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Show THREE-CORNERED WAR. There is a popular disposition to declare the Russian situation a hopeless puzzle and let it go at that. There is not, however, so much of mystery about it as there is misinformation and false theory. , The prinicipal trouble is that we were all taught, a few months ago, that Lenine and Trotzky were the conscious, paid agents cf the German government, bought like Judases for a price to betray their own country into the power of the enemy. And having seized hold of. that conception of the situation we have held onto it, like a dog to a bone, even when it has been found impossible to fit it in with the known facts. Suppose we start, not with a theory that won't work, but with just one simple, elemental truth. Lenine, Trotzky and their bolshevist followers who for the time being precariously control the Russian "government" are socialists of the extreme type. They are "reds." They are "in-ternationlists." "in-ternationlists." Their war is on "capitalism" capitalism in Russia, in Germany, in England, in the United States, everywhere. They hate "Wall street" just as much as they hate the Kaiser and Krupp. And they hate, in precisely the same way, the rich man in their own country. As we understand the word they have ; no patriotism. Their allegiance is not to their country they have i no country ; "the world is their country" it is to a class. Their present efforts are not to destroy, or to defeat any country, but to defeat and destroy a class the property-owning class, the capitalists, capital-ists, everywhere. Their1 own capitalists are nearest, and easiest to destroy, so they strike at them first. So they repudiate the national debt They confiscate the money in the banks. They abolish private property in land, including in-cluding all mines, oil wells, etc., and declare them the property of the state. The weapons in their armory include not only confiscation confisca-tion and repudiation but assassination. Comprising a minority of the whole people they were not able to control the election of the constituent assembly, so by force they abolished it, and set themselves them-selves up as irresponsible tyrants. Theirs is the tyranny of the mob, rather than of a single autocrat, but it is none the less hateful hate-ful and appressive. Their war is not soley on capitalism and autocracy. It is a war on democracy as well. For they are not willing the majority should rule They are not willing that every man, rich and poor, sinner and saint, should have a voice and a vote in the establish- j ment and control of a government. They will permit only "the i working class" to have sway and only that portion of the working i class who believe as they believe. j |