MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1920. Lenin and British Labour.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16962, 11 October 1920, Page 6

MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1920. Lenin and British Labour.

The message from Lenin to the British workers which has been transmitted through Miss Sylvia Pankhurst is interesting mainly "for its evidenco of Lenin's extraordinary ignorance of tho British mind. Nothing struck the Labour delegates who recently visited lliissia more-.than Lenin's strange belief that tho British workers were preparing for the signal to tear down Parliament and destroy the "bourgeoisie.'-' Tho truth is that, for all his great ability. Lenin is a fanatic, and tho intensity of his belief in Communism has blinded him to facts. Tho most interesting, and for some reasons the most authoritative, reporter upon .Russian Communism is Mr Bortrand" liussell, who hns been giving in tho London " Nation' , tho result of his observations nnc'. enquiries. The Communist theory of international affairs, he says, is extremely simple: there must be a world revolution, and every Communist must work for' it. "No real good can como "to any country without a bloody " revolution; English Laßour men may "fancy that a peaceful evolution is " possible, but they will find their mis"take. Lqn}n told me that ho hopes "to see a Labour Government in Eng- " land, and would wish, his supporters ",to work for it, but solely in order "that tho futility of Parliamentarism "may be conclusively demonstrated to "the British working man. Nothing " will do any real good except tho arm"ing of. tho proletariat and the disarming "of tho bourgeoisie. Those who preach "anything olso are social traitors or "deluded fools." Mr Russell gives this account of his conversation with Lenin: "I was anxious!to know whether '■• advocacy of violent revolution is an " indispensable condition of joining the " Third International, although I uid "not put this question to him directly. <J His answer was unsatisfactory to me.

"Ho admitted that there is littl< 11 chance of revolution in England now " and that tho working man is not yel " disgusted with Parliamentary Govern' "ment. But'ho hopes that this resuM "mny be brought about by a Labou) "Ministry. He thinks that, if Mi "Henderson, for instance, were to be"come Prime Minister, nothing of jm."portanco would be done; organised " Labour would then, so ho hopes and •'believes, turn to revolution.*. . . The " reasons which make attempts at vio- " lent revolution seem to most of us both " improbablo and undesirable in this "country carry no weight with him, " and seem to him mere bourgeois pre- " judices. "When I suggested that " whatever is possiblo in England can "bo achieved without bloodshed, he " waved asido tho suggestion as fan"tastie." In tho message ho gavo to Miss Pankhurst. Lenin insists that "the Communist Party must possess " an iron discipline, even military in " its'severity." Mr Russell found that this was Communism's way in Russia. The sincere Communist, ho found, is "austere and ruthless": "Mars has " taught that Communism is fatallv "predestined to come about; this fits "in with tho Oriental traits in th-e ''Russian, character, and produces a "state of mind'not unlike that of the " early successors of Mahomet. Opposition is crushed without mercy. -. Summarising his own reflections upon what hp found in Russia, Mr Russell says: "Perhaps love of liberty is incompatible " with whole-hearted belief in a panacea "for all human ills. Jf so, I cannot "but rejoice in the scoptical temper of "tho Western world. I went to Russia ."believing myself a Communist; but

j "contact villi those who have no ''doubts has intensiGed n tbou&indf&ltl "my own doubts, not cn'y of Com•'inunism, but of ovory creed so finr.ly ! "held that for its miUo men are trilling i '■'io inflicfc widespread misen-. , ' Mr j Russpll is a philosopher, but in his vioxvs upon Communism he difiers from the ordinary Englishman only in being j übie to analyse tlio. reasons wliy lie pro-. j i'ors liberty, and to spc :uoro clenrly— i -.incr i-o has seen Ccnimnnism trying to j work—win- Communism is impossible. ])artly bceay>c io v.orlts constantly against human instincts, and partly because it- is self-destructive. As the Italian .Socialist- r.ho h::vo just rc-turnc-.I from a visit of investigation to Russia say, "the capitalist regime has ■'been destroyed, but nothing has: "been substituted for ii." There is little prospect that Bolshevik ideas will inako any headway in Britain, or that tho Third International will find nib re supporters than those of the few ob->-lire Communist groups which alone, we aro 'told, have accepted Lenin's insane advice.

A National Balance-sheet. j Tlie Primo Minister took occasion on J I'iiday, in moving the second reading I of the Soldiers' Settlement Loan Bill, tr> place before the House nnd the 'country a statement of national assets nnd liabilities It showed the Doniin- ] ion's finan-jes to b<< in a. very satisfactorily sound condition. Tho public j debt has, of course, increased cnorj moiiily, considering the population of Now Zealand, since the outbreak of I war, and is now more than doable what it was in ■ the financial year ending March, .1910. But against the gross debt of £201.170,755 havo to be placed assets, which leave an excess ot liabilities of only & ome £ - 02,000,C00. So:ne ut least of the assets have a prceont value considerably exceeding the amount of their cost, and some of the excess liabilities return an indirect profit. The reference to thu estimated private wealth of the Dominion, which is a great deal more than the total excess liabilities alluded to, wae, we think, unnecessary; ive doubt whether first-class economists would countenance private* wealth being placed in this way as ,1 set-off-against public indebtedness, though the mention of the amount is useful as indicating the prosperity of tho community, and as supporting the conclusions which Mr Massey drew from his financial statement. Tho position of tho Dominion was, indeed, shown to be very strong; Mr Massey was right in claiming that no other country is as well off financially. Of the outlook ho spoko most optimistically. It is a wholesome attitude of mind, to look always on the bright side of things, so long as it is not carried to so that hope is made the foundation of actions which need a more substantial support. Hβ admitted that there wore signs of "depression in other countries, and that if their purchasing power declined—a development of which indications are already observable —New Zealand would also experience a depression. If that occurs, we must hono that the Prime Minister will prove a true prophet in declaring his belief that tho period of depression will be but brief. If the worst happens and wo have to face tho results of seriously reduced demand find lower prices for our products overseas, we are at least in a better nositiori to weather the storm than on any previous occasion in our history. To what degree it will'affect'us, depends to &omo extent upon the wisdom with which we are governed in the meanwhile —this is a factor in the future situation to which, by the way, Mr Massoy mado no reference—and to a larger extent upon the manner in which wo prepare for foul weather. *To work together, to produce more, to increase the area of productive lnnd, and to encourage our secondary Industrie , ? — these are tho methods by which we can rob any depression of half its terrors. To prevent its coming, if it is to.come, is beyond our powerg, for wo have no more control of the conditions affecting the world's markots than we have of the movement of the tides or of the rising and setting of the sun. But we can make our position moro assured, and less vulnerable to a wave of commercial depression, if wo follow the Prime Miaistef's excellent advice