The Daily News. FRIDAY, MAY 23, 1919. BOLSHEVISM IN THE MAKING.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 May 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, MAY 23, 1919. BOLSHEVISM IN THE MAKING.

I If Bolshevism were merely a political movement confined to Russia it would still be regarded with • anxiety, not unmixed with horror, by all sections of sane humanity having any pretence to civilisation. It is, however, avowedly a programme of the liberation of the proletariat of all countries by armed revolt, its aim being the overthrow of all constitutional government in order to bring about the international dictatorship of the working class. . Brute force, class hatred, lust for power and the worst features of communism are some of the main factors of this movement which. every endeavor of its leaders is directed to spreading throughout the world like a loathsome pestilence. In order to combat such a menace to orderly Government and national security, it is necessary to have a much clearer comprehension of this Bolshevik programme than is at present descernable in spite of all that has been written on the subject. the Imperial regime in Russia all political movements had to be carried on in secrecy, so that it is not possible to obtain any exact information of the genesis of the upheaval that paved the way for Bolshevism, but it is well known that many years before 1898 the doctrine of Marx had permeated Russian intellectual circles, and that in 1898 an all Russian Social Democratic party was formed, the Central Committee of which was promptly arrested, yet the number of branches spread very rapidly in the ensuing years, so much so that even before the revolution every working man's vote in Russia was cast for Socialism. The second congress of this Russian Socialist Democratic party took place in July and August of 1903, first al Brussels land later in Loatkra. ISt&jpccutssd-

ings were stormy, and revealed deep and radical differences of opinion as to organisation. The section headed by Lenin demanded a more thorough centralisation of power in the hands of the Executive Committee, a rigorous suppression of all independent activities, and a severer code of rules for membership. The section led by Martoff defended the democratic principle, and, in connection with the policy to be adopted in the event of a revolution was prepared to concede to the Liberal hour geoisie a temporary justification of their existence. It will thus be seen that from the outset Lenin was an extremist who classed tV bourgeoisie and Czardom in the same category. The majority, or "bolshenstvo," voted with Lenin, and were subsequently known as' the "bolsheviki," the minority, or "menshinstvo," being labelled "mensheviki." During the revolution of 1905 further attempts were made to reconcile the parties, but to-day they stand in violent opposition, rendered more bitter by the suppression of the Menshevik press and the expulsion of the leaders from the Soviets. The Bolshevik of to-day has erased the word democracy from his party's title, and his policy may be justly described as the immediate establishment of communism by violent methods and the destruction of the bourgeoisie by means of the dictatorship of the proletariat and for international revolution. To the Bolshevik, as to the Mohammedan, the world is divided into the faithful and the infidel It must be remembered that in Kussia nearly eighty per cent, of the population is totally illiterate, so that it goes without saying that a revolutionary leader, to be successful, must be an extremist who appeals to the baser instircts of his fellows—men who have no mercy, and many of whom are inflamed at the prospect of getting their own back on a world in which they have suffered greatly. The most dangerous section of the Bolsheviks is probably to be found in the semi-educated workmen who have been secretly educated by the Bolsheviks, and have come to regard Bolshevism as a religious belief, so that it is only when we admit the irrational character of this belief that we can arrive at an understanding of the terror I and the numerous outrages comi mitted by the Bolsheviks in the name of Socialism. The_ Bolshevik revolution gave to criminals and defectives an unrivalled opportunity of satisfying their lower instincts. Lenin is the pivot of the movement. He foresaw the reaction the war was bound to create and prepared his machinery for exploiting that reaction in the in terests of his own aims. His one aim is the establishment of communism throughout Europe by means of international Bolshevik revolution. That is the menace which has to be met. The making of Bolshevism means universal chaos, civil war and bloodshed, and it, will need the exercise of vigorous and determined measures to suppress this ruthless monster of evil not only in th« interests of the Allies, but to preserve Russia from a fate that is toe h»rrible to contemplate.