COMBATTING EXTREMISM.

Hokitika Guardian, 5 November 1918, Page 4

COMBATTING EXTREMISM.

(By a Workman, in the Sydney j Morning Herald.) j This extreme Labourism, extreme j Socialism, I.WAV., or Bolshevism — j extremism for short —has been coming on for so long and so gradually j that the majority of people have got j used to it. They do not realise the j fact that it is actually here, and that j its advocates only atvait a favourable ] opportunity to put their theories j into practice. To think that the extremists hold the theories they do, only as theories, and do not intend to put them into practice, is to “ 1 ive in a fool’s paradise.” They do intend, and will not hesitate to use j any and every means in their power j to gain their ends. They will nor ; hesitate any more than have the Bolsheviks, whom they greatly ad- j mire, and hope they emulate. The extent of their administration can j be judged from a recent expression j of opinion, in which the Bolsheviks j were lauded up to the skies, and j their leader, Lenin, likened to Christ, j At the present time they might not; openly advocate militant measures, j They do not feel quite strong j enough; alsg, there is the War j Precautions Act hanging over their ! heads. The writer, though, in eon- ; versation, has heard some thinly > veiled threats as to their intentions. ; Neither would they be particular as ' to their methods, for they believe, j as the Germans do, that the end i justifies the means, and that expedieucy overrides all sentiment. . This is an easy matter for them, be- | cause they sneer at the bare idea ot j sentiment or honour as a remnant 1 of serfdom, and jeer at all forms of j religion as something akin to ghost j stories, things that nowadays people are too well educated to believe in. This extremism is a matter that has to be faced. There can be no side-stepping it. We may reason out their theories and come to the conclusion that they would be unworkable in practice. There is no comfort in that thought. The business has got past the discussion stage. Whether the theories are practicable or not is quite beside the question ; it is a fact that AA’e have to deal with, and that tact, is that a proportion, and an increasing proportion, of the Avorkers believe in these theories. Once the extremists obtained control and tried to put their theories into practice the fact ol the theories being found unworkable would only make the result still more disastrous. Things would have to run their full course until the foolish experiment s worked themselves out, and order was once again evolved out of chaos. The condition of Russia at the present time is proof positive oi what the neglect of these questions must eventually lead to. This growth of extremism is based oil the'discontent and unrest that do undeniably exist among the workers; and it will continue to grow as long as unrest is allowed to exist. Such unrest is an effect. We must find the cause and the counter for that cause ; and we cannot hope successfully to combat extremism until we do. Those of us who are opposing extremism are in a similar position to that of the atheist, who is satisfied by his own arguments that all religion is false and ought to be abolished. But people refuse to give up their religion unless they are given something else to take its place. This the atheist cannot do, so fails. We will fail, too, unless we can give something in place of the extremist views. The worker is conscious of his wrongs and disadvantages ; the extremist offers his views as a remedy lor them. The worker has waited a long time for a better way to be offered him, aud if he cannot offer it, the worker has no alternative but to turn to the extremist, who, all said and done, does offer something. We can only say it won’t work, but we cannot apparently suggest anything better. We seem only to harp upon present conditions, which are an acknowledged failure.

To a man who is struggling along on little more than bare necessities, with no prospect of obtaining a few of the good things of life, who is tired to death of the continuous struggle, and who has at last turned in despair to the extremist for some hope of relief, to such a man it is quite futile to give good advice and utter pious rebukes. To wean him trom his present views we must be able to offer him an alternative, something tangible, some definite prospect of his wrongs being righted in d safer and more legitimate manner. But before we can do this we must first know what his wrongs actually are, the cause ot them, and the proper remedy. To answer this question is a task that all those who love Australia must set themselves. A great difficulty in the way of solving this problem of unrest is the ever-widening gulf which separates the different classes. The better-off class, because they do not actually rub shoulders with the extremists, fail to realise their existence, and because they do obtain some of the good things of life cannot understand how great the temptations of the extremists’ doctrines are to those who have to make do with bare necessaries. Another difficulty is to make people realise that they are personally concerned, and that they or their children will have to pay "the penalty of neglect. Even if they realise the seriousness of the position they are so apt to say, “The Government ought to do something,” instead of, “We ought to do something.” It seems a peculiar trait in so many characters that instead of relying on themselves they want to lean on the Government for everything, and so many jump at the excuse to shirk their own individual responsibilities in this and many other matters. The Government is undoubtedly doing a great deal of good work in investigating these troubles, but the active co-operation of the individuals of all classes will cover a much wider.field of inquiry, and be far more certain of good re suits. So even with Government action the final solution of these problems must lest on the voluntary' service of those people who do realise that they, and they only, can fulfil their individual responsibilities. The awful effect of this unrest on

the industrial ad% r ance of Australia can only be gauged by comparing our advance Avith that ol other countries. Unrest is like a poison in our system, it is numbing our SAVOrd arm in Avar, and our hammer arm in both peace and war. As long as it is alio.ved to exist, Australia can never take her place among the nations as one of the leaders in the “ race of life,” but must remain in the ruck, in the undignified position of being compelled to swallow the dust raised bv those in trout.