, 1921-05-06

die.ed failure long ago. The longer things are held
together by force the more dismal viii be collapse
when it does come Military control over capital and
labor and both employed for the states benefit could
scarcely be expected to succeed. To ignore the forces
controlling human action was not the only unsound
feature in the soviet scheme II was unsound in con-
eeption and almost silly. in practice. To assume that
self-interest could be set aside as an aetusting in
fuence, and that men could be driven to do the will
of self constituted dictators is idle. The experiment
has been disastrous IN its result but undoubtedly Il
learned her lesson in economics by any other means.
The Lenine-Trotsky regime undertook to confiscate
property and conscript labor, denying men the con-
tinued enjoyment of their sav'.gs and commanding
them to engage in the occupations for which the die
tators deemed them best fitted or in which they were
most needed. Confiscation of property was easy in
the first instance. for men readily gave up their prop
erty in order to save their lives But they accumu-
lated no more property to be turned OVER to the COM
munists and this source of revenue for the soviet was
cut off. Consumption of labor succeeded no better.
So long as an armed guard stood over them, men
worked with n fair degree of diligence at what they
is an expensive method, and the character of the work
secured was far from satisfactory. Gradually men
found means of e@ading work, and local authorities
relaxed in enforcement of soviet requirements
The Bolsheyists o~verthrew one form Of militarism
only to establish another. which worked no better. In
fact it was less satisfactory as measured either by
commercial results or by happiness and eontentment
among the people. Men who had the ability TO direct
large enterprises and who had created employment
for labor by saving and investing their money. were
driven from active operations. Men of superior abiL
ity were assigned to mental tasks. Instead Of win
AAk AoHoA 1a1&GS8 was AGN@Aa(4 ~ -
not worse. Farmers were expected to continue to
produce crops, although the fruit of their toll was
taken from them, without compensation. Labor was
expected to give up its liberty-its right to choose
the occupation it would follow, and the employers in
whose service it would engage.
Had the Bolshevist leaders been men Of infinite
wisdom and virtue. with men of similar character for
their subjects, such. a scheme might succeed. But in
the hands of men of selfishness ard ambition, mex
perienced in business as well as in government, the
plan was certain to fail. For neither the lahorer or
the eapitalist-for neither the man of natural ability
nor the man of no special attainmcnts. did the fu-
ture hold any hope SO long as Lenine autocracy held
sway. Production halted because there was no recog-
milton of the right OF property in the fruits of pro-
Iuction, and poverty and want and retrogression
prevailed throughout the land.
The United States is threatened with no such regime
as That, but there are people who advocate a species
of confiscation of property and n dictatorship of Ia
Dor dangerously akin to that which the Bolsheviki
have put in force. One class would have the rail
roads conducted without profits to the owners or sup
ported by appropriations from the public treasury to
cover deficits. Another class would deny to the in
dividuals the righs to earn a living without first sub
jecting themselves 10 the mandates of the radical la
Dor leaders. Policies such as these if pursued to their
natural end, lead straight to conditions similar to
those that exist in Russix today. The right to enjoy
the legitimate rewards Of ability and energy and thrift
is a prerequisite to human progress and human hap
piness. Americans have profited by the Russian
demonstration of the results of failure to recognize
that right