THE WRITING ON THE WALLS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 47, 20 November 1918, Page 5

THE WRITING ON THE WALLS

RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AND j WESTERN CIVILISATION ; WHAT IS THE PORTENT? j "The Ku.ssi.in devolution i? the awak- j oiling of a «;'oat people," I "Tlic Uuwir.ii devolution is one of, the j most vital factors in the creation of a j new world society.'"' ; "Tlie Kiwsiiui Revolution way teach I us that o.u: powerful Western civilisa- j tion unmodified, unreviscd, cannot be. ', como Hi" civilisation of the world." I "We cannot be sure as to the possible I reaction on .Europe, This Russian ex-| periinciit was actually a practical test of ; our own civilisation, and as su/eh. it is ft | warning." ] Those striking and pregnant Quotations j are taken from a 'brilliant article in the i "Mound Tabic," which shows the very | heart and siynificiitico and warninjf of ; the Russian Revolution. Of especial value \ is the article in the way in winch it j points out that this great. Russian ex- j rwriment which will havo world conso-i qucuces is a tremendous test of our own,, civilisation, and therefore full of warn- 1 ing to ihoss who do not take heed of tho •: signs of tho times i 'Tho terrible flxperiaine of Bolsnev-.: isni o.rd Gorman domination is driving i into the- popular mind the elementary j lemons of organised national life with a"; force wholly beyond the range of any.; mere formal or imitative teaching. ,

The Great Debate Went On. ; "Forth o Russian Revolution is the 1 : awakening of a great people. It is a • testing of latent powers under extra- : ordinary conditions. It is as though the .; Russian people wore determined to throw ;j off the tutelage of the West and ot ltsj own leaders, and to discover a way of its ;j own. Ko one could pass through the] Revolution without marvelling at the j perpetual talk and inquiry, the perpet-., ual conflict of ideas, often crude, always > picturesque. , ' ; "it every street corner, in every home, ; in overv railway carriage, the great de-: hate went on' unceasingly. Men, pnitieß, , principles, methods were tried and test-.; ed with unwearying energy. War, inter-, national politics, local administration, , religion, art, morals were.subjected to a frank discussion "that could only seem , preposterous to tho sober peoples of the . West The experiment of extreme bO-.\ cialism following on the Tsarist auto- : cracv afforded an immense acopo for an i inqu'irv in which, the whole people en- , gaged.' And tho inquiry was not merely , theoretical; it was practical. Tho Be- | volution is. in fact a rtarrag up of an '. immense fallow land of reserves of human capacity, with results which only; later generations will be able to estl-, mate. ; One of the Most Vital Factors, I "Tho recovery of Russia is certain.,; W'hat form the procoss will assume m lWj later stages it is difficult for human rea-; eon to djsoern. The Involution.has... been a shock to the AY estsni mentality*.; It has baffled the Allte, acd baffled tho..; Germans. From the point of view ofi . temporary strategic calculations it has , seemed' to many «m unmitigated caiam- .

ity ' "But if the-world-war be regarded as a J jrreat process of social and. national i transformation far. .transcending purely;! etrfttegio considerations,- then tne aus- : Bian Revolution will be eeeu as one otthe most vital factors in the creation of, a new world society, as the imposing;, .assertion by a gifted people. inhabitating,! a vast area containing a large propor-, Hon- of the world'd natural resources :, of a. claim actively and independently to participato ia tho estaohtihmeut ot a,; world-civilisation. . ~ '■ ' "And if'we have not learnt it through ; the war,, then at least the Russian .J», ■ volution may teach us that our power- ; ful Western civilisation unmodified, un-| revised, cannot become the civilisation of ,| the world, Uat in the presence of the , fierce and tragic conflict of theipeopk* , of the West over its dominant pnn- (i cVie« tho awakened and awakening peo- j pies must, in adopting ite marvellous ■ mechanism, test its spirit and-adapt it; to their very varied needs* • ,

'Asia Hears the New Gospel. i "Consider the infinity of. possible re- . actions in Russia whose own omlua-, rion in the epoch now past g«w,«P. under the ™ ft ' Mediterranean South, the European ; West, the Middle East, and China. . "For the impulse of tho Russian He-,, volution,'that strange,,confused awaken-.; ing of social and. national aspiration,;] that scathing revision of - all the els-;, menfe of socialstructure, has 'mfi , across the Eurasian continent.from the ■ Baltic to the Pacific, from the White, to the Black Sea. It has shaken tho , homes of ancient civilisation that had ; no part in the upbuilding of modern ; Burdpe. The modern Western civihsa-; tion that we once thought ro the tost,. Hush of our technical . triumphs w.ij might impose-on them intadt is Ming.., now borne to them in the light of the , Russian experiment, the Russian reu- , eion. The way in which China and In- : dia will enter into the new world-civili- ; sation, whose type we are now ; struggling to discern in. war, will be largely determined by what ifl happen-,, i ing and what will happen in Russia. .! "More than that, we oannot be sura, j as to the possible reaction on Europe, j

| A Test of' Our Civilisation. , "Tho question of 'the possible influ- i encs of tho Russian Revolution is of im-., portaaoe to us not so much in relation , to the immediate military ™n fll . ct •*" \ tween Germany and ourselves as inl reja- ; tion to the problem of the world-civihsa- j tion. Tho Russian people has; engaged ml., a wry striking experiment for its onn j pu poos, its own needs. But H is neces-, sarv for ns to scrutinise very closely the! Sta of that experiment. The Revolu. ion las exposed secrets of tho social; structure of which we were only, dimly; ware It ha*. Emitted out-own most) advanced theories to a severe if not a tnoiwurh test. It has given lull rein to ; J; ul'forces that. are latent in other | And as such it is a warning. s , Lessons wo must Read. • j ' "This warning is coming home to j us ; T and will \\ b™u ß ht .home to us in a variety of ways. It will be;, ell if it can - b- aporeciated mtellec ualv The war has sharpened our fae-.; X of self-criticism, tat the Revolu- ■ Hon which opens up the ultimate im-i; «Ucation of the ..war. should stimulate _j ! is f'lcultv to the most intense active y £ Russian noopk has suffered j not for itself alone. Its search and .its, suffering are already an immensely m-, poiUnt contribution .to the upbuilding | nf the world-civilisation. . . | "And the lessons it has leaned are j lemons that we, for our own sakes and i fo the sake of tho work before us, need o read without prejudice and with unreacing alertness. Those who have pas - j ed throiiili the Russian Revolution wIII j never look on Western civilisation with j he same eves again. They have seen the ; venrf appearances torn away, and they ; know of other things and are uneasy , "For this and for a hundred other reasons the Allies, who are fighting, for tho . liberating principle of cmluatiori, ore ■ deeply concerned in tho recovery of Ens- i Bia ' "She must become a power of j an entirely new quality,, ond will be a ; fecund source of great, intellectual and ; moral stimulus to the peoples of the | West who are fighting their way into a ! world of new and broader endeavour.' j