The Dominion. TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 13, 1917. DEMOCRACY RUN MAD

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 42, 13 November 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 13, 1917. DEMOCRACY RUN MAD

Besides being other things, tho Itussian Revolution, as it has thus far developed, is a terrible example to tho democracies of tho world of what to avoid. To look to Russia at any time in tho near future for tho assistance of an ally, or even for conduct worthy of a sane nation, would bo to indulge in optimism, but wc ma,y at least derive from her recent fortunes and tho present aspect of her politioal affairs a measure of instruction. That Russia has been in a very real sense a testing-ground of political theories is best realised by recalling tho spirit in which tho Revolution was hailed and tho plaudits which continued even when it had developed the features and aspects which today threaten to work out in tho ruin and dismemberment—possibly tho enslavement—of tho nation. Nearly all the world applauded the deposition of tho Romanoffs, and the applause was just, for tho event set a period to a corrupt tyranny. But nothing can bo said now in extenuation of tho unbalanced optimism of thoso who asserted in quito recent days that the apparent disintegration of tho Russian. nation under play of tho forces of "advanced democracy" was in fact illusory, and that Russia, instead of falling to pieces in mere weakness and incapacity, was giving an inspired and enlightened lead to tho democracies of tho whole world. As indicating how. far this extravagantly absurd estimate was carried even in sober England, wo may cito an articlo by Mit. Austin Harrison, in the Juno, English Review. Addressing himself to tho British Primo_ Minister, Mr. Harrison said, in part:

There an unpleasant signs that you and your Government havo misinterpreted the Russian Revolution. ... An ominous reactionary atmosphcro prevails precisely hero where openness and sympathy should, lead to a fuller and juster comprehension. With results of bewilderment, uncertainty, misunderstanding. And what I see is the lead or moral gesture slipping from this country, passing to the New World, gathering vent and significance in the Russian Republic, and so recoiling into thl3 country. I trust you will not misjudge tho eymp- ..... NJ- "»jid jbiumA

of tho hour. If you have failed to form a right estimate it is because you . . , have not grasped tlie truth tlmt this is no longer a war for boundaries, markets or empires, or tho dislocation of one set of l'owors for anotliei- in the old European Mottcrniohian sense, but quintessentially ft war of. tho Peoples in revolt, at first unconsciously, but now articulately, against tho shams and tyrannies of theocratic and monarchical Europe and the class anachronism of Feudalism, for tho first timo in modern history 'wo hoar tho word abnegation used by an Umpire in place of tho covetousncss of annexation. So long as Tsarist Russia touplit in tho name of Liberty, the sincerity oj our causo was an artifice, but to-day ft is a wonderful and creative real-

Jt is now possible for the least informed to assess at its true worth this vision of Russia as an awakened nation in tho forefront of democratic progress. This was the estimate of Russia which largely inspired and gave weight to the agitation in favour of sending Allied delegates to meet those of tlie enemy at Stockholm, and now that tho falacy of the estimate has been so convincingly exposed by events, it is possible to pcrceivo how mad the Entente, nations would have been to yield to this agitation. But the trend of events in Russia is something more than a lesson in tlie danger of, forming hasty and ill-con-sidered judgments. It is moro also than an illustration of the results of giving unchecked play to enemy intrigue. Enemy intrigue has been given such amazing scope in Russia that it has largely exchanged the character of intrigue for tliat of open agitation, but Teutonic machinations will not in themselves account for the condition into which Russia has fallen.

The one thing which stands out clearly from a state of affairs generally chaotic ia that Russia is threatened with ruin and disintegration becauso her popular leaders and proletariat have Been insanely ready to tear down .and destroy a fabric of national organisation which they have yet to show themselves capable of reconstructing in better shape. At bottom, the extent to which the enemy has stimulated .this carnival of ruinand destruction matters comparatively little. Tho\essential fact painfully apparent is that the people of Russia have miled to realise that dis-, cipline and loyal unity of effort constitute the only foundation upon which liberty will stand, and that social regeneration is not advanced, but made impossible, when windy talk and the heedless destruction of what is useful, though imperfect, aro substituted for tho allegiance to a common cause and common ideals which distinguish a nation from a mob. In this matter tho leaders who have passed over the Russian political stage during the last eight months aro for practical purposes identified with tho people they havo failed to guide. Thoso of them who are not corrupt either share the ignor,anco which makes tho progressive disintegration of Russia possible or have failed to impress upon the consciousness of tho people the vital importance of the simple virtues of civic loyalty and subordination. The lesson and example which tho evil' stato of Russia affords to the civilised world are pointed by tho fact that it did not arise as a result of tho open assertion of vicious principles, but largely as the result of an honest, though illconceived, attempt to travel by a short cut to a goal o£ ideal democracy. _ Russia is not peopled by lunatics and criminals, and the country is in its present pitiablo condition not because its inhabitants desire to see it economically ruined, divided internally, and a prey to external enemies, but because they have been fatally ready to belicvo that by casting off all bonds and obligations, civil and military, they would reach a state of millennial blcssodness. Before tho people of established democracies like New Zealand decide that the mad excesses of tho Russian proletariat havo no bearing upon their own fortunes, it would perhaps be wise to consider that the ideas and theories which havo been tho undoing of Russia boast a certain number of exponents in all civilised countries. Even in New Zealand there arc men who proclaim with an air of disinterested virtue the crazy doctrines which have brought economic catastrophe and social chaos to Russia and left' her almost as helpless in face of predatory enemies as if sho were a potty savage kingdom instead of tho material of a might,v_ nation. Tho doctrine of tho militant LabourSocialists" in this and other countries that thoso who organise and direct industry aro tho enemies of the folks employed is a commonplace with tho fanatics who havo done more than Germany to ruin Russia, and it is mainly upon this doctrine as a foundation that their attack upon orderly government and upon social and military disciplino is based. Wo are not threatened in this country with tho fate of Russia, because tho truth is upon the whole widely perceived that tho order and stability of the Stato .are essential to the welfare of the individual. But it is a fact to bo duly weighed that tho people who air the doctrine of "class warfare" ; in this country and havo applied it at times in sporadic industrial disorders are identified in outlook with, the fanatics who aro responsible for the present state of Russia, and given a similar-opportun- > ity might be expected to rcacli identical results.