The Dominion. THURSDAY,-.-JANUARY 9, 1919. THE WAR THAT IS GOING ON

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 89, 9 January 1919, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY,-.-JANUARY 9, 1919. THE WAR THAT IS GOING ON

If, as reports declare, the Allies intend to leave Eussia to her fate their decision can be ; justified only on the ground of necessity. It may be that engrossed as, they are with their own pressing'problems of demobilisation and reconstruction, the ■Allied nations are in no.position to devote armies :and wealth to the task of restoring order iri • Kussia.. Yet on both moral and prudential grounds a determination on their j part to. withdraw '< from that tor- j ; tured and unhappy country, leav- i ing the Eolsheviki still in command of the situation, would be a matter for infinite regret. A.fearful responsibility would be taken in leavitfg millions of innocent people who are playing the part of helpless victims in a carnival of blood and horror unaided and defenceless. Neither would it be a light matter to leave the red plague; of Bolshevism to run its course unchecked—perhaps to spread. One of to-day's messages'.points out that the Bolsheyiki are, if anything-, extending ; their foothold in Europe, | that they have declared war on the world, arid that the main question now is whe- , ,ther their aggression is to stot at the old frontier of Germany. Anyone might have based much the same general conclusions ■•' on recent detail reports. The Bolsheviki'are masters of a considerable part of European Russia. It. is an open question meantime whether' • they are to become masters of Germany. There is some talk of Pol- ; and raising a barrier to stay their advance, but much as hopes of the re-establishment of: Poland , have been brightened by the. outcome of , the war, the Poles are not yet in such a'state that they can be looked to confidently for a united national effort. ■■■ ' '• . .i It is impossible a-s yet to say how ■'. far .Bolshevism will spread, but in i its existing shape it constitutes undoubtedly a menace to Europe and ' to the whole world, hot excepting the British Empire. Such a statement calls at once for dnterpreta- ' tion and elaboration. . To suggest that Bolshevism is likely to gain a footing on its merits in any country ■ as yet untouched, or lightly touched; by its fell doctrines, would ' be to go to the : extreme limit-of ab-- .' surdity. If Bolshevism relied upon an appeal to the rational faculties it would not advance a yard, but on the contrary would speedily wither and decline in the places where it ; now lifts its head. In actual _fact, however, it appeals not to the intellect, but to the lowest passions and most degraded fcelingSi of mankind U-to. all that is hopeless and base and stagnant in human society. It is in essence an appeal to despair. ' Its working creed in so'-far as it has one is that by destroying the ' brains -and organisation of society the lot of the proletariat will be,insdme, mysterious fashion improved. Russia to-day presents an appalling object-lesson to. the world of the results that follow the application of Bolshevik doctrines. Millions who might have been happy workers living under 'free political institutions are reduced to a condition in all respects analagous' to that of cruel or cruelly-suffering beasts. "The _men who, set out ostensibly, to establish a dictatorship of the proletariat are ruling by .methods of terrorism inexpressibly'exceeding the worst excesses of .the old autocracy. It might be thought in these circumstances Bolshevism had provided its own antidote, and as far as thinking people in any nation are. concerned, . it undoubtedly has done so . nvfar more than sufficient measure. Put the real danger of BolshnyibTD is that it may operate as a cofrodii>K influence upon the wsak and unreflecting elements which are to te found in any modern nation —eleiments'which already incline, with or without cause, to Recklessness and despair—and that the more intelli-' gent sections of the population, '• even though they are in a great majority, may find themselves unprepared to deal with such a cancer appearing in the' midst of the body politic. Though Germany is in isoine respects much more fortunately than. Russia was in the days that followed the overthrow of thc'RoMANOFFS/ ■ it certainly cannot be taken' for granted that she is proof against.'an invasion of this character. •'. ■ . Neither can it be that even the democratic British Empire is secure and immune from the social evils of which, Bolshevism represents the last stage short of national death. Bolshevism is essentially anarchy—the negation of social order—and wherever the organisation of society is in any respect weak or faulty there is a danger, if not of Bolshevism, at least of an approach to the 'conditions iVconv notes. The threat that Bolshevism offers to the world owes much of its formidable menace .to the fact that in the evolution of modern nations : a great and growing body of unrest and dissatisfatcion with the existing social order has taken shape # in practically all civilised countries. This spirit, greatly quickened .and intensified by the war, is very far from giving occasion for regret. The desire for a. radical improve- , nient in standards of life is .practically universal and wholly commendable, but its satisfaction is wholly contingent upon the loya-1 and united co-operation of the different sections 0f.,-the community. To descend to strife and contention , where co-operation should be the keynote is to take at least a step towards Bolshevism. Whatever our problems of the moment may be the people of this country or of any other British country arc no doubt adequately 11

safeguarded against falling a complete prey to Bolshevik ideas and practices. But this in itself is far from being enough to justify contentment. We shall have just ground for satisfaction only when our national organisation is free from trace or taint of the social evils, based la-rgely on ignorance : and inefficiency, which find complete expression in Bolshevism. What is needed as bottom, is, as Mb. G. N. Barnes observed not long ago, a general determination to "raise life and labour from the low struggle for bread," All will agree that '■'higher wages, longer leisure (i.e., shorter hours), and la-rgor product" are essential objects to be aimed , at. . But these objects will be approached only if employers and workers alike recognise that the substantial and progressive increase in production which is essential to prosperity is attainable only by a loyal combination of effort. Two things above all others.are necessary to invigorate and uplift thesocial and industrial life of, this country and others. > One is that Labour should be content to see wages fairly adjusted with an eye to production, and the other is that employer? and business", .people generally should accept the view that profits must be measured by service rendered and ho't by what it is possible to extort or _ exact. Development on these lines would be the right answer by the people of the British Empire to the world menace'of the Bolsheviki.