everyone Of the
people.
| It is natural to find there cheat
| ing, laziness, incompetency and crime
| Not so quickly does the spirit OF O
community change. There are groups
of people that will never serve hon.
estly the new regime-these are the
exploiters, those who never work
ed, and the spendthrifts of the past
There are groups that only after
much pain and trouble may begir
to see that to serve the new society
is an honor and not misfortune
even though they are not to be the
leading spirits in this new society
these are the intelligentia. There arc
people, and many of them, who viii
under cover of their social position
carry on some dirty practice. This Il
harmful and is being fought against
but it is not matter of vital i'm
portance. AS soon as things improve
these dirty practices will disappear
4
The main thing is that for the first
time there is established society
where everyone has to do some use
full work, and that in country oi
one hundred and twenty million peo
pie.
i (4) The revolution has created
new system Of jurisprudence and ad
ministration, have already writer
about the system Of the Soviets.
shall surely write more about tha
in the future. About one thing there
is no doubt, and that is that thu
Soviet regime has no equal in th'
history of mankind, and that it II
now n securely established institu
tion all over that vast country. i
should not be forgotten that thi'
tremendous Misunderstanding apparatus
| is an entirely new institution; Their
Is not a single governmental offic,
left from before October 1917. Th'
revolution has wiped out all the olc
system Of administration, the ok
system of laws and the old system
Of administering justice, and IN it
established the system Of soviets
which work indefatigably, develol
and grow.
i (5) The revolution has created
new army with new psycholog!
and new social ideal.
Al N ll.. L., 4l,,.nn x,,,~. "a,