Evening star., 1937-03-13

IuiI perfection OF the Stateless stat&
to be reached overnight, but he die
believe that socialism might be in.
stituted In Russia successfully on tn,
ruins Of the monarchy, and from thi,
communism was to grow. The process.
was badly slowed up in It's initial stages
however, by the circumstance that the
revolution In the west" did not take
place.
But what revolution7 Unquestion-
ably the Russian leaders believed in
this chimera, for William Chamber
lain relates In his History of the
Russian Revolution" that Lenin asked
him seriously, some time in the early
'20s. II he thought that England would
revolt that year. On such founda-
tions they began their labors.
However, the basis OF Trotzky's
lament in this book is not for COM
munism, which he says has never been
practiced in Russia. Instead he
mourns that not even socialism, that
elementary form of statelessness, was
permitted to take root in his country.
For, he relates, instead OF working
selfleSsly for the realization of the
party ideal, the liberated Russians
everywhere, and chiefly the party
leaders, displayed the most discourag-
ing inclination to work for their own
interests, and the human pattern con-
tinued.
INSTEAD of toiling like demoniac
angels to build up a socialist dis
tribution Of goods automobiles,
radios, moving pictures, aeroplanes, !"
one supposes) in order that perfect
communism might follow, men re-
mained men. and used their abilities
in the social chaos that surrounded
them to get bread, shoes and something
to trade, II that might be. When q
group Of the more enterprising-the
actually acquire enough
for comfort, their success in using
their wits for themselves instead OF
for the state was 50 irritating to the
leaders that they were, as history
knows, "liquidated." The process cost
several million lives, says Trotzky,
but what really rouses his emotion is
the fact that these artful peasants,
forseeing their doom, unsocialistically
destroyed their live stock before they
were destroyed themselves, preferring
to keep it out Of the governments
hands. This, he says, was really
serious for the collective farms needed
the cows and horses.
His book is history OF such weird
with the idea of human
perfectibility-to be applied by force
to the most backward population In
the civilized world-until out OF the
gigantic fantasy there came the order
Of the present, dictatorship of prob
ably unparalleled absoluteness. This
development Is the crux OF the be
trayal' about which he writes, but
to the reader it Is apt to seem indi-
Gated from the beginning. Stain, in
spite OF Trotzky's scathing exposition
OF his career, seems none other than
that familiar figure, the ward poll
tician-operating on 4 very large scale.
He followed the bent Of his nature
and, under the dreaming noses Of his
built up a machine, using
the well-tried methods OF patronage,
intimidation and violence. When he
was sufficiently strong he abandoned
subterfuge and asked, as well he
might. What are you going to do
about it?" If, as Trotzky says, he is
q hypocrite, a rogue, tyrant, a per-
verter Of revolution and many other
things, he still fails to i'm
press the reader as any but common
type to be found watchfully hanging
about any political headquarters. That
80 shining q platform should have
been finished of by so ordinary
personality places the final ache of
humor on this unhappy work.
As to the condition Of the Russian
people today, viewed from the So
standard of plenty for every
one, it could hardly be worse, accord
ing to this author. Viewed from the
less lofty capitalistic standard Of
plenty for every one who can afford
it, IT Is still worse than that OF any
other country in Europe, he freely
admits. Not only is there not enough
OF anything; far worse, there are
privileged classes 1n this land which
liquidated the kulaks) who appropriate
to themselves the little that there
they are without exception the
members OF the government!
A TO the Russian people, Trotzky's
word for 1t Is: Living condi-
tions are extremely bad, often
The overwhelming ma
jority Of the workers huddle in COM
mon dwellings, which in equipment
and upkeep are considerably worse
than barracks. the ad1ninistra-
tion itself gives, through Its jour-
nalist, such picture as this Of
living conditions: The workers sleep
on the floor, since bedbugs eat them
up in the beds. The chairs are broken:
there are no mugs to drink water from,
etc Two families live in one room
The roof leaks. When it rains they
carry the water out Of the room
by pailfuk.' Such descriptions,
relating to different parts OF the
country, could be multiplied at will"
AS for culture, he says that the
government Is manned by "parvenus,"
and that the repression exercised
toward the young is IAN iron plank"
The measures to insure the freedom
OF women are being repealed, and
work in the state factories is now
paid for in money. The state farms
can be operated only by bribing the
peasants with tracts OF adjoining land
which they work privately, and such
is the condition Of the distribution OF
goods that man earns more on his
bribe- obtained plot than by his labors
on the collective. The production per
capita OF all necessities is far below
that Of any other European country.
In short, it Is not communism; 1t
is not even socialism, says Trotzky. It
Is capitalism, and that OF the most
backward sort. 1t is capitalism ad-
ministered, not by industrial captains
bent on developing the country's re-
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