New-York tribune., 1922-01-30
The Great Social Crime

Inc 0rcdt COCld (TlIne
Dr. triItjof Nansen. y no has spen.
many months in relief work IN Rus
sa ard has seen face 10 face the
great horror there, estimates tat
100000 Russians arc doomed to
lie from starvation or its attendant
disease. IN the districts ..fected nc
says nearly onc-half arc to perish.
he consequences of ;hc famine,
lie holds. arc in thc main unescapa
tlc. Ihe drowning man is beyond
our reach. No matter what our will
r. ay be, he canNot he succorcd. This
is because Of conditions created b.
fore ta, harNcst failed The Bol-
shcvikI. carrying on their cxperi-
ment, wrecked RussIs,'s railroads
and By seizures for The hcrcht of the
cities, where llos Bolsucoist strength,
convinced the peasants III 3 would
not be ailovol t. onjoy he fruits Of
their toll. 50 VIC cannot ship III, and
Russia's own supplies have failed.
The world is but beginning to rec
ognize the breadth and depth Of the
Russian tragedy. The calamity is
one that the history Of centuries may
he ransacked in vain for an equal.
Since the Black Death swept over
Europe nothing comparable with il
has occurred. And in one sense Boil
shevism is worse than the Black
Death. The one, because Of the sci
cntiic ignorance which prevailed,
vas unavoidable. What Russia suf-
fers was not only avoidable, but vas
largely artihciallv induced. Every
downward step that has come since
Lenine and his crew were allowed to
gain power was foreseeablc and
ioreseen. All intelligent persons
we're able to write che prospectus OF
the progressive voc
in some circles the notion prevails
Germ what ideas men may entertain.
or what policies they may pursue. or
what institutions they may set up.
This is cold and cruel philosophy
There are abysses of social treason
whose digging is Of universal effect
Doctrines exist whose application in
lures every member of the human
species. Russia s fetid odors arc in
every nostril, and will be for long
time.
And what arc these unvrltten
laws which no man may transgress
without becoming an enemy Of the
human race One Of them blazcs on
the sky. 1t is that revolution. using
the word in It's broad sense, is a con-
- sumlng dragon. Though the rcvolu-
ION An mind may have worthy OBJ
Wlcct, lis method is fatal. Nature de
inands gradual change will tolerate
no other kind. When her way is ig-
nored Nature does not argue. She
acts.
Mhen small bits of territory were
economically scf-contained, whcr
each community produced practically
all 1t consumed. revolution. as il
vas called, could take place in some
distant place or city, and the popu
latlon be not seriously disturbed
Life III the main went on its Gus
tomary way. But with the moderr
division of labor and all men swap,
pcrs OF surpluSes, a fundamental diff.
ference has come. The machinery
now can't stop. 1t is d heart that
must pulse on. alteration must be
gradual cr. i'll an industrial sense
therc IS soclal death. Some day the
men of the law doubtless Nill coin Il
raihe for the social crime and define
ITS quality. But We can perceive it
nslignancy without any prohibtory
tatutc.
New York. food cApor;s tell us.
Neuld literally starve III three weeks
shut off from It's back country We.
MT. our parlors and classrooms the
nfcrdependencc Of life is largely
ghored. There is blindness t. the
fa,'t that exchanges must 50 on as
;hey now 60 and that mod tication, if
msde. must be slow. Ou, half- think
crs have minds Of the Middle Ages
Il d loosely talk Of revolution with
ulr regard TO what it involves.