RUSSIAN CONSCRIPTION

Evening Star, Issue 14529, 3 December 1910, Page 3

RUSSIAN CONSCRIPTION

BY COUNT LEO TOLSTOY. Th is i-s what. take,-, piste :i;.r the conscription—in Rne.-ia When tin; d;iv ar-iivi-s they who have been .-on-criplcd aio' driven like cattle to lies appointed pl;u .-.hero they arc .Rilled in military exert is. ■> , by those who a few years a.-n, like, them- j wives, were deceived and brul.ibt-ed. Dur- j ing the iu.-ti iielioro the means einploved j are lying, blows, and liquor. And before | the vein is over the yocd, kindly, and in- j telfigent fellows will .have become as bridal as their instractons. I “Suppose your dither wcic arrested and | attempted i r-,;a;)c,” 1 once suggested to a > y.rnng soldier, " what would you do;" ; “It would bo my duty to tlrruot my | bayonet through his 'body.” lie- replied a; ! the p-?i-aliqr, meaniiigi'v.i tone of tec .sol- ! j tier. “.And if lie inn I should idioot,” ho j added, taking pride apparently in thinking , what ho should do jf his father attempted I to ntu. f V.'hcn a good young fellow reduced to ; , i condition lower than that of iiui brute, I i 1» is ready u>r tei-vs- v.lie wish to use Ldm ' las an instrument;, of violence. He in : -'ady. I Tho mail in io:-x, and a new inctrume-nr <u 1 violence has Ihvis created. And ;J! Lilt, goes on throughout Rin i::o autumn I oi every year, in brow! daylight, in the : | 'heart, of a great city, wiuer-.va by ;di the ; | inhabitants, and the siiat.ig-un te s > ski!- I fully uimvii-ed, that though men -it Lie; bottom of their leMi'to jvaii. .• it; - . i: :te:u>. | still they have- noe tie.- ja.>v.vr lo linow off , j ilia yoke. 1 i Alter out oyca are om-i; o[<".;.-d, and we. ! Ivlev.- tins ;T;ghtU.l deiup.iou in it/; | iigtel, it ' em;;; autentsiiing that, pivuther.s j I of Christianity and morality, lecciioui oi | I youth, or even tho;-; kinely and sensible ! j pa«>'Vi£ vlio are te be ioiit.ti i;t every e-,m- j | Duality, can advoeeie any principles >.f j | morality whatever :n iho millet of a t»>- j I ciety where tuner" and minder arc openly | | recognised as coron Hiding indie.pi usable , j /-onditionti in human iif-a, openly aekiKiw- | lodged by ai ; church.:;; and governments, | where certain' men among us must bo a!I way-, ready to murder their brethren, and | where any of us may lave to do the same. | Not to speak of Christian doctrine, how I are children, how are youths, how are any j I to lx.' taught morality, while the pnncijdo j j that murder i.s required in order lo mainj lain the general welfare is taught; when ■ men are mode to believe that murder is lawful, that some men. and .my of us may lv; among them, must kilt and torture their neighbor.-;, and commit even - kind of eiime at the. tomni.nid of than in authority? Jf this principle is light, then there is not. nor tan there be, any doctrine of morality; might, is right, and there, it; no other lan . Thin principle, which soir.o seek to justiU- on tho hypothesis of the struggle for existence, in fact, dominates society. What kind oi moral docuim can that be which per mils murder lor any object whatsoever? It is an impossible as a mathematical problem which would allirm that 2= 5. It may be admitted that 2= 5 looks like mathematics, but ii is not mathematics at all. Every code of morals must bo founded first of all upon Iho acknowledgment that human life is to be held sacred. The doctrine of an eye fur an eye. a tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life, lias been revoked by Ghristianity because Hint doctrine was but the justification of immorality, a semblance, o: justice but without moaning. Lite; in a substance which e.r.i neither be weighed, mcasuicd. ucu compared; hence tho taking cf ono iito for another has no sense. Moreover, tlv aim of every social law is amelioration of human life. How then can the destruction

of certain lives improve the condition of other lives?, The destruction of life is not an act that tends to improve it; it is si'icido. To destroy human life and call it jvttfcc may be likened to tbo act of a man who, having lest one arm, cuts olf the other, by way of making in attorn even. Not to speak of the deceit of presenting the meet shocking crimes hr tho light of a duty, of the shocking abuse of using Christ's name and authority in order to confirm acts winch He condemned, how can men, looking at the matter from tho standpoint merely of personal safety, suffer tho vxhlence of the shocking, senseless, cruel, and dangerous force which every organised government, supported by the army, represents? The most violent and rapacious band of robbers is lets to bo feared than such an organisation, liven tho authority of the leader of a band of robbers is more or less limited by tho will of each individual member of the band, who, retaining a certain degree of independence, has the right to oppose acts with which ho docs not agree. But tho authority of men who for m: ]v*rt of ati organised government, maintained by the army with its present system of discipline, if, unlimited. When their master . . . i-«ucs his commands there is no ciime too hideous for tlio.se who form part of tho government and tho array to commit. Jt must often occur to one who tecs conscriptions, drills, anti military mtiiKcuvrcs taking place, who secs police going about with loaded revolvers, sentinels armed with bayonets—to one who hems from morning to night, as I do in the district where I live, tho whirring hoik, ami Lire concussion as they ’.-trike Ihe target—to ask why these things are tolerated. And when one -e:s in tho same city, where every attempt at violence is at onto suppressed, where even tho sale of powder or medicines is prohibited, where a doctor Ls not allowed to practise without a, diploma thousands of disciplined men, controlled by one individual, being trained I tor murder, one cannot help asking how 1 men who have any regard for their own safety can calmly endure such a condition ! of affairs and allow it to continue? Beav- ’ 1 ing aside the question of the immorality | and pernicious influence of it, what conk! jbemo to dangerous? What are theyy thiuk- | ing of? 1 siK-ak not now of\Christians, ! Christian pastors, philanthrop:.?!*, or | moralists, bat- simply three who value their I liven, their safety, their welfare. GrantI jug chat power is nt. present in the ha mis 'of a moderate ruler ■ . • Jin may ■ I (.otr.o a mei-o. ravage io-morrnw ; he may ; lv> succeeded by an insano or half insane heir, like tho King < f Bavaria <t (he I'm--Ipc for I’aui. It is tic a only three who (ill : tho liighre.t oflicc'-. hut all the k-fi-vr anthori • | 'i,r.wr rim land, the ridels <-f i ix,doe, (he commandois of com])aides, oven j tho ratal police old or. may commit t-hoek-ing crinii-.J 10-kee they -an ho dkmi.-v.cd ; ! it is an ev. ry-clay oconrnince. 1 ! nvo;;n.t.ai-v one ao-ks ; how run men allow three Things i.o go on? How fan liiiev tc’or.iie tiieni w’th any vor-lioot to • ! vi>c-'r own personal safely? PUBLIC NOTICESi