Evening star., 1922-04-23
The Great Enigma-Lenin.

FRANKFORT.-How much he
may be hated for what he has done,
or Is supposed to have done, there IL
no question but Nikolai Lenin is one
of the most fascinating figures OF
cotemporary history. His full por-
trait has never been drawn, but the
Frankfurter Zeitung adds a few de-
tails to what Is already known about
him:
"Rumors are to be found in all pa
pers of some terrible disease with
which Lenin is supposed to be at
tackled, then we suddenly hear OF
some three-hour-long speech he has
Just made at some meeting. And 1t Is
really worth while to hear him speak.
I heard him at the last an-Russian
congress in December. Comrade
Lenin will now speak, said President
Kalinin, whereupon little man
dressed in q dark suit with soft col
received with enthusiastic applause,
which also interrupted several times
the beginning of his speech, which
lasted then for more than two hours
almost without applause. Lenin Us Q
wonderful speaker. He needs no ora
sands just as he talks in small
circle of friends.
This L. the man which the Hus-
sian communists regard as their hero
He has the face of an ordinary Rus
sian peasant, with a large bald head
q yellowish complexion and short
beard. But when his whole person
comes into action as 1t does when he
Is speaking he makes the impression
of great personality.
tThe small dark eyes move conttnu-
ally under the rather pinched lids.
They alone betray the, fnexhaustible
energy Of this man without which the
Russian revolution would perhaps have
ended Inherently. This theortst. who
spent so many years OF his life in the
libraries where he was exiled, pos
sesses TO an extraordinary degree the
qualities OF e man OF action.
in 1870, in Simbirsk. on the Wolga.
where the population is largely OF
Tartar origin. He descends from
family who owned a small farm. In
later years the father was director
Of the school organization Of the dis.
trict His elder brother was executed
mot allowed to study law at the uni
yerSities Of the big towns. So he stud :
led in Kosan, but was soon expeiIeo
on account Of his participation IN po.
lttiCal movements. AtteT touI tvcs
years he was allowed to go In for his
examination. He could have become q
solicitor, but he preferred to join IN
the labor movements. He began y
organise labor and to lead the nrst
strikes in st. Petersburg. 1t was AZ
the time. when the labor movement IN
Russia. was separating from the gen.
eral wave. of revolution.
"Lenin was not spared the dangers
caused by his opinions, and he was
sent to prison and to exile. HIS own
fate and that of his brother, which
had made q deep impression on
him, only strengthened his political
and socialist opinions. 3
'Ts Lenin really such. q great states
man?'' asks the writer. 1T Is impos-
sihie to answer the question at pres
ent. II Is very different thing to
start Q revolution and carry 1t TO its
highest point. and afterward to re-
store the life of the community TO
ouiet paths. 1t is more difficult TO
mafntain the acquisitions of revo-
luton than to start one. There is
no doubt that Lenin was carried fur.
ther by the force of the popular
movement than he desired. Judging
from world point Of view. did not
the bolshevists' take over the power