BOLSHEVISM

Dominion, 14 March 1919, Page 6

BOLSHEVISM

* JRAVE WARNING BY A DUTCH MINISTER M. Oudendyk, Dutch Minister in Pelro;rad, who recently arrived in London, !'ia Germany and Holland, was- intcri'icwcd by Reuter'6 representative. He said :— "I wish to give a solemn warning lo . the working classes of all nations against tli© high-l'alutin' notions which I have seen in Russia, and which have 'brought such disastrous results already lo that uountry. Bolshevism, I say without exaggeration, is the end of civilisation. I have known Russia intimately for 20 years, under the old regime and under tho new conditions. Never have the working classes of Russia suffered as they are doing at the present moment, notwithstanding all that the present so-called ruling classes in that country choose lo tell the world. "Factories are at a standstill and are being ruined, and without the aid of foreign capital they can never be resuscitated. I have never seen or dreamt, of the possibility of such corruption, tyranny, and the absence of all semblance of freedom ns there is in Russia at the present moment. "Translated into practice, tho five points of Bolshevism really come lo thi/; . (1) High wages. (2) Don't work. (3) Take other people's property. (4) No punishment. (5) No taxation. And I suppose there will always be a certain number of people wlio will adopt a programme which in practice amounts to this. That is why, having seen myself the disastrous effects of this policy on all classes of society, I take the* first opportunity on my arrival iu England to warn tlie public, "The bulk of the workmen in Russia are to-day far and away worse off than they ever have been, and tho state of unemployment is simply tenrible. When I left Petrograd the situation was one of utter starvation, and most people hardly knew how they would exist through the following day. Tho future to me 6eeius hopeless. It certainly is impossible for me to forecast what may happen. One thing is certain: that left as she now is Russia will be in a state of utter and complete ruin. Wherever Bolshevism rules the nation has been beaten to a pulp and is utterly helpless. In such a situation the whole world must stand shoulder to shoulder, so that out of the ruins something may arise, (hough personally I know not what. One factory I know personally which used to employ 12,000 workmen lias to-day only 800, an<l these are only kept in the factory by reason of very high wages. "During the festivities on the anniversary of the revolution workmen who wanted to return lo their villages for a few days' holiday were compelled to stay in town. It is a sample of the kind of freedom that the workmen were compelled to march i.n procession through the town, and in order to make sure that they did not go away the Bolsheviks organised control stations to prevent the men leaving. Most of the workmen, except those who for the moment may be earning very high wages, now begin to 6ee that the regime of Bolshevism cannot possibly last. During the evacuation of the British colony a number of English engineers left a factory where they were working. The workmen crowded round them, saying: 'We hope you will come back soon. This state of things cannot go on long.' "