The Wanganui Chronicle. " Nulla Dies Sine Linea." TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1919. BLATCHFORD AND BOLSHEVISM

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXIV, Issue 17672, 23 September 1919, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. " Nulla Dies Sine Linea." TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1919. BLATCHFORD AND BOLSHEVISM

Robert Blatchford's name and Robert \slatchford's principles are to-day familiar to many millions of British people in all parts of the Emire. He is no crusted Tory. Me is a pro- | l'essed hater of shams, and a vigorous denouncer of humbugs and hypocrites of every kind and class. He pours out his scorn alike upon the rapacity of unscrupulous financiers and profiteers and the insane propaganda of the Bolsheviks. In a recent article in the "Sunday Herald" Robert Blatchford proclaimed the need of the hour to be "men of courage, integrity and understanding, alive to the changed conditions of the time, capable of grasping a new idea, and in. sympathy with the desires of the people." His point was that Bolshevism would never provide the men of the right calibre. On the contrary, he urged that in the interests of the nation the Bolshevik propaganda should be dealt with. To disdain to answer it because it is insane is, he declared, a weak and flabby policy. In Robert Blatchford's opinion the Bolshevik propaganda is mentally contemptible. As evidence of its quality, Mr. Blatchford cites a speech recently delivered by Mr. Tom Mann in Trafalgar Square. In that speech, Mr. Mann shouted . for "open revolution." There are, of course, ignorant, or fanatical, or discontented persons ready to listen to such blatant rubbish. These persons believe, or pretend to believe, that Parliament represents the master class, and that the only hope of the-down-trodden workers is a revolutionary Government of Bolshies, with Mr. Mann or another extremist of the same type at their head. But, assuming, first of all, that Parliament represents the master class, Mr. Blatchford pertinently points out (.hat the first question that rises in the mind of any j sane person is: "Who elected them?".; The next question is: What sort of men would a revolution be likely to put in their places? To begin with, \ he says, we should probably get a .n'oup of such brilliant political geniuses as Macdonald and Snowden and Lansbury. But, bad as that would be, it, would only be the prelude to worse. Men who never were anything but sentimental theorists, who! have never given an indication of sagacity or foresight or administrative power, would very soon be hustled to one side by more "lawless iresolutes," and the** country would go from bad lo worse until the revulsion came. With all the force of j his vigorous language, Mr. Blatchjford denounces all such suicidal j lunacy. His argument is not limited Un the United Kingdom in the scope .of its application. "There is no case Nor revolution in this country. Their

lis neither excuse nor reason for jjsuch suicidal lunacy. The people can I choose their own rulers and malte | their own laws. There is no power iin tile State to prevent the workers from securing every penny of the wealth they produce—more than | that the revolution cannot give them. ! Wealth cannot be produced without | forking for it. We cannot, live in luxury by stealing each other's I ngars. We cannot cheapen food by ; burning rlc-Us. nor solve the housing [problem by blowing up cottages and

mansions. Again, as a nation we are largely dependent upon foreign trade. We might become more in* dependent in time by means of wise statesmanship, but such a change would need to be gradual and cautious. It could not be brought about by 'open revolution.' If we burnt down all- our cotton factories and sen.t all the operatives to the land, they would starve. We might democratise our industries; and it might be an improvement, and it might not. But to do it safely would take much care and time. To •scrap or murder all those whose knowledge and experience qualifies them for management and replace them by garrulous, inexperienced Soviet committees would mean rein." But Mr. Tom Mann's fulminations are mild and sane when compared with some of his comrades. Mr. W. Paul, speaking at Merthyr, said that if the Clyde sti'ike had spread over the country and all the workers had come out, "the Government, instead of sending a few thousand soldiers to Glasgow, would have been compelled to withdraw all the British soldiers from Russia and Germany, and this would have helped the Bolsheviks and our German comrades." Mr. Arthur -McManus, in "The Socialist," declares: "They are free who dare to be free! And we urge that the working classes dare." He does not explain in what particular the working class is less free than any other class, but he says: "Come what may we are determined to go |on using any and every opportunity which presents itself, to stir the people up to revolution, confident that when the hour k comes and the worker jsteps forth, awakened from his lethargy, the deed will be done." As Robert Blatchford says, this kind of bombastic rubbish is turned out by the mile and circulated through the Bolshevik Press. "Not," he adds, "that there is a real danger of a revolution; our people are not prone to revolution; but there is a danger of local emeutes and of big strikes which might well result in tragedy and would be sure to produce industrial dislocation and to hinder seriously any plans for reconstruction. One cannot 'believe that any large number of the British working classes will be deceived by such arrant clap-trap as our Bolsheviks offer 'them, nor that they will go through the horrors of a revolution to put the Government of the country in the hands of mob orators such as those from whom I have quoted, but there will always re-main-a chance for mischief-makers to .ltta'ke mischief while hundreds of thousands of our finest citizens are suffered to remain in a condition to which no self-respecting man could willingly submit. The remedy lies in swift and practical reconstruction. That friendly co-operation which the King desires and recommends cannot be got from one side only. Con•G&gsfofrs aiid forbearance must come, from both sides."