OCR Text |
Show LESSON IN SOCIALISM fit t ' For many years", the. soap box orators have been telling u iiit glorious things would happen if the workers would only size'.the instruments of production, and establish our industrial system on a abm-munistic abm-munistic basis. " r. A good many people have, been somewhat some-what interested and naif credulousabout it. But they have had sense enough to want to see some one. else tryit out first and find out how it would work. Now they have the opportunity of seeing The Russian Bolsheviks have set'ouf to try out just this idea. The ascendency of this party in Russia-was called by our Socialists a great triumph for humanitarian humanitar-ian sentiment. The Bolshevik minister. of finance in Russia who certainly would not be prejudiced preju-diced against this proposition, made a report re-port to the central committee of his party par-ty a few days ago, that showed about now glorious the thing, is up to date. He reported re-ported that the operatioon of the railways rail-ways under Socialism was costing 120,000 rubles per vcrst (two thirds' ,of a mile) as against 11,600 rubles per verst previ-' ously. He pictured industrial.conditions in Socialistic Russia in the blackest of terms. The locomotive works were turning turn-ing out only two locomotives, a day, whereas formerly they produced eighteen a day -Wm It was reported that the minister's speech was received in dead silence. This does not look, much like the Socialistic heaven we used to hear about, where people would work only three ' or four hours a day, and everyone would have an abundaice of the luxuries of earth. -' Alittle more of ;this "Socialistic elysium., will be likely to 'sicken even the bewhis-"kered bewhis-"kered Bolsheviks. Now if some deluded people in our own country will only take the pains to learn how the thing wbrks in practice, they will, 'save them-' selves a lot -pf disappointment, and bur. country a great deal of futile agitation. ' A A A .A |