New-York tribune. [volume], December 01, 1918, Image 25

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THE WEEK IN
PANORAMA
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PART III TWELVE PAGES
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REACTIONS Tt>
THE NEWS
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1918
PART III TWELVE PAGES
All Fears of Its Spread Here Ground?
less?Our Soldiers Unmoved by
the Russian Propaganda
. By F. Spencer Baldwin
McMa9er ?f **'**3 State insurance Fund,
Sew York State Industrial Commission
IT REQUIRES a degree of assurance
bordering on effrontery to attempt
any social forecast or prediction in
times like the present. Things are
happening so fast, changes are following
so rapidly one upon the heels of another,
upheavals in the social order are so fre?
quent and recurrent, that he who would
play the r?le of a sociological prophet
finds the task one of enormous difficul?
ties. Herbert Spencer once remarked
that no one is wise enough to prescribe
the course that society will take; in these
days no one is wise enough even to guess
at it with any feeling of confidence. Ac?
cordingly, this effort to appraise roughly
some of the conditions, tendencies and
indications that may throw light on the
prospects of a Bolshevist uprising in the
United States is submited with no pre?
tension to scientific accuracy and finality.
Before considering the question as to
the likelihood of the spread of the Bol?
shevist movement in this country, it may
be well to inquire precisely what Bol?
shevism is. There seems to be a deal of
ignorance and misapprehension concern?
ing this subject on the part of Ameri?
cans. In general. Bolshevism is simply
a RussiarPphase of revolutionary social?
ism. The essence of socialism is the pro?
posal to substitute for the present indus?
trial system, based on private ownership
of capital, individual enterprise and per?
sonal responsibility for the maintenance
of one3s self and family, a new order
founded on the collective ownership of
all material instruments of production
and distribution, public enterprise and
social responsibility for the maintenance
of all individuals brought into the world.
The Socialist.-- propose that private com?
peting capital shall be transformed into
one collective social capital. The wealth
produced through socialized industry
would then be distributed according to
some fixed standard or principle of re?
muneration, not by way of free competi?
tion as at present. Concerning the
method of distribution that should be
adopted Socialists are not agreed, some
favoring equality, either absolute or ap?
proximate; others advocating remunera?
tion according to services rendered, and
others favoring the apportionment of the
social product according to needs. Under
a socialistic r?gime all railroads and
other agencies of transportation and
communication, all factories, farms and
mines, all banks, mercantile establish?
ments and insurance companies would be
owned and operated by the state, or so?
ciety, acting through agencies created
for this purpose, and all workers would
be employed and remunerated by such
collective agencies.
TPhe Demands
?*- of Bolshevism
Bolshevism stands for the immediate
inauguration of socialism. The term
Bolshevism was first used in 1903 at a
convention of the Russian Social Demo?
cratic party, when upon a test vote the
party divided between the majority and
the minority. The majority party was
nicknamed the "Bolshevik" and the
minority the "Menshevik," the terms be?
ing derived from the Russian words Bol
shinstvo and Menshinstvo, meaning, re?
spectively, majority and minority.
Prior to the rise of Bolshevism, the
Socialist movement throughout Europe
had taken on a somewhat moderate, op?
portunist character. The leaders of the
majority Socialist party in the different
states pursued a policy of compromise
and cooperation with other political
parties and with existing institutions.
The socialism that they represent was
evolutionary and educational in charac?
ter. They admitted that the masses
were not yet ready for the introduction
of the socialized organization of industry
and believed that the establishment of
socialism must wait upon a process of
educational and preparatory propaganda.
The Bolshevists rejected this Fabian
type of socialism. They demanded that
the socialistic state be installed at once;
that the ownership of land and capital be
transferred immediately from the exist?
ing proprietors to the working masses,
and that revolutionary tactics be substi?
tuted for educational propaganda and
Political compromise.
The Bolshevist programme has actual?
ly been carried into effect, at least in
krge part, throughout Russia. It is not
generally known that to-day the indus?
tries of Russia are already socialized ; that
Private capital has been expropriated,
?Mid that both manufacture and agricult?
ure are conducted by organizations cre
ated and controlled by workers them?
selves.
|*he process by which the transition
n'om the capitalistic to the socialistic
?^girae took place in Russia is extremely
'??^Westing. The movement ?tarted
locally with workmen's shop committees,
which assumed control of the factories
when the old monarchical r?gime col?
lapsed. At the time of this collapse the
! superintendents of the factories, most of
I which had been taken over by the gov
ernment for war purposes, fled from
? their posts and the factories closed down
| for a time. The workers, finding it nec
j essary to work in order to live, got to
I aether and formed workmen's shop com
j mittees to run the factories. These com?
mittees soon found that brains were
needed for the task of industrial manage?
ment and they called in experts to direct
the work under the control of the com?
mittees. A crude scheme of cooperation,
with interchange of products between
different industrial communities, was
gradually established. At the same time,
the movement thus begun by the work?
men's shop committees was brought un?
der centralized control, exercised through
the Soviet government. A similar move?
ment ran its course on the land among
the agricultural laborers, who formed
peasants' committees to take over the
ownership of land and the direction of
agriculture. It is interesting to note
that this transformation took place
largely under the pressure of economic
necessity, in consequence of the break?
down of the old political and industrial
system.
The Soviet Machine
at Work
The Soviet government, which was es?
tablished through the successful Bol?
shevist revolution of November, 1917, is
based' on a series of popular assemblies,
local, provincial and central. There is a
joint Soviet of soldiers' and workers'
deputies in every town, the principle of
representation being one representative
to every 500 population. The various
wards in the towns also have Soviets.
The representatives are elected by equal
suffrage and secret ballot. There is full
right of immediate recall on the part of
constituents. The representation in the
Soviet thus registers the changing senti?
ment or mood of the masses of the popu?
lation. Above the local Soviets of the
towns and the villages, some of which
have peasant Soviets, stand the Soviets
of the provinces and counties. Finally,
there is the central All-Russian Con?
gress cf Soviets, which is made up of
delegates from the provincial Soviets,
tlccted in proportion of one delegate to
every 25.000 population. The All-Rus?
sian Soviet elects a central executive
committee of about three hundred mem?
bers, which is the Parliament of Russia.
This parliament in turn elects Peoples'
Commissars, who constitute the Cabinet
or Ministry. The chairman of the Com?
missars is Nikolai L?nine, who thus plays
the r?le of Prime Minister.
The emphasis in the work of the Soviet
government is placed on what is termed
an "economic government"?that is, the
organization and management of indus?
try?rather than on purely political ad?
ministration.
The "economic government" is super?
vised by a Council of Public Welfare
This is a body of experts, selected foi
their preeminence in the different fields
of industry. The membership of th<
council includes, for example, the leading
experts in electrical engineering, indus
trial chemistry, textile manufacture
steel fabrication and so on. The utiliza
tion of technical experts in the Russia!
socialistic organization is perhaps it?
most distinctive and significant feature
F features of Capitalism
Drawn In
The impression prevails generally ii
this country that Bolshevism is a wholl;
destructive movement, which spends it
se'f in killing, wrecking and pillaging
But the movement has also its construe
tive phase, which should not be over
looked by any one who wishes to under
stand it thoroughly and appraise it fair
ly. in a statement concerning the prob
lems and the aims of the Soviet govern
ment issued recently by Nikolai Lenin?
under the title of "The Soviets at Work,
the problem of construction is empha
sized as the most important and diflicul
task confronting the new governmeni
He distinguishes three problems whic
the Bolshevist party had to meet. Th
first lay in convincing the majority o
the population that its programme an
policies were correct. The second wa
the conquest of political power and th
suppression of resistance of the sui
porters of the old r?gime. The thir
problem, which he characterized as th
most urgent, was to organize the mai
agement of Russia. "At present," h
says, "this has become the centn
problem. We, the Bolshevik party, ha\
convinced Russia. We have won Russi
from the rich for the poor, from the ej
ploiters for the toilers. And now it
up to us to manage Russia."
As vitally essential to the solution of
this problem he urges two things: First.
the need of employing experts, and, sec?
ond, the importance of strict universal
accounting and control of production and
distribution with a view to increasing
the productivity of labor.
With respect to the employment of ex?
perts he states: "Without the direction
of specialists of different branches of
knowledge, technic and experience, the
transformation toward socialism is im?
possible, for socialism demands a higher
productivity of labor in comparison with
capitalism and on the basis which has
been attained by capitalism."
1 In this connection he justifies the pay?
ment of very high remuneration for the
services of "the biggest of the bourgeois
specialists," at least during the transi?
tion period. This is extremely signifl
I cant. The leader of Russian socialism,
| confronted with the task of industrial
i organization and management, has been
forced to recognize the truth, hitherto
generally overlooked or ignored by So?
cialists, that talent and genius will hard?
ly render their indispensable services to
society if deprived of their proportion?
ately high rewards. The policy of the
Soviet government in this respect has
been criticised and attacked both out?
side and inside the Socialist ranks. But
L?nine declares: "We will go ahead try?
ing very cautiously and patiently to test
and discover real organizers, people with
sober minds and practical sense whc
combine loyalty to socialism with ability
to organize quietly (and in spite of con?
fusion and noise) efficient and harmo
nious joint work of a large number of
people under the Soviet organization."
T3ut No Escape
?*"--* From Discipline
The advocacy of accounting and con
trol to increase the productivity of labor
in the L?nine pronouncement is equally
interesting. He declares that the slo?
gan, "Keep accurate and conscientious
accounts; conduct business economically;
do not loaf; do not steal; maintain strict
discipline at work," which have always
been ridiculed by revolutionary Social
I ists, have now become an urgent and
? practical slogan. He tells his followers
! that "without thorough state accounting
and control of production and distribu?
tion the authority of the toilers, and
their freedom, cannot last, and a return
to the yoke of capitalism is inevitable. '
More definitely he announces' "We
should immediately introduce piece work
and try it out in practice. We should
try out every scientific and progressive
suggestion of the Taylor system; we
should compare the earnings with the
general total of production or the ex?
ploitation results of railroad and water
transportation and so on." He goes even
so far as to concede that the effort to
increase the productivity of labor
through such measures "will require the
use of compulsion so that the slogan of
i the dictatorship of the proletariat should
i not be weakened by the practice of a toe
mild proletarian government." In this
connection he offers a vigorous defence
of the courts, as essential to the rule
of the proletariat and the maintenance
! of proper training in discipline. "There
is," lie states, "a lack of appreciation of
': the simple and obvious fact that, if the
chief misfortunes of Russia are famine
; and unemployment, these misfortunes
I cannot be overcome by any outbursts of
! enthusiasm, but only by thorough and
i universal organization and discipline, in
'. order to increase the production of bread
for men and fuel for industry, to trans
| port it in time and to distribute it in the
right way. That therefore responsibility
for the pangs of famine and unemploy?
ment falls on every one who violates the
labor discipline in any enterprise and in
any business. That those who are re?
sponsible should be discovered, tried and
punished without mercy."
It appears from these remarkable ut
! terances of L?nine that socialism, con
; fronted in Russia for the first time with
\ the problem of industrial organization
j and administration, has been forced to
; resort to the same measures for maintain?
ing social order and discipline which the
i Socialists have assailed so bitterly when
applied under the present system. The
critics of socialism have often declared
that attempts to realize it must result
either in the breakdown of the industrial
machinery from the lack of sufficient mo
ti.es for productive effort on the part of
workers or in the establishment of an
intolerable industrial tyranny. They
reasoned that if the great economic mo?
tive of desire for gain and the stimulus
of competition were removed men could
be kept at work only by calling into play
on a great scale the motive of fear of
punishment, applied by rigorous compul
I FEATURES WITHIN
????
-1?i?.??-.
Will He Want the O?d Job Back??The Soldier's Problem.P*ge 2
The Soul of War in Bronze.Page 3
Obstacles to Peace?By Frank H. Simonds. Page 4
| The Road of Glory?By Hendrik Willem Van Loon.Page 5
Lloyd George Before the Bar of British Electorate?By S. K. Ratciif?e..Page 6
The Promised Land in the South?By William P. Lighten.Page 7
Under the Evening Star?Translated by William L. McPherson. . . Page 7
Does New York Know its Library?.Page 8
Wonks._Page 9
The Tribune Institute.Pages 10, 11, 12
I i_ __ _i
> ,-,
American Industry Never More Ably
and Fairly Run?Poor Soil for
Post-War Unrest and Ferment
sion to work. This criticism finds strik?
ing confirmation in the L?nine plea for a
socialistic dictatorship. It remains to be
seen whether the rank and file of his fol?
lowers will stand for the sort of compul?
sory industrial r?gime that he advocates.
What of the
United States?
The question as to the prospects of a
sweeping Bolshevist movement in the
United States now remains to be consid?
ered. At this writing the movement
seems to be gaining control of the Ger?
man cities through the ascendency of
the Spartacus wing of the Social Demo?
cratic party led by Karl Liebknecht. A
complete victory for Bolshevism in Aus?
tria and Germany was predicted some
time ago by an Austrian press corres?
pondent, who studied on the ground the
rise and spread of Bolshevism in Russia.
This observer told the writer that it was
almost certain that the movement would
sweep everything before it, not only in
the Teutonic countries, but also in Italy,
and would make large gains in France
and England. He based this prediction
largely on his knowledge of the spread
of the Bolshevist propaganda among the
soldiers of the Teutonic and Allied
armies. The American soldiers, by the
way, this informant thought, had thus
far been practically immune to the revo?
lutionary propaganda emanating from
Russia. This prediction suggests the
disquieting possibility of a new align?
ment in Europe, which might find the
United States in an alliance fighting
against the Socialist republics.
The prophecy has been made in some
quarters that the Bolshevist movement,
after sweeping through Europe, will
spread naturally and inevitably to the
United States. The grounds for this
belief appear to be the tendency of any
revolutionary movement to spread with
? wildfire rapidity at a time like the pres?
ent, when the restraining forces of con?
servative public opinion and established
social standards have been unsettled and
weakened througb influences set in mo?
il by the war; the insistence upon the
claims of labor, which, having won large
gains during the war period, will not
allow itself to be forced back to the old
level of wages, hours and conditions of
employment, but will rather press on for
new and larger concessions; the counter
resistance on the part of capital which
may be expected to demand the restora?
tion of terms of employment that will
offer a larger margin for profit; and the
pressure of the increasing cost of living,
which must produce widespread discon
j tent and readiness to resort to revolu
! tionary social panaceas for relief. When
j one considers these conditions and ten
j dencies, the prospect of a Bolshevist up?
rising of the United States might seem
hardly remote.
But there are other considerations bear
' ing on this question, which, upon deeper
reflection, point to an opposite conclusion.
In the first place, the peculiar conditions
that produced the sudden rise and spread
j of Bolshevism in Russia are not present
j in the United States. There the oppor
| tunity for Bolshevism, as has beer
; pointed out, came through the collapse oi
! the monarchical system and the indus
! trial organization which depended upor
it for support. The Workmen's Shoi
j Committees came into existence and wen
I able to assume the control of industrie;
I in which they were employed, becaus(
the owners and managers of these in
i dustries, as well as the government it
j self, had abdicated. Indeed, it may bi
said that the success of the Bolshevists ii
this phase came about through the pr?s
sure of economic necessity. No such con
dition exists in this country. On the con
trary, the organization of American in
: dustry to-day probably rests upon i
firmer basis of efficiency and equity thai
at any previous time in the national his
1 tory.
Hard Going for
Revolutions Here
Not only are the chaotic conditions c
governmental and industrial organiza
tion, which gave Bolshevism its oppoi
tunity in Russia, not present in th
United States, but there are certain fa(
| tors at work here which must tend t
I block the path of Bolshevism on this sid
of the Atlantic. The nation has jus
emerged from the conduct of a brilliantl
successful war. The national mooi
made jubilant and exultant by victory,
not likely to be hospitable or recepth
to revolutionary foreign propagand
The countries in which Bolshevism hi
thus far made its great gains were a
losers in the great war. There can be r
doubt that in Germany chagrin of defei
is a potent factor in the present dri
toward revolutionary socialism. In a d
feated country social revolution follov
naturally as the aftermath of an u
successful war. In this country the hij
elation of military success is a psycho?
logical barrier to the importation of Bol?
shevist doctrines.
It is not to be forgotten, moreover,
that the American spirit has always
been hostile to revolutionary socialism.
The average American instinctively pre?
fers the principles of private property
and private enterprise, individual initi?
ative and individual independence, per?
sonal freedom and personal responsibil?
ity, upon which our present social order
are founded, to the theories of public
ownership, collective control and social
responsibility which lie at the basis of
socialism. In the past, moreover, Amer?
icans have been too prosperous in the
main to pay much attention to schemes
of social reconstruction. In the last two
decades, to be sure, the rise of the cost
of living and the consequent unrest have
made a favorable opportunity for Social?
ist propaganda.
The increase in the Socialist vote at
successive elections registered the effect
of these conditions. In the recent elec?
tion, however, the Socialist vote receded
to a marked extent. Every one of the
twelve Socialists who ran for Congress
in New York City was defeated and the
only Socialist member of Congress run?
ning for reelection was rejected by an
emphatic majority. In the country at
large only one Socialist candidate for
Congress was successful. Thus far so?
cialism in this country has made no sub?
stantial progress toward convincing the
American people of the expediency and
justice of its programme and capturing
the political power for its realization,
which, according to L?nine, are the two
preliminary goals of the revolutionary
Socialist movement.
Another obstacle in the path of Bol
1 shevism in this country is the powerful
influence of the majority of the Amer?
ican Federation of Labor and its great
? national leaders, Samuel Compers, John
j Mitchell and others. Socialism has failed
? in repeated efforts to capture the annual
convention of the American Federation
of Labor, and until it takes this strong?
hold it can hardly make any real prog?
ress toward the conquest of American
voters at large.
Finally, the influence of the Church.
both Catholic and Protestant, must be
set down as another powerful deterrent
to the expansion of Bolshevism in
America. There is probably no countrj
in which the Church exercises so direc
and potent an influence on public opinior
and political programmes as" it. does ii
the United States. The Catholic Churcl
has conducted an organized and well di
rected propaganda against socialisnr
The various Protestant bodies ar
equally antagonistic to its teachings.
The Forces
of Order
The foregoing brief survey disclose
that the economic conditions in thiscoui
try, the national mood emanating from
successful war, the instinctive tendene
of the American people, the attitude <
organized labor and the influence of tl
great religious denominat.ons are all u
favorable to ihe spread cf Bolshevisi
In vew of these conditions it seems mc
unlikely that the Bolshevist moveme
in this country will spread to any notai
extent or with any alarming rapidity.
In conclusion, it may be pertinent
offer a word of suggestion or caution i
garding the policy that should be adopt
by the government and its officiais, r
tional and state, in dealing with Bols?
vism. In the first place, a policy of ?
nunciation, persecution and suppress:
would defeat its own object and woi
tend to provoke the growth of the mo
ment rather than to retard ?t. A re
lutionary movement thrives on ill
vised attempts to exterminate it. 1
surest way to promote the growth
such a movement is to create for i
body of martyrs. In place of sue!
policy we need one of wise toleration
harmony with the democratic princi;
j of free ?speech, free press, free disc
, sion and free criticism. In the
? place, measures of legislation should
! enacted promptly which will make fi
j reasonable equalization and ?mpr
' of social conditions for the masses of
I population. A comprehensive prograi
; of social insurance, which will sup
I ment the accident insurance provide?
i workmen's compensation laws, wit?h
visions for sickness, invalidity, old
and, possibly, unemployment insun
is of the first importance here.
equitable distribution of the tax bin
national, state and local, is also fu
mental. If the right policy with re:
? to the treatment of revolutionary pi
! ganda and the enactment of social !
I lation shall prevail in this country
? menace of Bolshevism, which now !
| on the national horizon, will prove
[ only a passng phase of the afterma
the world war.