Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-02-17
RUSSIA NOW ESCAPES
POWER OF SICK FULLER
Lenin Was Once Described by His
Enemies as q Maniac Who
Welded a Razor.
MAN OF ABNORMAL TASTES
Friends of Country May Decide
' This Is Time to Strike.
By GREGOR A. ALEXINSkY.

(FOrmer Deputy Of Duma.l
Correspondence Of The Star and the Chicago
Daily News Foreign Service.l
PARIS, France. January IA
squat figure. shoulders of extraordi-
nary breadth and robust muscles In
a short. thick neck; bald head over
a bulging brow that hid the small.
uuizzical. scornful eyes of a Mongo-
liam devil; hands thrust neGligently
into his trousers pockets or clinging
TO the two sides of his waistcoat In
q cynical, arrogant gesture: such was
the external appearance OF Lenin.
dictator and destroyer of the great
Russian empire; defeated candidate
COR the post Of dictator and destroyer
Of the human universe. Lenin's
whole body. his every gesture. his
every step reflected an extraordinary
Of physical power A doctor who at
tended Lenin following an attack
made on him IN the summer OF 1918
admitted To me that rarely had he
SEEN SO strong corporeal constitu-
ton.
What sort of soul inhabited that
carnal envelope: OF simple personal
tastes. or. to be more precise. of an
almost complete absence of taste for
any kind Of pleasure. diversion, in
aoceat amusement or vice, Lenin
spent an entire life. now in stu
dents little room. now In q Siberian
isba. or farmstead allotted to poltti-
cal prisoners, now In the modest iod8-
ing of revolutionary cmigre In
Geneva, Cracow, Paris or Zurich: u
few outings on a bicycle, a few games
of chess. q glass of beer in cafe
that was all. Neither art. love nor
Notwithstanding, absolutely moth
ing Of that which attracts, impas-
sfons. elevates or debases an ordinary
man-nsd access to this soul.
rurcr MaYxism than That Of Marx.
To Lenin everything was the social
struggle, the political combat. the
conquest of power, the upheaval Of
the existing order to be replaced by
an order that ought to exist--ought
to exist because such was the doc
trine. such the unique, supreme COM
mandment Of the two prophets OF this
doctrine-karl Marx and Friedrich
Enghels.
Pure Marxism! SO pure that Marx
himself would have been appalled,
could he have discussed 1t with his
faithful disciple. Vladimir Ulianov
precise. well defined. narrow limits
Of the doctrine were abhorred and
cursed; all who dared to doubt We're
crushed and eXterminated; all who
agreed to become it's servants were
good for service in the social revo-
luton, provided they proved them
selves really faithful servants, ready
for anything from the betrayal Of a
country to the carrying out Of an
execution or the accomplishment Of
implacable cruelties.
But what do ! say? I speak in
ordinary terms in bourgeois terms.
Of the activity Of him who made for
himself a pedestal Of the negation OF
all bourgeois predjudice-that is to
say, Of all the notions with which
a man Is born, with which he Is sur
rounded. which he preserves until his
Was Lenin disinterested? He diff
fered from any of his comrades and |
disciples in his absolute contempt
fS f Yss al Hna@ tell IL t hs pse
gold. He knew how to handle this
instrument better than any one else.
Before he came to power, when he
occupied simply the position Of lead |
err Of a clandestine revolutionary or.
ganization. he bought the fidelity of
his partisans. He threw money to
them without counting. IN order to
mako them what he considered 1t
necessary they should be.
Built ON Others' Weaknesses.
When he attained power he prac-
ticed tho same system. For himself.
he needed nothing. except position
as a dictator whom one had to obey
without objection. Others had weak
nesses. On the sordid, viscous pile OF
these weaknesses he built the throne
Of his Dictatorship.
In 1919. 1920 and 1921 unheard-of
epidemics together with r. terrific
famine, decimated the population of
Russia People wondered at this
ity. 1.enin's official newspaper took
the trouble to explain to them that
1t was but natural. logical law; the
weak must die; only the fittest are
worthy to live.
Was Lenin responsible for the red
terror which caused tho deaths OF
100000 people including several hun
dred thousand peasants and laborers
those sane me peasants peasants and laborsrs
had promised all earthly happiness?
The reply to this will be found in
benin's own speeches and written
reports With the conviction Of a
.ivated the idea oe terror: I'VE must
be implacable with our enemies" he
states: I'VE must shoot them on the
spot. without counting them. with
out arrest"
Was Lenin normal? Or was he Ill?
The bolsheviat government declared.
officially, that he was Ill. For almost
two years he was in state Of pro-
promising for the doctrine, and for
It's realization. hut it is a. fact, Of
1icially established. The work of
Isenin will go down in history as the
work of. a. sick man-the work Of q
maniac. Some months ago there was
circulated in Moscow a pamphlet
clandestinely printed. which bore this
titie;."A Maniac with a Razor" 1t
related the story Of a mailman who
carried a razor, we'll sharpened
razor. which he used as a maniac
would use II. The name of the
maniac was not mentioned. but all
who read the pamphlet secretly, con-
cealIng 1t from the spies OF the cheka,
understood to whom twas supposed
to refer.
Now the sick man Is no more. The
razor has fallen from his hand. And
the friends Of Russia are asking II
the time has not come for them to
act. to prevent some other from re-
covering this terrible instrument Of
destruction and Of death.