ABOUT BOLSHEVISM

Otago Witness, Issue 3396, 16 April 1919, Page 44

ABOUT BOLSHEVISM

Some pointed references to the taint of Bolshevism, gathered as the result of hia observations in America, were made by .a Chautauqua-lecturer, the Hon. J. 0. Herbsman, in an address delivered at Pajmerston North on Tuesday, 11th inst. (says the correspondent of the Dominion). He foresaw that the great danger affecting both England and America equally was Bolshevism. (A Voice: That's not true. What do you know about it?) Mr Hersbman, taking up the challenge, remarked that he knew aU about it from first-hand information, gleaned from American and British Ambassadoi's who had been in Russia during the great crisis, and who were eye-witnesses to the atrocities committed, and the awful deeds which were perpetrated in the name of Bolshevism. He informed his interrupter that he would tell him the truth about Bolshevism, and if he wished to reply when h% (the speaker) had finished he would be welcome to go up on the platform and give the lie to his statements. A country to be successful must.be democratic. Now, Bolshevism was the reverse of , democratic. It meant government for the many by a few. It meant government by the prejudiced for the unprejudiced, and was based oh fear. and terrorism. It meant confiscation of all established' institutions, and giving nothing in their place. It meant seizing all industries without .any compensation to the people who had built them up. It meant the confiscation of all property. It was a menace to human life. This menace, which threatened to stagnate and terrorise the world, must be removed, not only from Germany and Russia, but it must also be prevented from taking root in England, France, America, and Australia, and even in New Zealand, where it was evident its seeds were being sown. Bolshevism must be removed root and branch from the face of the_ earth It was out for the total destruction of Anglo-Saxonism, and every member of that ancient race should bestir themselves and use every means to avert the threatened danger. One of the greatest problems which now confronted the Allied statesmen was how to extricate Russia from the condition into which she had been plunged by Bolshevism. He was sanguine that the League of Nations would be an accomplished 'fact. It would form international arbitration courts, to which national disputes could be referred. This would help to wipe out Bolshevism; and this done, the world would enter on a new era of peace, security, and prosperity. At the close the lecturer was loudly cheered.