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BC Historical Newspapers
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•~K7~ M \ THE A Journal of News and Views Devoted to the Interests of the Working Class VOL. 1 NO. 4 VANCOUVER, B. C, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY S, 1919 Five Cents Conciliation for Russia? THE recent proposal by the British government of a more conciliatory policy towards Soviet Russia is an amazing fact. It is amazing because until recently all the official statements about Russia dished up both by the British* Foreign Office and the American State Department accused the Soviet Republic of being essentially and exclusively a criminal conspiracy against human liberty and progress. A large part of British and American public opinion accepted this indictment as literally true. It was astonished and beAvildered by the attempt to conciliate a government which had been alleged to be so utterly odious and depraved. Under the circumstances it surely had some excuse for being not only astonished and beAvildered but irritated. Either the official propaganda about the condition in Russia had been a gross distortion of the truth or else the proposed policy of conciliation must be condemned as it Avas condemned by M. Pichon. Unless, consequently, the British government decides to reverse its policy once again, it Avill have to justify its conciliatory disposition by permitting the British and American public to learn Avhat the condition in Russia actually is. That is the meaning of the proposed Anglo-American commission of investigation. It is a frank admission of the falsehood of wliat the Allfefe have said-about revolutionary Russia and of the failure of their policy toAvard her. If the Soviet Republic had been, as the American State Department and the British Foreign Office has alleged, essentially a criminal conspiracy against civilization, there Avould be nothing to investigate except the degree of its guilt and the nature of the punishment. The British government is not likely to reverse its new attitude towards Russia. Its leaders are beginning to learn too much about the existing standing and strength of the Soviet Republic. The military attack on the Soviets, to which the American government so reluctantly submitted last August, Avas defended at the time by an account of the condition of Russian public opinion which has since proved to be mistaken. Throughout the summer Russian emigres alleged that comparatively small Allied forces, introduced into several Russian ports, would have no difficulty in penetrating the country and rolling up a large volume of Russian popular opposition against the Soviets. The expeditions Avere undertaken, but the result has not followed. The Russian people, with the exception of a few Cossacks, land-owners and former officials, have either opposed the invasion or else remained indifferent. They have not either liked or trusted the Bolshevists, but they feared and distrusted still more the Russian emigres who returned under the protection of foreign bayonets; and no less did they fear and distrust the attitude which the Allied governments from the beginning displayed towards their resolution. The Allied military intervention has consequently made little or no headway. It cannot make headAvay unless the governments are willing and able to penetrate Russia with enormous armies of occupation. There have been indications recently of Bolshevist uprisings in many parts of the Siberian territory occupied by the Allied troops, and of an indisposition of the Czecho-Slovaks to pursue any further the politically disastrous and morally dubious adventure. According to information recently published in the British press the Soviet government has since FROM "THE NEW REPUBLIC" the signing of the armistice steadily increased in strength. Better order now prevail! in revolutionary Russia than at any time since the fall of the Romanoffs. Food distribution is more thoroughly organized than at any time during the Avhole Avar. Factories, managed not by committees of employees but by the Soviet government in consultation with such committees, are starting to Work where- ever raAv materials are obtainable. The terror, which always was grossly exaggerated in American press reports, has ceased. During the last two months there have been no executions in Moscow. At its worst many of its victims Ave re venal Soviet officials, and by means of this drastic method the Soviet government has partially purged the administration of the deeply rooted evil of corruption. The Red Army, consisting of about 600,000 soldiers, is strong enough to be invincible against the largest possible opposing Russian army. Any body of invading troops Avould have to consist of over a million men because they Avould arouse a popular and national resistance. They would be Avelcorned and supported only by a feAv former officials and property-OAvners. The Russian people know only too Avell what a return of the emigres Avould mean. Wherever the "Whites" have temporarily occupied a district they have draAvn upon JUi£ .Ajjealj^ ^. J&e^ ilK order to teach the Reds how a terror should really be conducted. During the autumn a large part of the professional and petty middle class have gone over,to the Soviet government. The industrial Avage-earn- ers are united in its favor and the early hostility of the peasantry is at least very much ameliorated. According to the usually accurate New Statesman, if the election for a constituent assembly were held at the present time, more Bolshevist candidates Avould be seated than those of any other party. This is a long guess and it may be a bad guess, but a more moderate statement is sufficiently certain. The -Soviet government, in spite of famine and penading popular distress,' cannot at present, be overthroAvn by anything but foreign bayonets. If it is not majority rule, it is certainly the rule of much the most numerous, most vigorous and most determined minor faction in Russia. And if the Allied governments continue the policy of military intervention or of starving out the Russian revolution and of lending assistance to monarchist reactionaries, the large Bolshevist minority, if it is a minority, would soon become a clear majority. Such is the result up to date of French, English and American policy in Russia. By its persistent misunderstanding of the Soviets and its enmity to them, it has sloAvly but steadily enabled the extreme advocates of a class dictatorship to capture the Russian revolutionary government and to win the support either of a considerable minority or an actual majority of the Russian people. It has become a choice, consequently, betAveen conquering or conciliating revolutionary Russia. The French and the Italians still cling to the idea of forcible suppression, but they are powerless to carry it into effect. No government either in Europe or America dares to ship to Russia a sufficient number of soldiers to overcome the military resistance of the Soviets. An Allied army has more to fear from Bolshevism than Bolshevism has to fear from an Allied army. The alternative policy of drawing a cordon around revolu tionary Russia and trying to starve the Soviets into submission looks more possible, but it is hideously inhuman, it is sIoav in becoming effective, and it Calls for a life and death struggle betAveen the Allied governments and the revolution. Those governments will not dare to engage in such a struggle Avith economic Aveapons any more than they Avill with military Aveapons. Their OAvn position is too insecure. The attempted suppression of Bolshevism by guerrilla warfare and starvation would tend at least temporarily to increase the virulence of the disease and at the same time to Aveaken the resistance which the rest of Europe could oppose to it. The "European body politic, after the moral and physical Avear and tear of the last few years, is unfit for such a strain. If the Allied democracies undertake it, they will not only delay their OAvn recuperation but they will increase the probability of communicating the contagion to Avestern Europe. It is the dawning apprehension of the implacability and the gravity of these facts Avhich accounts for the change in the official British policy. It remains to be. seen Avhether,a policy of conciliation is still possible, ajd if possible, it will prove to be successful. The obstacles to reaching any agreement Avith BolsheAdsm look almost as ... insuperable a^ the obstacles to exterminating it, ^ or starving it to death. Not that the Bolshevist I leaders are unwilling to negotiate. They a\ ii;. we believe, agree on certain terms both to pay the foreign creditors of Russia and to abandon aggressive propaganda. But Lenin will ask for a good deal in return. He Avill demand not merely the evacuation of Russian territory and a relaxation of the blockade, but Avhat would amount to the recognition of the Soviet Socialist republic as , a sufficiently representatiA-e government. He nuv obtain these demands in the end, but only after overcoming the bitter opposition of the Russian. French, English and American irrec ineihtbles. Formal or informal recognition of the Soviet Republic would imply the admission into the Society of Nations of an experimental state which had used confiscation in order to do away with capitalism, which proposed to live by substituting labor for property as the source of individual independence and social cohesion. The rulers of France, (treat Britain, Italy and probably of this country are not reconciled to the licensing of such a drastic experiment. If the proposed British policy of conciliation is found in practice to involve recognition of a thoroughly socialist state, the existing governments ■will adopt it only as a last resort. A prolonged delay Avill take place before the governments of the western nations will pay the prevailing price of peace Avith Soviet Russia. In any event the success of the policy of conciliation will be compromised by the delay in its adoption. Since the spring of 1917 Russian revolutionary radicals have repeatedly besought the governments and the peoples of the Avestern democracies for understanding, sympathy and assistance; but besought in vain. The Kerensky govern- ment implored them to call an inter-belligerent Socialist conference or even an inter-Allied conference in the hope of hastening the end of the Avar by diplomacy and so preArenting the spread of Bolshevism. Later, Avhen Russia could no longer resist and Lenin was the one man Avho dared to accept the "shameful peace" as an inevitable fv % (Continued on Pace Three) ■ i <& 1 i i ff <■ V jllflli ' I :<!•' k|*. i f* fe. H ■>! :f :•* PAGE TWO THE RED FLAG SATURDAY February 8, 19ij ! 1 fit : i 1 ■Vi i <. ti! !'!)? <.:i The Background of the German Revolution A FUNDAMENTAL issue of the Russian Revolution had been the issue of peace. Or this issue class antagonisms developed implacably-- the imperialistic bourgeoisie had to continue the imperialistic war. because its interests and its Avorld-relations were bound up with it; the revolutionary proletariat and tbe impoverished peasantry bad to struggle for the end of the Avar, as war was devouring the revolution and multiplying misery and oppression. The new proletarian Soviet government, organized on November 7, issued an offer to all belligerents for an armistice on all fronts as a preliminary to concluding peace qon the basis of no annexations and no indemnities. The Bolsheviki recognized that their program Avas not realizable through an appeal to the governments, but only through an appeal to the proletariat for pressure upon the governments and the revolutionary struggle against capitalism and imperialism—the revolutionary struggle against all imperialism was the means of securing peace, immediate, real permanent. The German government accepted the armistice —for purposes of its own; the Allied governments rejected the armistice—for purposes of their own. And on this issue of the armistice, as on the issues of the Avar, majority Socialism again divided on nationalistic lines—German majority Socialism favored the armistice, majority Socialism in France, Belgium and Great Britain repudiated the armistice. The governments had become the arbiters of "Socialist" policy. The Allies refused, equally, to enter into general peace negotiations; and Imperial Germany and Soviet Russia engaged in a peace conference at Brest-Litovsk in December, 1917. The Bolshevik delegates offered proposals for a general peace, all the Avhile appealing to the Allied proletariat and Socialism to compel their goA'ernments to accept peace negotiations; but their appeal met no decisive response. The abstention of the Allies allowed Germany to force separate peace negotiations upon Russia. The Austro-German delegates accepted the formula of no annexations - and no indemnities in words, but repudiated it in fact, insisting upon indemnities and the annexation of the -Baltic provinces in veiled form. Trotzky and the other Bolshevik delegates exposed the sinister imperialistic aims of the Austro-German delegation, but to no avail; German and Austrian imperialism, with the tacit approval of majority Socialism, had determined to impose an imperialistic peace of,violence upon the Soviet Republic. The Bolshevik delegates used the forum of Brest- Litovsk to speak to the proletariat of Germany and Austria, and of the Allied nations. Their policy at Brest was supplemented by an intensive agitation among the Austrian and German soldiers for reA'olutionary action against the Avar. This propaganda assumed gigantic proportions; and when the German delegation insisted that this propaganda should cease, Trotzky answered that the armistice terms did not forbid freedom of press and propaganda; and Avhen the Bolshevik delegation officially crumpled, the propaganda Avent on. This revolutionary propaganda among the Austro-German troops had been going on for months previously. When, due to counter-revolutionary treachery, Riga was captured in September, the Army Committee of the Twelfth Russian Army, upon evacuating the city, issued a proclamation to th% German soldiers: ''The Russian soldiers of the TAvelfth Army draw your attention to the fact that you are carrying on a Avar for autocracy against revolution, freedom and justice. The victory of Wilhelm will be death to democracy and freedom. We withdraw from Riga, but Ave knoAV that the forces of the revolution will ultimately prove more powerful than the force of cannons. We know in the long run that your conscience will overcome everything, and that the German soldiers, with the Russian Revolu- By LOUIS C. FRAINA tionary Army. will march to victory and freedom." In October, a formidable mutiny broke out in the German fleet at Kiel, and the sailors of the Russian Baltic fleet sent thei# greetings: "The revolutionary sailors of the Baltic Fleet send their fraternal greetings to their heroic German comrades who have taken part in the insurrection at Kiel. "The Russian Bailors an- in complete possession of their battleships. The Sailors1 Committees are the High Command The yacht of the former Czar. 'Polar Star.' is now the headquarters of tiie Fleet Committee, which is composed of common sailors, one man from each ship. "Since the revolution, the Russian Fleet is as ot.sy as formerly, but the Russian sailors will not ire the fleet to tight their 1 -"other-;, but everywhere to fi$ht under the Red Flag of the International for the freedom of the proletariat throughout all the world." For months the soldiers had been fraternizing on the eastern front, the Russians spreading revolutionary ideas among the Germans and the Austrians—a fraternization objected to by the imperialists on all sides, since it was a reA'olutionary threat to all. At the All-Russian Soviet Congress on November 8. a peace decree was adopted, proposing an armistice and appealing to the proletariat of Germany, France and Great Britain to "decisive and energetic action " which "will help us bring to a successful conclusion the fight for peace, and at the same time the liberation of all the Avorking classes from slavery and exploitation." Simultaneously, a proclamation was issued to the German soldiers, announcing that Socialism and the proletariat in Russia had conquered all government poAver: "Our program, to the execution of which the government has immediately proceeded, consists in the proposal of an immediate democratic peace, Avhich has already been communicated to the belligerent nations and their governments, in the transfer Avithout compensation of all the land to the peasants for their use, and in the realization of Workers' Control of industry. "Soldiers, Brothers! We ask you to stand by Socialism with all your might in the struggle for immediate peace, as that is the only means to secure a just and permanent peace for the Avorking class of all countries, and to heal the Avounds which the present most criminal of all Avars has inflicted on humanity." A bureau of International ReA-olutionary Propaganda was established by the Soviet government, and 10,000,000 rubles appropriated to assist reA'olutionary Socialism in all belligerent nations. A series of daily papers for reA-olutionary propaganda, in German, Hungarian and other languages, which Avere circulated by the millions among the Austro-German soldiers—while the delegates Avere discussing at the peace conference. . . . One of the appeals to the German soldiers read as follows: "Brothers, German soldiers! The great example of your comrade, Karl Liebknecht, the most eminent leader of International Socialism, the persevering and long-continued struggle Avhich you haA-e conducted by publishing newspapers and pamphlets, by numerous demonstrations and strikes, the struggle for Avhich your ' government has throAvn into prison hundreds and thousands of your comrades, and lastly, the heroic revolt of your sailors of the fleet serve as a guarantee to us that the mass of the Avorking class of your nation is ready to enter the decisive struggle for peace. "Hasten to our assistance! Tn the name of the Workers' and Peasants' Government Ave guarantee that our soldiers shall not move one step forward if you decide to take into your hands the flag of peace, and eAren if the struggle for peace inside your own country takes away part of your forces from the front," The proletarian revolution in Russia, in its struggle for peace and for its oavii complete sue- cess, had to struggle for the international revolution. It issued, accordingly, the clear call to class action, to the proletarian revolutionary struggle- by this sign alone could it conquer. The Brest negotiations proceeded. The aims of Austro-German Imperialism were clearly revealed and were in turn revealed to the Austro-German soldiers by means of revolutionary proclamations, pamphlets and papers. The German revolt did not materialize; Austro-German Imperialism became even more brutal and insolent. The revolutionary Socialists in Germany, in spite of all disadvantages, supplemented the Bolshevik propaganda at the front by a reA-olutionary propaganda of their own. Many revolutionary appeals were issued, of which this is one issued by the Spartacus Group: "The German government has demonstrated by means of the negotiations at Brest-Litvosk, that it wishes to throAv dust in the eyes of the masses and to aggravate the death struggle of the Avarring peoples. Its pretended love for peace is merely a mask. Its statement that a partial peace A\-ould bring us nearer to a general peace, is a lie and imposture. "A separate peace with Russia would increase the fury of the Avar and, consequently, increase the slaughter. The sufferings of the German people Avould not be abated. "It becomes the duty of the German Avorking class to battle unceasingly for a general peace. "There is only one means of putting an end to the present butchery and misery of the Avorkers —the overthroAv of the government and the bourgeois class, in the way that this was done in Russia. It is solely by mass effort, by the revolt of the masses, by a mass strike paralyzing all economic activity and all Avar industries; it is solely by a revolution and the establishment of a people's republic in Germany by and for the Avorking class, that an end may be put to the slaughter of the toilers of all lands, that a general peace can be achieAred." In January and February, 1918, all this agitation expressed itself in action. Great strikes and demonstrations against the Avar and for peace broke loose in Germany and Austria. This action verged on reA'olution. In Austria, in one district alone, 90,000 were pn strike, and the total must have been over a million. It was the initial mass action of the proletariat, out of which might haA-e emerged general revolutionary action against Avar, against capitalism and imperialism. The strikes and demonstrations in Austria broke loose against the orders of the union bureaucracy and the majority Socialism; Avhen the news of these Strikes reached Trotzky, he badgered the Austro-German diplomats into postponing the conference for a week, hoping that the movement would broaden and deepen. But in Austria, majority Socialism, in spite of not having acted to produce the movement, placed itself at the head and betrayed it into "legal" action. The movement spread to Germany, where hundreds of thousands of Avorkers were involved; but again the union bureaucracy and majority Socialism acted against the movement. Majority Socialism ordered the strikers back to work, preached incessantly against a revolution, betrayed the German proletariat and the Russian proletariat, the cause of Socialism and peace. The movement was not broken by the government, but by counter-revolutionary Socialism: that is the great fact.# • Isolated, abandoned equally by the proletariat and Socialism in all belligerent nations, the Bolsheviki at Brest-Litovsk were ovenvhelmed. But again Trotzky refused to accept the imperialistic treaty imposed by German imperialism, and turned to the desperate expedient of a "declared peace" (Continued on Next Paste) ■ SATURDAY February 8, 1919 THE RED FLAG PAGE THREE (Continued from Preceding; Page) —that is, the Bolshevik delegation refused to sign the "robbers' peace," but declared the war at an end; a final appeal to the world, and particularly to German Socialism. But Austria and Germany insisted upon signing the peace, and sent their soldiers to invade helpless Russia. This was in February. Tavo currents developed in Russian Bolshevism—one favoring a revolutionary Avar however desperate, the other insisting upon ratifying the peace, and waiting for the proletarian revolution in Germany. Lenin represented this latter attitude, and said "The Russian Revolution, reaching a culminating point in November, when the proletariat secured the reins of government, Avas bound to pass through a period of civil Avar and internal disorder, because the propertied classes could not be expected to give up their privileges Avithout a struggle. "Therefore the Avar Avith reactionary organizations (the fight against the sabotage by which the intelligentsia tried to overthrow the Soviet government by breaking the state machinery), must continue until the bourgeoisie sees the hopelessness of further resistance and surrenders unconditionally. "This means the necessity for the Soviet government to concentrate all its forces on the internal struggle." The policy of the Russian revolution must be based on the general international situation-- namely, the probability or improbability of the cutbreak of social revolution in the rest of Eur ope; but the chances of this in the immediate future are slight. Therefore it is a mistake for the Russian revolution to base its policy on uncertain eventualities: "In Germany the reaction has temporarily triumphed, setting before the Russian revolution the alternative of further Avar or an annexationist peace. "To sign a peace with German Imperialism is not objectively speaking, treason to international Socialism. "When Avorkmen are beaten in a strike, and have to accept bad terms from employers, they do not betray their class because they cannot get all their demands at once. They only accept bad conditions in order better to prepare for another struggle later on. "If the Russian revolution continued the Avar in alliance with Anglo-French imperialism against Austro-German imperialism on the basis of the old secret treaties recently published and not openly repudiated by the Allies, then it Avould be prostituting itself to foreign imperialists. "As long as there is no social revolution in England and Germany, the Russian revolution must seek the most profitable conditions in existence, relying as little as possible on the English or German governments negotiating one against the other. "It is not true that the Russian revolution is deserting Socialist comrades in England and Germany by signing a separate peace. It takes them longer to do Avhat Russia has done because their imperial governments arc stronger than the old Russian imperial government. Nevertheless, the material Aveakness of Russia forces her to recuperate for internal reconstruction." It Avould be a rash adventure to enter upon a holy war against German imperialism, even if Russia Avere able to do so, on the chance of revolution in Germany breaking out in the next few months, for meaiiAvhile defeat Avould mean more °nerous conditions for the future developments °f the Russian revolution: "Russia, if she has peace, can become the envy of all lands, and the centre of gravity of the Socialist Avorld. By concluding a separate peace Russia can utilize the fact that the Anglo-German 'mperialists are too much engaged in a bloody "truggle to attend seriously to her. She can there- 'ore concentrate on the internal development of the. revolution. "If Russia, under present conditions, attempts both enterprises—internally to reap the full fruits of the revolution and externally to carry on the conflict against foreign imperialism—she will lose both her objects; but if she concentrates on internal development iioav, she will secure her second victory later. "The Avar will last long and imperialism avJH finally be unmasked completely, on both sides. The example of the Russian revolution will continue to inspire the peoples of the Avorld, and its influence will be enormous. On the one side will be the bourgeois system and Avar for conquest waged by tAvo imperialistic groups, on the other peace and the Socialist Republic. "The reorganization of Russia, based on the dictatorship of the proletariat, the nationalization of banks and of big industry, the exchange of products of the cities Avith the co-operatives of small peasants, is economically quite feasible, provided Ave have a feAv months to devote to the job. Such an organization will make Socialism unconquerable in Russia, and Avill provide a permanent basis for the formation of a poAverful red army of peasants and workers." The Lenin conception conquered; and the All- Russian Soviet Congress in March, 1918, ratified the Brest-Litovsk peace. Brest-Litovsk marked the first break in the imperialistic Avar, and Avas a great contributing factor to the coming of peace. If Soviet Russia had continued the Avar, it Avould have meant the triumph of the counter-revolution and capitalism; and the German proletariat, surrounded on all sides by capitalist nations prepared to cut the throat of their revolution, Avould have hesitated. But, with a Socialist Russia prepared to assist, a tremendous idealogic impulse Avas given to the coming of the German revolution. Moreover, wdiile the Bolsheviki ceased the military Avar against Germany, they continued the class Avar of revolutionary propaganda, smuggling agents and literature into Germany urging a proletarian revolution. The Bolshevik ambassador to Berlin, Joffe. Avas the centre of the revolutionary propaganda, using his "diplomatic couriers" to bring into Germany money and literature for the .use of the revolutionary Socialists. The class Avar Avas Avaged by Soviet Russia, in Germany and all Europe, the struggle for international proletarian revolution. [•After the strike movement had been killed. Dr. DreAvs, Prussian Minister of the Interior, said the strikes had served Germany's enemies, and accused the Social Democratic Party of encouraging the strikes. To this the Berlin Vonvaerts, organ of majority Socialism, ansAvered by quoting Prime Minister von Dandle of Bavaria as having thanked the Social Democratic leaders in a speech in the Bavarian Chamber of Deputies for "assuring control of the strike movement, as thereby the strike was forced into normal channels." Could turpitude and treason to Socialism reach lower depths than this?] Conciliation for Russia i (Continued from Pa«e One) ■-■■■■■'. ', ■' if.:. " : Whoso Shall Offend [New York "Nation," Jan. 25] There has been placed in our hands a copy of Current Events, a publication styling itself "a condensed newspaper, Aveekly, for use in public and private schools," claiming, avc believe truthfully, a larger circulation than any other school paper in the world. It goes, at all events, by hundreds of thousands into the hands of school children, and has a qua si-official sanction from innumerable schools. The copy which Ave possess is of the issue dated Friday, November 15, 1918. After the manner of most school and family papers, Current Events carries a question box in Avhich questions of sufficiently general interest receive attention. There Ave read: 11. What is the meaning of the terms Bolshevik and Soviets? Ans— Bolshevik is the adjective from the Rus- the Allied and American governments falsified the issue by attributing the action to pro-Germanism. They scorned Lenin's offer of assistance and treated the Soviet Republic as the ally instead of the enemy of the German autocracy. Their subsequent policy of repudiating the very real diplomatic assistance which the Russian revolution Avas able to render the democratic cause and of fighting the Russians because Russia was too exhausted to fight the Germans has proved a flagrant failure and a wholly uncompensated loss. It did nothing to hasten or to assure a military victory over Germany, while at the same time it drove Russian radicalism to the adoption of the desperate reprisal of a Red Terror and increased the volume of its popular Russian following. The net result of Allied statesmanship in Russia has been to create for the extreme of revolutionary socialism a popular support and a self-confidence A\hich it could not have obtained on its merits. Certain allied statesmen are iioav considering the alternative policy of treating Bolshevism as a condition rather than a crime. Such a policy is the only one Avhich still has a chance of preventing the spread of revolutionary socialism, but if it fails or if its adoption proves over costly these Allied statesmen have themselves to thank for the failure and the expense. They committed the Avorst possible mistake of democratic statesmen—that of disregarding the impulses and misinterpreting the meaning of a great revolutionary popular movement. sian noun Bolsheviki. It ftfers to the party of extremists iioav in poAver in Russia, and may be freely translated as "Those Who Want Everything They Can Lay Their Hands On." Selfishness and greed are of course at the roots of it. The Latinized form is "Maximalists," a word sometimes used as a substitute for Bolsheviki. The party, if such it can be called, is made up of many discordant elements—Socialists, Anarchists, Nihilists, Communists, social visionaries, thieves, pickpockets, robbers, terrorists, grafters, and a great mass of ignorant, unthinking people, all united for the present in a blind desire to destroy all whom they fancy to be in a position superior to their own. As Count Ilya Tolstoy says, the Russian peasant is what centuries of oppression have made him. Where there has been for a long time extreme oppression the people become brutalized; a too large and sudden dose of liberty seems to make them crazy and criminal. The only cure for the evils of despotism is more liberty, but just as food is fatal to a starving person unless administered in small quantities at first, so the seizing of liberty too sudden and unrestrained may be suicidal for an oppressed nation. America was fortunate in having liberty from the earliest colonial days; it escaped such horrors as Russia has iioav and France had after 1789. The typical true American is so accustomed to liberty that he is almost unconscious of it. He uses it with moderation, having constant regard for the equal rights of others. The Russian Soviets are local governing committees more or less under the orders of the central Bolshevik government." Current Events, in such writing as the above, is writing to suit its market, no doubt, but our wonderment is how any one can be found to do such work. The activities of Mr. Creel, Mr. Sisson and the hundreds of other propagandists Avhose services have been placed at the disposal of gov- ernments the Avorld over, apparently for Avhat- ever purposes those governments may desire, arc incomprehensible to us. Yet, after all, they have been writing, primarily at least, for mature minds. Hoav much more difficult is it to imagine the frimc of mind of a person capable of spreading such scandalous misrepresentations among classes of trusting and impressionable children. I' a •atf i » 1 m PAGE FOUR THE RED FLAG SATURDAY..,.,.February 8, 1919 THF RFD Fl AG Bolshevik Storm Hovers Over Austria M, JIJI JLl JL m MJt mJ W AJ J» \# ,..,_ *_ *l_ v v m;™^ u1wj Mnntrpal cites union with Socialistic Germanv and i° A Journal of News and Views Devoted to the Working Class. Published When Circumstances and Finances Permit By The Socialist Party of Canada, 401 Pender Street East, Vancouver, B. C. Editor C. Stephenson SATURDAY FEB. 8, 1919 Rumors were flying in Vancouver last week-end that the returned soldiers were, on Sunday evening, going to break up all Avorking class meetings, Socialist or Labor. However, the rumors failed to materialize and the meetings Were held in peace, though not in the usual theatres, the management of which, becoming intimidated, refused to open them. Though nothing happened there is no doubt that fomentors of trouble had been at work. The mayor himself having had representations that the meetings Avere to be broken up. so he informed a deputation of the SociaHst Party of Canada, which he had sent for, thou^ii he refused to divulge the source of his information. On Monday a conference of representatiA-es of all interested parties, business interests, various returned soldiers, and trades union organizations, also those directly interested in the preservation of the threatened meetings, the Socialist Party of Canada and the Federated Labor Party, Avas called by the mayor. The representatives of the returned soldiers denied all responsibility for the rumors or that their organizations ever had any intentions of suppressing the meetings in an unlawful manner. This admission Avas about the only result of the conference, the mayor still persisting in his refusal to name the party or parties who had informed him that the meetings Avould be broken up. Finally the representatives of the working class organization left the conference satisfied Avith the assurance of the returned soldiers that their meetings Avould be left undisturbed. NeAertheless the next morning's Vancouver "Sun" -appears with a most bitter and vitriolic editorial in Which, under the veiled Arerbiage of designating certain people as seditious ranters, it called, in violent and inflammatory language, for their deportation. We regret having to mention the paper referred to in our columns, but there are malignant interests in Vancouver that are Avorking might and main to foment trouble and to create sectional antagonisms amongst the Avorking class. None of _, the capitalist sheets are above suspicion in this matter, but the "Sun" is an old and especially notorious offender in this respect. We call on the Avorkers to take note of this fact. The contemptious regard in which the working class is held by the bourgeoisie and -its press is well illustrated by a press report of some gentleman's speech back east, Avhich Avas to the effect that good Canadian citizens Mere being infected by Bolshevism and that they must be protected. • Will our pastors and masters and pedagogie mentors of the press never realize that the working class, in the political sense, has reached maturity and that its members are as well able as those of any other class to judge and to discriminate amongst the true and false of political and economic theories? Nay, more—laboring and existing amongst the basic realities of our society they are, because of that, better able to discriminate and pass judgment than another class to whom life's necessaries and luxuries come by the indirect and dubious method of exploitation. We. proclaim, as those seditionists of a thousand years have proclaimed whose names and the record of their labors and sacrifies are our most honored and cherished historical treasures, that [Special Cable to the N. Y. Times and Montreal Gazette (Copyright)—Jan. 17, 1919.] GENEVA. Jan. 17.—Although political developments in the states which formerly composed the empire of the Hapsburgs seem peaceful enough in/ comparison with the outbreaks of Bolshevik frenzy in Germany, there are certain signs that a storm is also breaking in German-Austria, Hungary and even Bohemia. It is a very significant symptom that attempts- are at present being made by the extreme Socialist elements in Budapest, Vienna and Prague to effect an agreement between Hungarian, German- Austrian, and Bohemian Socialist parties, Avith a view to joint political action. The Hungarian Communists, among Avhom Bolshevism is most prevalent, and Avho are in close touch with the Russian Soviets, are the chief promoters of this scheme. At a recent meeting of the Budapest workmen's council, eighty delegates voted in favor of a proposal to conclude an alliance betAveen the Hungarian Communist party and the German-Austrian, and Bohemian Socialists Avould pledge themselves to afford one another support in their attempts to prevent the formation of a bourgeois government and to establish proletarian domination, is certainly gaining ground. This plan, the realization of Avhich would incidentally reunite the dismembered Hapsburg empire under the red flag, is regarded with favor by the Viennese Socialists, Avho for the same reason are the only poAverful party left in German-Austria today Avhich still obstinately advo- society can not afford to stifle enquiry or suppress open discussion of its ever unfolding problems. TAventy millions of the pride of the human race killed in four short years and more unnumbered millions as an indirect result of the catastrophe is but a part of the price Ave pay for the policy of suppression. Let us not countenance it any longer. Those Avho are interested in social problems are usually men and Avomen of matured groAvth, having poAver of judgment. Let us have the open forum, the crucible of reasoned discussion, Avherein the dross of falsehood may be sifted aAvay from the true. Oppositions and antagonisms fostered in the dark obscurities, Avill inevitably in these critical days, lead to the futile hell of social chaos. Let us beware and folloAV the constructive path Avhich is to bring our problems into the light of publicity. Then, Ave Socialists, at any rate, are sure that the returned soldiers' problem will be found to merge and disappear into that of the Avorking class as a whole. For it is from us, the Avage- workers, that they went and to us they return. In many other cities and towns of this dominion dark and sinister interests, as ever of yore, masquerading under various guises of patriotism, have arrogated to themselves the functions properly reposing in thev appointed administrators of the law. Intimidation, brute violence, mob rule, carefully nurtured and protected by high influences, has for the time being beenfall too successful. Meeting halls have been clgped doAvn to Socialists. In Winnipeg a combined anti-Socialist and alien program has been, carriad out, reminding one of the dark days of Jew baiting in Russia and our OAvn medieval period in England. Is it true Ave are in the 20th century of boasted progress and scientific light and learning and democracy and also a poAver in producing th^ necessaries of life that even our fathers of a feAV short years ago never dreamt of? If so, why have we the sordid spectacle of men in hordes on the city streets of the last great Avest scrambling and mauling each other for jobs? Men with the strong instinctive desire to live and who, in order to live, must have- jobs. Have we then no solution except the miserable one of dog-eat-dog on the Ioav plane resorted to? Perish the thought^ Let us be men, thinking, reasoning men, worthy of a new age dawning. cates union Avith Socialistic Germany and is the SAvorn enemy of the Entente. Heartless Intrigues It is no secret in Vienna that Bauer, the Austrian Socialist leader, has been secretly intriguing to prevent German-Austria from being supplied with food b ythe Entente. He has raised difflcul- ties of all kinds in order to preVent food from reaching Vienna, for the Austrian Socialists fear that the Allies' generous action toward their fallen enemy may influence the population and forestall not only union with Germany, but also the establishment of Socialist rule, and any humanitarian intervention calculated to alleviate the misery and discontent of the Avorking classes fills them with selfish dismay. Bauers unscrupulous and heartless intrigues show to Avhat lengths the Socialist leaders ia Eastern Europe are prepared to go to realize their anibitions. Moreover, the entire Hungarian Empire is flooded with Bolshevik agents, most of Avhom are liberated Austrian and Hungarian Avar prisoners, dispatched from Russia owing to the general state of disorganization. These agents find no difficulty in passing from Hungary into Austria and Bohemia Avithout passports. Their propaganda is beginning to bear fruit even in Bohemia. The attempt to assassinate Kramarcz is not, as was at first supposed, the isolated act of a youthful fanatic, but the consequence of a Bolshevik plot, in which numerous accomplices are'involved. i Czechs Face About A marked change is noticeable in the tone of the Czech press, whose chief organ, the Pravo Lidu, of Prague, attacks Professor Masaryk's government, in Avhich, it says, the ''millionaires Kramarcz, Rashlin, Praczec and SA'ehla dominated and Avhich is devoted to the bourgeois interests and remains deaf to the wishes of the Avorking classes, Avho demand the nationalization of mines and industries, and the confiscation of Avar profits," adding: "If the government persists in its capitalistic policy much longer it will be overthrown." During the last tAvo days numerous meetings of a frankly revolutionary character haA-e been held at Prague, and serious riots have occurred in the toAvns of ZiskoAv, Klapno and Duax, where large Avarehouses %ere plundered by the mob. In Hungary, which is a hotbed of Bolshevism, the agitation is, of course, most critical of all. Count Karolyi's governnfent, even in the opinion of its supporters, seems doomed presently to succumb in its hopeless struggle against the continual Bolshevik and counter-revolutionary conspiracies. The triumph of extreme Socialism in Budapest Avould naturally exert an immediate influence on Vienna and Prague, and further the Socialist plan of united action against the bourgeois classes and in conjunction with Bolshevik Russia and Socialistic Germany against the Entente. SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA PROPAGANDA MEETINGS SUNDAY, FEB. 9 At 8 p.m. Sharp EMPRESS THEATRE Corner Gore and Hastings J. KAVANAGH Speaker wm mm «* gATUKPAT-...-.February 8, 191S THE EiSD FLAG PAGE FIVE The leading article in the current number of The Survey is by Lewis Sr Gannett, who writes from Paris on "French Labor'on Peace and Reconstruction." One chapter in his article is on Bolshevism in prance and is very illuminating: "A delegation called on the French minister of the interior early in December," he writes, "to ask him Avhether, in view of the armistice, it would not be possible to raise the 'state of siege' which has existed in France since August, 1914, and restore the civil administration to full control. "No," said Monsieur Pams, "there is too much ■Bolshevist agitation in France. Another delegation is about to request a relaxation of the censorship. The press almost unanimously condemns the censorship; even Le Temp's (December 5, 1918) asks Avhat's the use of continuing it if England and America are allowed free .discussion of the differences of opinions betAveen ihe Italians and the Jugo-Slavs, the Poles and the «Czeclio-Slov.aks and the Ukrainians may be relaxed. But there is one point on which it is adamant—the censor will continue to use his shears on all matters appertaining to the spread .of Bolshevism in Europe. All neAvs of the general stirke in Switzerland was expressly forbidden until the strike had been .suppressed; neAvs of the revolutionary movements in Holland Avhich appeared in the English and American press Avas blanked in France; two hun- •dred and fifty lines Avere censored in the tAvo small pages which Le Populaire consecrated to •the anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia; the program of the Spartacus group in •Germany Avas censored; the Avords "Council of Workmen and Soldiers" were censored out of every dispatch from Germany for tAvo weeks after the German revolution Avas complete; the mere word "Bolshevik'" in dispatches from Germany has several times been cut out. It is a stupid censorship. Blank columns in the papers set men thinking. But the fact that it is stupid does not alter the fact that it exists, and that it is a symptom of a fear of Bolshevism in France. The chances of Bolshevism are the universal topic of dinner table conversations in bourgeois France today; the certainty that it cannot prevail is the theme of a suspiciously large number of editorials. "The revolutionary contagion Avill break against the solid wall of health which characterizes victorious nations," Avrites Andre Lichtenberger, comparing Bolshevism to the Spanish "flu." The gro'M that has won control of the French Socialist party is in frank sympathy with Lenin and Trotzky. Every revolution must have its banner. Banners for political revolutions are easy to find; but France has had her political revolutions; and the land is in the peasants' hands. I asked Marcel Cachin Avhat Avould be the banner of the next French revolution. He ansAvered: "It Avill be a social revolution and it will have no single catch-phrase. But it will mean that the control of the nation by the chemical, foundry and coal industries Avill end. You know, your trusts haA-e never had such poAver as our 'committees.' And it Avill be the work of the men of the industrial agglomerations of Paris, Lyons, St. Etiennt, Marseilles." It Avas not a satisfactory answer; I have not been able to get a satisfactory answer. "What does Bolshevism in France mean?" I asked Merr- heim. "Does it exist, Bolshevism?" he countered. "Isn't it just the phrase used by the reactionaries for any revolutionary movement?" "Who will be the leaders in the revolutionary movement?" "I cannot see them," Merrhheim answered honestly. "Cachin is too much the univcrsitaire; Ijonguet is splendid but too much in the clouds; the workers have already gone far past Jouhaux. Perhaps an unknown man will rise out of the people; perhaps it will be chaos." The munition works are still in full blast in France. The men's work has been cut from ten hours to eight, the Avomen's from ten to five— and the pay lowered proportionately. The government seems powerless to resume peace-time production; so does private industry. The government is really afraid to demobilize the army. "There are movements among the masses," said Merrheim. "The real result depends upon the soldiers. Nobody knows what they think. But France has the heritage of past revolutions. It is ever present in the minds of the croAvds of Paris and of other cities. One has in France the sentiment of the economic revolution that must be made, The tradi- tion of political revolution has passed into the economic sphere." *» If the Allies demand such an indemnity of Germany that Allied occupation is necessary to secure it; if the interventioi^in Russia—"an attempt to., kill a revolution by famine—the most brutal and hypocritical intervention in history," Merrheim called it—is expanded, there will certainly be "movements" among the masses, strikes and protests. "But munitions are no longer necessary," I protested to both Merrehim and Jouhaux. "The men Avill not have the same importance nor their strikes the same poAver as in AArar time." "The men Avill still be there," they answered grimly. I have attended a dozen labor meetings in and about Paris. At every one the croAvd has been more reA'olutionary than its leaders. These leaders hope for an evolutionary Avay out, but seem to have a fatalistic premonition of hopelessness. MeaiiAvhile the peace conference draAvs close, and the atmosphere is that of the diplomatic conferences before the Avar—almost naively negligent of the explosions that seems so imminent. The moderate labor leaders are making one last throw; they are supporting Wilson, hoping that he may revolutionize the atmosphere of the conference and avert a catastrophe. A Letter of Captain Sadoul From Russia "* [Translated From a French Periodical! PARIS, November — Captain Sadoul, whose splendid letter to Romain Rolland the readers will recall, is a French officer sent to Russia by the order of Minister Thomas, charged with informing the government of the political happenings in Russia. "I had," so he Avrote to a friend, "from Minister Thomas and Loucheur the formal assurance of being empoAvered to express my opinion freely to my superiors in Russia and to my friends in France, and any Avish to do so, Avas reinforced Avhen I encountered the incapacity to understand the hatred against the revolution, the preconcept of pleasing Paris rather than informing it, the desire to folloAV a career rather than the interests of the country, and that the news sent to the country by the most of our diplomats Avas greatly distorted. I decided then, to send information, and I informed Avithout sparing persons or things, fulfilling the sole object of writing that which I believed Avas equivalent to the truth." For a'year, then, Captain Sadoul has followed the daily Russian events reporting them faithfully to his Superiors. But, because these reports Avere faithful and honest— Avhose importance Avere so much appreciated by the minister of foreign affairs that he recalled their telegraphic transmission—they have aroused powerful and fearful enemies against the captain. The captain confided to his friends in France that he had a private diary, which is a true* account of Avhat he has seen and heard, and AA'hat Avas done during his four years in Russia. This diary he gave to a friend for transmission to his family in ease of death. "Since I have been prevented—thanks to those worthy and indignant gentlemen who arc responsible for the many crimes committed in Russia—from leaving here (Russia)—it seems that certain farseeing Anglo- Frenchmen wish to suppress me. It appears that my return to France may disturb some people. They are Avell aAvare that my secret notes, and nlso my mind contain certain impressions concerning the nefarious acts of Allied representatives in Russian affairs, Avhose revelation Avould produce a painful scandal at the expense of those gentlemen. They have assisted too many foul manouvers for some months to suppose that they would shrink from such a little Avrong as the suppression of my personality, if they AA*ere sure of not being discovered. Without being too uneasy, I am taking} some precautions, so that if Anything happens me, the guilty parties may be traced." Only because he would not lend himself to the evil tricksters against the Maximalist regime, and solely because he Avished to tell the truth, Captain Sadoul is in danger of death. Without speak ing of minor perils of which this is not the?**me to say anything yet, he does not want to £kirk from his duty of defending the Maximalist revolution. On the date of the first of September—writing from Moscoav, he sent a long letter to a friend of which Ave take the second part, dedicated to the attempt against Lenine. "I can assure you that it will reinforce rather than AA-eaken it. . . ." "the Soviets were never as strong as they are now. I have always adm|%!$, the splendid revolutionary poAver of the Jflaxi- malists, and thought that their movement, even if it perished, would constitute an example Avithout precedent, a fertile experience, from which international Socialism Avould gather large profit. "If for nothing else but this, Lenine and Trotzky haA-e a right to our gratitude, and their period should be considered by history as the great event of the revolution. But you know Avith Avhat reserve I exposed their tactics, Avith Avhat skepticism I judged the results of the grand OA-erturning of things undertaken by them for the purpose, not only of overthroAving, but destroying the old state machine, beaurocratic and military—by organizing a dominant proletariat, and fighting a parliament purely oratorical and sterile, and substituting for it popular and representative Avorking class institutions—to take from capitalism and to give back to collectivity all the means of production; to suppress in short, the dispossession of persons and substitute for it the administration of things. I have come now, to think thatLenine and Trotzky have seen more clearly than Ave conciliating and opportunist socialists, that they are more realistic than Ave are, more apt disciples, and truer exponents of applied Marxism. "The great facts seem to be with them. Under the frightful ruins of ten months of systematic destruction of bourgeois social forms, the germs of u new and powerful organization really begins to appear, which in a feAv years; Avill bear its full fruit. But to date, in all fields, administnative military and economic, the construction Avork •lone is immense. It Avould be folly to deny it. If. the power of the Soviets Avere not so implacably beseiged on all sides by the forces of imperialism —German, French, British, Japanese, American— on the north, east and Avest, if its graneries, mines, oil wells, etc., were not isolated from outside maikets, if it had not been ruined, starved, and covered Avith blood by the stranger; if it had only the Russian bourgeoisie to fight, and the political and economic sabotage of the counter-revolution- ists to overcome, they would ere this, have been well on their way toAvard a communistic organization. The splendid victories of our 'poilus' reported from the western front have undoubted!/ (Continued on Page Seven) ■ft * -J t.S I 8 '; m mmm r "» 'CI' PAGE SIX THE RED FLAG SATURDAY. A V l*i. ■■;#! < February 8| m> Spaniards Honor Soviet Movement [By The Christian Science Monitor Special Correspondent in Spain.—Jan. 28.] MADRID, Spain,—In view of the rapidly in creasing threatening tendencies of the advanced sections of the Left, and the revolutionary atmosphere created, it is well to draw attention to two particular meetings among several others that have taken place in the capital of late. The first of these was held at the Casa del Pueblo in celebration of the Bolshevist revolution in Russia, and was a frankly Bolshevist character. Some remarkable speeches were made. Emeterio Chich- for the bourgeoisie. Let us accordingly be on our. sary to accelerate its collapse, and the best way guard." of doin& that was t0 intensify Bolshevist pr<,pa. The next speaker was Garcia Cortes, who said ga"da in town and country, for it would serve as an engine ior the growing liberal progress of their country and for the final triumph of their cause. Virginia Gonzalez said that the Russian revoh. tion Was the ultimate fruit of long and sacrifices and asked when they were that Socialists practiced international solidarity Therefore they would there celebrate the triumph oi the Russian revolutionaries as if it had r.een their own. Bolshevism did not signify anything more than extreme socialism, although the word, ht>|ng new. excited some suspicions. After giving, costly going to «:midst applause, an account of the development bear like sacrifices in Spain. Care must be tak bute en. of Socialist ideas in Russia and of the fundamnn- she said, that in the countries of the Allies uho tals of Maxinialism. he said that no movement, had overthrown militarism another power was not arro said at the beginning that the social republic jn Spite of its nobility, had been so calumniated set up which would be quite as hateful and unjust. in its integrity Avas the only guarantee for the as na(i this. However, the movement continued The Right ought not to be frightened of their well-being and the liberty of the working classes, iUU\ Nvas supported, and now they were celebrat- propaganda, for their desire was not to possess and they must go forward to its establishment. 'm„ together the anniversary of the Russian Social themselves of their property, but only to distrib From that place and on that occasion they Avould Republic and the establishment of the German the enjoyment of it among all peoples, salute the Soviets. Social Republic. They must hold on to the name At the close of this meeting the chairman. Senor Then Candido Val, a prominent member of the of BolsheA'ism. because the mere mention of Del Rio, observed that once peace was established Juventud Socialista said that Avhat they desired the name ahvays excited alarm in the minds of and the essentials of political civilization saved was that in Spain a revolution should be brought the bourgeoisie. French, English and Germans had the international struggle among the classes had about which Avould be essentially socialistic, ex- fought against each other without feeling any to begin again. On his proposition it was agreed clusively of the people and for the people. They hatred, and had been serving only the interests to send a telegram to President Wilson asking would set themselves against all bourgeoisie of and cupidity of capitalism. They must all be him to continue to exert his utmost endeavor to whatever complexion and against capitalism in prepared to resist resolutely the reaction of all bring about a just peace, and it was also agreed all its forms and Avith all its priA-ileges. A hour- the bourgeoisie. Their only arm Avas extremism, to send messages of congratulation and fraternity geois republic would not satisfy their ideas of The existing regime Avould fall as in accordance to the Russian government and the democratic justice. The communal administration ought to Avith a physical laAv of gravity, but it Avas neces- German organizations. be in the hands of the Avorkers. Avho are the life '= z of the nation and create all its Avealth. They must not permit themselves to be deceived by men Avho, although attached to the Left, feared the consequences of a revolution. The fundamental prob- J'T Avas the struggle betAveen the classes, the M&'L 'le betAveen the bourgeoisie and the Avork- er* | tevolution must not serve for the exaltation of a. personality, but for the definite salvation of the people. Evaristo Gil of the bakers' Socialist group then INTERNATIONALISM [By Gabriel Delville] ANTI-BOLSHEVIKI LEAGUE CHARTERED [Special to The Christian Science Monitor] CONCORD, Xew Hampshire—A charter has been issued by the State of New Hampshire to Capitalist internationalism, moreover, pursues its ends with stern remorselessness. In order to loAver national Avages and gain greater profits, the Anti-Bolsheviki League, with headquarters at the capitalist does not hesitate to deprive his Manchester. Its purpose is "to combat the spread fellow-countrymen of work, and to import, to of Bolshevism and attacks upon personal liberty, compete Avith them on the labor market, foreigners by systematic and organized efforts to promote . . . , . , . , „ . , wonted by greater poverty to a lower standard of the education of the masses with the controlling made a speech m which he said that the Bo she- ]ivingj and therefore flb|e flnd wi|Hng fo wopk for ^^ }n ^ § ^ £ vist revolution which they were celebrating stood ,ower wages Qn fhe other ^ ^^ he m opdeply people ^ ^ ^ Jj^ ^^ sees a goodly profit in the transaction, the capi- are entitled to the largest measure of personal talist never hesitates to loan money or sell mili- liberty consistent Avith the protection of all the tary supplies to a foreign country, though he thus citizens in the enjoyment of life, liberty and prop- increases its poAver to Avage Avar against his oavii. erty." for a neAv era in the political history of the Avorld. They Avere leaving behind them a civilization which Avas collapsing in tears and slaughter. From the beginning of the Avar he had been a pro-Allies man because he had belieAred that the triumph of the Allies Avould facilitate a social renovation, while if Germany had Avon the result Avould have been an aggravation of all the old tyrannies. But noAV that the triumph of the Allies Avas settled, he ceased to be pro-Ally in order to be exclusively Socialist and it Avas necessary to keep the closest watch to and of justice. Bolshevist ideas, the speaker continued, Avere conquering everywhere; empires Avere being over- This international character, assumed by capi- It is understood that this Anti-Bolsheviki Lea- tal in all its forms, is, in its effects, co-extensive J?ue contemplates the enrollment of as many citi- Avith the domain of human affairs. And so, as M. sens as are Avilling in what will be known as the Aulard declared in a lecture about which there "New Hampshire Assembly," and that plans are has been much talk: "There are no national entertained for the establishment of other "as- boundaries for reason and science. . . . They are semblies" in other states, making it ultimately tch on the peace proposals and negotiations neither French, nor English, nor German, but in- a national organization insure that it should be a peace of the people teniational and human." How, therefore, can the . workingmen be justly reproached for taking the road on which everything and everybody has started, and along which the capitalists have preceded them ? Face to face with the international POOR MR. DOOLEY throAvn, tyrannies Avere being suppressed, kings were abdicating and Socialist governments were domination of capital, they have come to under- coming into power. The Russian revolution was sta,ld» in a11 civilised nations, the common char- the dawn of new ideas in the world. They lived acter» the oneness, of their own interests. They in moments of revolutionary tension. The peoples a,e everywhere the victims of the same kind of did not wish to share their sovereignty with any- exploitation, dim everywhere to the same cause one; kings Avho had ruled over them were iioav under the control of peoples. The Russian revolution had inspired the abolition of private property. "War would end with the establishment of the communist regime. The bourgeoisie had tried to stifle the French revolution, and noAV it Avas trying to do the same thing Avith the Russian revolution, but the Socialists Avould everywhere be at their posts. In Spain they had again a govern- The same facts have suggested to them the same demands, the same means and tactics to attain the same goal. International exploitation has thus given birth to an ever growing international solidarity among the Avorkers who resist its encroachments. And the international concurrence of the Avorkers is publicly declared by the world-wide celebration of the First day of May. NotAvithstanding the most sincere sentiment of ment of transition, and there were people of the international solidarity on both sides, the work- Left who, by bolstering up the monarchy, were ingmen of tWQ eountries niay sti], have t0 fight acting as traitors toward the people. At this . , -, „,,. . „ . j. ., . ,, j * x- against each other. This is one of the numerous stage of the speech there were many interruptions To The Editor of The Nation: Sir: What is happening to the American sense of humor? One of the alleged offences of the I. W. W. is their quoting from Mr. Dooley! Among the many amazing things that found a place in the ponderous indictment against the men just tried at Sacramento, the following quotation was solemnly included: "Don't ask f'r rights. Take thim. An' don't let anny wan give thim to ye. A right that is handed to ye f'r nawthin' has somethin' the matter with it."—Mr. Dooley. M. B. Sacramento, Cal., January 18. THE "SPREAD" IN MAGISTERIAL CONCEPTIONS OP JUSTICE IN TORONTO and cries of dissent and there was another demon- contradictions—and one of the most horrible—in- stration at the first mention of the name of Senor herent in the capitalist regime, which is con- Leroux, the Republican leader, Avho, said Evaristo demned to aspire to peace and to unchain the Oil, made no distinction betAveen the monarchy horrid dogs of Avar. While for example, com- and Bolshevism. Having read a number of extracts merce on the world market requires peace, the from recent speeches by Senor Lerroux, the bitterness of the competition on that market be- apcaker exclaimed: "Senor Lerroux has spoken gets conflicts. . . . For being in possession of prohibited literature: Charlie Watson, first trial, three years and $500 fine; second trial, thirty days. Harry Cheesman, first trial, six months; second trial, fifteen days. Propaganda meeting Sunday evening at 8 o'clock, at the EmpreBS Theatre, corner Hastings and Gore. ^m^^mr^T- ■*'" » ' ~-—;—. " . > ■, ..■-,. . ,:', gATUItDAY..... February^, 1919 THE RED FLAG PAGE SEVEN United States Not Aware of Secret Pacts B^y Amos Pinchot. Written for the United Press. From The Seattle Union Record, Feb. 1] WASHINGTON, Jan. 31.—The United States Government apparently entered the war in ignor- ace of the secret treaties arranged by the Allies, fvhich iioav constitute an obstacle to a permanent Bemocratic peace. There is every .reason to believe that neither Resident Wilson nor the state department learned )f the secret treaties until months after Avar was ieclared, in April, 1917. It is also practically certain that when Foreign Secretary Balfour and former Premier Viviaui came here early in the lummer of 1917, as heads of the British and French missions, they failed to apprise this goA'- wnment of the existence of the treaties—for the Season there was an understanding between the British, French Italian and Russian governments that they should be kept under cover. The text of the secret treaties Avas smuggled into the United States by a Russian sailor in January, 1918. Russian residents of New York )laced them in the hands of the Avriter. Every effort Avas made to give the treaties publicity. .They Avere, in fact, published in one neAVspaper 3f limited circulation, but beyond that a general press taboo seemed to have been placed on them. [any attempts Avere made to convince senators ind congressmen that it Avas their duty to put (the secret treaties into the Congressional Record, )ut they contended either that it Avas "impossible" )r "unpatriotic." It is not believed that eA'en to- lay a score of senators and congressmen have fad the secret treaties in their entirety. Informal Memoranda Representatives of Allied countries have been quoted as saying there are no binding secret treaties, but only informal memoranda. The British- ^rench-Italian-Russian "informal memoranda." On fhe contrary, it is a binding contract sealed and ielivered in London, April 26, 1915, and generally referred to as the "London Pact." It Avas signed by Grey for Great Britain, Cannon for France, Imperiali for Italy and Benckendorf for Russia. t is the contract setting forth the price to be )-a\(\ for Italy entering the Avar "Avith all the orcos at her command." The treaty has 16 ar- ides, which provide for vast territorial conces- ions to be made to Italy "under the imminent reaty of peace." The Avord "imminent" was no oubt used because, at that time, it was generally ssumed that Italy's intervention Avould bring a nick and favorable decision. This treaty is the source of at least two seem- nyly irreconciliable conflicts as to the peace ettlement, which have sprung up since Wilson rrived in Europe. First, as to the question whether the settlement shall provide for a league [f nations, or for continuance of the old "balance [f poAver" plan, which has proven so fertile a iar-brecder. And, second, as to Avhether Italy f? the new Jugo-Slav nation shall control Dal- fiatia and the eastern coast of the Adriatic. Cows Rest of World History seemingly proves that whenever a group Iff nations gets together Avith the purpose of mass- tig such a preponderance of force that the rest « the Avorld Avill be crowed into peace, the result m been the exact opposite. For instance, in 1882, inder Bismarck's leadership, Germany, Austria i&d Italy formed the Triple Alliance, Avhich reated a combination of power dominating Cen- 1,;il Europe from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, n 1891, France and Russia formed a dual alliance ■ a counter-balance. Later, by" the addition of freat Britain, this grew into the Triple Entente. Hicsc alliances were futile and resulted in Avar. Notwithstanding this, if the attitude of Clemen- foau and Orlando and even Lloyd George at'times Kerns to call for another alliance to establish an- fther "balance of power," the fact is not alto- gether surprising for Article 9 of the treaty of April 26, 1915, pledges the Allies to preserve "the balance of power in the Mediterranean sea, with its Gibraltar, its openings into the Adriatic and the Black sea and the Balkans, its Sue/ canal leading to East Africa, Persia, India and China is the keynote not only of European military strategy but of the trade routes to the Avhole of the east. Thus, the premiers of the Allied nations cannot fail to take issue with Mr. Wilson's league of nations plan when by a signed and sealed eon,* tract, they are pledged to maintain a balance of power in the great strategic district of the Medi'-* terranean. Must Be Abrogated In other words, the secret treaty of 1915 must be abrogated before a real league of nations is possible. . " The controversy betAveen Italy and the Jtig£ S'avs growing out of the secret treaties ol.th^f Allies, in Avhich the United States had no part, is one of the most serious menaces to harmonious agreement on a peace settlement. There seems to be no way for President Will to clear the peace tab4e of this embarrassing com plication without first forcing destruction of the secret treaties. This can be done only if the peoples of die United States and the Allied countries understand his position and are Avilling to back him in this difficult but seemingly necessary undertaking. The trouble betAveen the Italians and their new eastern neighbors arises from the London pact of 1915. Article IV says that Italy shall have Istria and Article V gives her Dalmatia and adjacent islands. The Jugo-Slavs contend that Italy has neither political nor ethnological claims to these territories ,and a crisis of extreme delicacy had been precipitated that already has Avarranted some measures of intervention by the other Allies. According to the census of 1910, the population 1 of Dalmatia was 045,666. Of these it is estimated that 60,000 are Italians. The Slav inhabitants number approximately 430,000 and only about 30.000 of these speak Italian. Reason for Ambition The.principal reason Avhy Italy Avants Daln.atia is flh'iMi|ij|i|i the formation of the littoral. On the side,,the Adriatic is shalloAv and sandy; a nj(ce: place, for children to bathe, but is no ^ce for shipping. The Dalmatian coast, on the er hand, is^ broken by bays and gulfs, and fkged with islands'} and almost evsry mile has commodious harbor for merchant vessels or a vnjtisheltered base.Jwr warship*. obli^ij WX4 Prdiice and Great Up Italy's Dalmatian -Slav Ration, whi has' alsq been kept tleeties: they pledged reatr of 1^915, and i revenge by opposing, in of;her districts. F Memorandum provide* krabia between Irene* ,. Versailj^ IWnce ^ ?alk at tt* tfif *t 1M5, r arrangem One^ lie clahna w pected to maka under ag' cements is the exc trade with China. An sphere of influence in world's richest oil regioi expected to demand an Great Britain in the divlfl All of these agreements are' m or fall on the common determination te Ited to back )f the new til recently ^the secret so in the seek :'^frety .jy tiaamg of Britain, ifr ritain shoulcT 'sTitefr^seiitatives jsgainst tiie fulling Arabia and are equally^ s% , * V't'. *! • eh froj t Britain; is ,ex- iw "qf the!; "$t. Germany be an exten mia, including 'ranee and It participati opea^U|Key itand e powers i.v that made them to abide by;tl & U. S. READY TO LEAVE RUSSIA [From The Seattle Union Record, Saturday, February 1, 1919] [From The Glasgow Forward, Saturday, November 23, 1910.] PARIS. Feb. 1.—The United States, supported by Great Britain, Has submitted to France a proposal for immediate AvithdraAval of all troops from Russia, it Avas learned from authoritative sources today. This move Avas made in conformity Avith unofficial information obtained by American agents that Premier Lenin and Foreign Minister Tchi- cherin Avill accept the proposal for a joint conference at Phinkipos, providing that the Allied forces are first Avithdrawn The United States has a little more than 5,000 men in the Archangel region and betAveen 7,000 and 10,000 in Siberia. Negotiations concerning Russia are being conducted entirely at Paris. War department officials have been increasingly in favor of American AvithdraAval from Archangel. Our opponents are overjoyed at a story in their press quoting from the Moscow "Izvestia," the "official SoA-iet organ," of a free love decree for Bolshies. "There ye are!" "What did Ave tell ye," etc. But the Call (14|11|18) has got the facts. The decree Avas no decree at all. It was not published in the "Izyestia," the official organ of the Mos- coav Soviet. All that had happened was that in the early part of this year a Avriter in a small paper in the Ural Mountains had an article advocating some kind of sexual communism. Maxim Gorki drew attention to it—he Avas opposing the BolsheA-iks at that time—and doubtless thought it Avas a good stick Avith Avhich to beat Lenin's back. Nothing farther Avas heard of the article until it blossomed out the other day in our capitalist press as a Bolshevik "decree." A LETTER OF CAPTAIN SADOUL FROM RUSSIA WASHINGTON. Feb. .1.—Millions of dollars loaned by the United States to Russia to aid her starving people are held by the Russian ambassador and used to pay interest on war bonds, for which J. P. Morgan & Co. was the first fiscal agent. Representative Mason of Illinois today declared on the floor of the house. Mason bitterly attacked the Avar department for keeping American troops in Russia. Declaring these troops Avere 500 miles away from any American supplies, Mason demanded that they be withdrawn as speedily as possible. He said that England has already AvithdraAvn her troops and that Lloyd George has promised that not a British soldier would be sent to Russia. (Continued from Page Five) facilitated the execution of the BolsheA-iki program having diminished the German pressure the greatest obstacle to the realization of this program. "The socialization of Russia will become more profound, after Avhich the revolt of the masses of bourgeois countries Avill become more threatening, and the European nations Avill turn their eyes to democracy, purer and more fraternal. And so the lesson A\-ill haA-e been a help to all." Thus humanity will end the bloody and tor- torous incubus of four long years. The chimera of yesterday Avill become the reality of tomorrow. I begin to hope for it. That it may be sol JACQUES SADOUL Moscow, September 1, 1918. »1 m IXI i m h'i fir s I 1 'i 'Til 1 ;• ■ 1 ' * ! ;■'• H 1 11 *'H. ' 5 ■ »♦ mn-.j,ii.» j.i , .j .mil (ipi ii.in i ,pi| ■^-P"*^^ \ S ,f- i .■•■' a JPAGE EIGHT THE RED FLAO SATURDAY February g, i9lc THE RUSSIAN LAND LAW THE following "Fundamental Law of Socialization of the Land" in Russia went into effect in September, 1918, replacing the earlier and briefer Land Decree of November 7, 1917. DIVISION I. General Provisioi Article 1. All property rights ures of the earth, waters, foi natural, resources Avithin tl tiussian Federated Soviet Article 2. The >u« entire laborjug Pj tion, open.or Article <f- those Avho^ exception A^kle 2WR ar.>»n|w...ia- ffand inventoried ^lt|,|ri|||feteads pass over ' ' - "* disposition (in ac- J of the land depart- cial, regional, and Fed- ead constructions mentioned 11 as all agricultural appurten- to the disposition (in accordance r) of the county, proA'incial, Federal SoA-iets Avithout indemnified* m in anees with regional, a tion. Article 8. All persons A\ho are unable to work and Avho Avill be deprived of all means of subsistence by force of the decree socializing all lands, forests, inventoried property, etc., may receive a pension (for a lifetime or until the person becomes of age), upon the certification of the local courts and the land departments of the Soviet power, such as the soldier receives, until such time as the decree for the insurance of the incapacitated is issued. Article 9. The appointment of lands of agricultural A'alue among the laboring people is under the jurisdiction of the Volostnoi (several villages), county, provincial, main, and Federal land departments of the Soviets in accordance Avith their character. * Article 10. The surplus lands are under the supervision> in every republic, of the land departments of the main and Federal Soviets. Article 11. The land departments of the local and central Soviets are thus entrusted with the equitable apportionment of the land among the working agricultural population, and Avith the productive utilization of the natural resources. They also have the folloAving duties: (a) Creating favorable conditions for the development of the productive forces of the country by increasing the fertility of the land, improving agricultural technique, and, finally, raising the standard of agricultural knoAvledge among the laboring population. (b) Creating a surplus of lands of agricultural value. (c) Developing various branches of agricultural industry, such as gardening, cattle-breeding, dairying, etc. (d) Aceelerating the transition from the old unproductive system of field cultivation to the new productive one (under various climates), by a proper distribution of the laboring population Documents [From NeAv York "Nation" Jan. 25] in various parts of the country. (e) Developing collective homesteads in agriculture (in preference to individual homesteads) as the most profitable system of saving labor and material, with a view to passing on to Socialism. Article 12. The appointment of land among the laboring population is to be carried on on the Lbasis of each one's ability to till it and in accord- nice with local conditions, so that the production lid consumption standard may not compel some feasants to work beyond their strength; and at same time it should give them sufficient means ^subsistence. ^ffcrtiele 13. Personal labor is the general and damental source of the right to use the land kHcultural purposes. In addition, the organs le.SoA-let power, with a vieAV to raising the $\* iral standard (by organizing model farms fc£ jerimental fields) are permitted to borrow M%\e surplus land fund (formerly belonging t%"the Crown, monasteries, ministers, or land- diners) certain plots and to Avork them by labor fpaid by the state. Such labor is subject to the general rules of Avorkmen's control. Article 14. All citizens engaged in agricultural Avork are to be insured at the expense of the state against old age, sickness, or injuries which incapacitate them. Article 15. All incapacitated agriculturists and the members of their families avIio are unable to A\ork are to be cared for by the organs of the Soviet poAver. Article 16. Every agricultural homestead is to be insured against fire, epidemics among cattle, poor crops, dry Aveather, hail, etc., by means of mutual Soviet insurance. Article 17. Surplus profits, obtained on account of the natural fertility of the land or on account of its location near markets, are to be turned over for the benefit of social needs to the organs of the Soviet poAver. Article 18. The trade in agricultural machinery and in seeds is monopolized by the organs of the Soviet power. Article 19. The grain trade, internal as Avell as export, is to be a state monopoly. DIVISION II. Who Has the Right to tJse the Land Article 20. Plots of land may be used in the Russian Federal Soviet Republic for the folloAving social and private needs: A. Cultural and educational: 1. The state, in the form of the organs of the Soviet poAver (Federal, regional, provincial, county, and rural). 2. Social organizations (under the control and by permission of the local Soviets). B. Fbr agricultural purposes: 3. Agricultural communities. 4. Agricultural associations. 5. Village organizations. 6. Individuals and families. , C. For construction purposes: 7. By the organs of the Soviet poAver. 8. By social organizations, individuals, and families (if the construction is not a means of obtaining profits). 9. By industrial, commercial, and transportation enterprises (by special permission and under the control of the Soviet power). D. For constructing Avays of communication. 10. By organs of the Soviet poAver (Federal, regional, provincial, county, and rural, according to the importance of the ways of communication). Red Flag Editorial Comment [The above are tAvo of thirteen divisions contained in this document, the provisions of Avhich were put into effect by the "Soviet" administration in Russia. We regret being unable, through lack of space, to publish the remainder, because the document is in itself a' sufficient reply to the lying charges of anarchy hurled at the Bob sheviki regime. Division 3 lays down the order in which lay is appointed. Number 4, the standard of agri. cultural production and consumption standard for i the use of land of agricultural value. The rest cover all other phases of this department of pro. ductive life. From division 4 Ave extract sections .13 to 16 and I offer them as a denial of the deliberate presjl slander that the Bolsheviki are a people debased, greedy, cruel and Avithout kindly human instincts. We challenge the capitalist press and the capi. talist apologists generally, of this or any country! under the bourgeois regime, no matter how high they rate its civilization or democracy, to show! us in operation or even show us Avhere it is the intention to put in operation a measure equal to j the folloAving as a manifestation of lively humanitarian instincts and quick sense of social respon. sibiiity to those Avho through age or Aveakness ait considered unfit to labor either in part or in wholl in the productive processes.] "13. The census of the inhabitants engaged in agricultural Avork is to be. taken ny sex, age and family for each homestead separately, and later! the information obtained is to be classified by: villages, counties, and provinces of the given sec-1 lion. 14. When taking the census of the population! it is necessary to determine the number of wort ingmen and members dependent on them, and for that purpose the entire population is diA-ided into| the following* classes according to ages: Those Unable to Work Girls to 12 years of age Boys to 12 years of age Men from 60 years of age Women from 50 years of age Those incapacitated by physical or mental illness are recorded separately. Those Able to Work Men from 18 to 60—1.0 unit of Avorking strength Women from 18 to 50—0.8 unit of workiag| strength. Boys from 12 to 16—0.5 unit of Avorkin|| strength. Girls from 12 to 16—0.5 unit of worki«|| strength. Boys from 16 to 18—0.75 unit of workinfl strength. Girls from 16 to 18—0.6 unit of working strength. Note: These figures may be changed in accordj ance with climatic and customary condition- m decision of the appropriate organs of the Sovi«| power. 15. By dividing the number of acres by tM number of Avorking units, the number of ik'^I to each unit may be obtained 16. The number of incapacitated members Ml each Avorking unit may be obtained bv diviiiii'rl Ibe entire incapacitated element by the total ' working units." Will the deliberate defamers and calculating slanderers of the Russian proletariat show tbat it is the voluntary intention of the bourpcoisi governing class to instal a measure even approa^ ing tHe above, in their oavii capitalistic pi"1' ridden countries, as a pledge of their mow] superiority? Soldiers Favor Free Speech in Vancouver That the Great War Veterans also stood solid for free speech and other constitutional rig"*5 was clearly stated by Capt. Whittaker, who "I*1 denied that the War Veterans had planned WW action in connection with the Sunday night m«* ings. He, too, strongly scored the Work of ,l(!! "rumourmonger."
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Vancouver, B.C. : The Socialist Party of Canada
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