The Witness - Grace Livingston Hill Lutz (top 5 books to read txt) 📗

Her Little Naked Soul In A Garden All Alone

With The Lord God,  And A Man Who Was Set To Follow Him!

 

Tennelly Looked Up And Raised His Eyebrows As Courtland Closed The Door.

"Guess You Needn't Have Written That Letter,  After All!" Chuckled Bill

Ward. "I Thought Gila Would Get In Her Little Old Work!"

 

"Well,  It's Written And Mailed,  So That Doesn't Do Any Good Now. And,

Anyway,  It's Always Well To Have More Than One String To Your Bow!"

Growled Tennelly. Courtland In Love! He Wasn't Exactly Sure He Liked It.

Courtland And Gila! What Kind Of A Girl Was Gila,  Anyway? Was She Good

Enough For Court? He Must Look Into This.

 

"Say,  Bill,  Why Don't You Introduce Me To Your Cousin? I Think It's

About Time I Had A Chance To Judge For Myself How Things Are Getting

On," Growled Tennelly,  Presently.

 

"Sure!" Said Bill. "Good Idea! Why Didn't You Mention It Before? How

About Going Now? It's Only Half Past Ten. Court Didn't Stay Very Late,

Did He? No,  It Isn't Too Late For Gila. She Never Goes To Bed Till

Midnight,  Not If There's Anything Interesting On. Wait. I'll Call Her Up

And See. I'm Privileged,  Anyway,  You Know. Cousins Can Do Anything. I'll

Tell Her We're Hungry."

 

So It Came About That An Hour After Gila Had Sat In The Firelight With

Courtland And Listened,  Puzzled,  To His Reverent Talk Of A

Soul-Friendship,  She Ushered Into The Same Room Her Cousin And Tennelly.

She Met Tennelly With A Challenge In Her Eye.

 

Tennelly Had One In His. Their Glances Lingered,  Sparred And Lingered

Again,  And Each Knew That This Was A Notable Meeting.

 

For Tennelly Was Tall And Strikingly Handsome. He Had Those Deep Black

Chapter 21 Pg 121

Eyes That Hold A Maiden's Gaze And Dare A Devil; Yet There Was Behind

His Look Something Strong,  Dashing,  Scholarly. Gila Saw At Once That He

Was Distinguished In His Way,  And Though Her Thoughts Were Strangely

Held By Courtland She Could Not Let One Like This Go By Unchallenged. If

Courtland Did Not Prove Corrigible,  Why,  There Was Still As Good Fish In

The Sea As Ever Was Caught. It Were Well To Have More Than One Hook

Baited. So She Received Tennelly Graciously,  Boldly,  Impressively,  And

In Three Minutes Was Talking With That Daring Intimacy That Young People

Of Her Style Love To Affect; And Tennelly,  Fascinated By Her Charms,  Yet

Seeing Through Them And Letting Her Know He Saw Through Them,  Was

Fencing With Her Delightfully. He Told Himself It Was His Duty For

Courtland's Sake. Yet He Was Interested For His Own Sake And Knew It.

But He Did Not Like The Idea Of Court And This Girl! They Did Not Fit.

Court Was Too Genuine! Too Tender-Hearted! Too Idealistic About Women!

With Himself,  Now,  It Was Different. He Knew Women! Understood This One

At A Glance. She Was "A Peach" In Her Way,  But Not The "Perfect Little

Peach" Court Ought To Have. She Would Flirt All Her Life And Break Old

Court's Heart If He Married Her.

 

So He Laughed And Joked With Gila,  Answering Her Challenging Glances

With Glances Just As Ardent,  While Bill Ward Sat And Watched Them Both,

Chuckling Away To Himself.

 

And Courtland,  On His Knees,  Talked With God!

 

The Next Morning Courtland Awoke With A Pleasant Sensation Of Eagerness

To See What Life Had In Store For Him. Was This Really The Wonderful

Experience Of Lov

Student Of Russian History,  Speaking The Language Fluently,  It Was His Good

Fortune To Spend Several Weeks In Petrograd Immediately Before And After

The Bolshevik Counter-Revolution. He Testifies That The "Freedom Of The

Press Established By Kerensky" Was "Terminated By The Bolsheviki."[27]

This Is Not The Testimony Of "Capitalist Newspapers," But Of Socialists Of

Unquestionable Authority And Standing. The _Dielo Naroda_ Was A Socialist

Paper,  And The Volunteer Venders Of It,  Who Were Brutally Beaten And Shot

Down By Red Guards,  Were Socialist Working-Men.[28] When Oskar Tokoi,  The

Well-Known Revolutionary Finnish Socialist Leader,  Former Prime Minister Of

Finland,  Declares That "Freedom Of Assemblage,  Association,  Free Speech,

And Free Press Is Altogether Destroyed,"[29] The Bolsheviki And Their

Sympathizers Cannot Plead That They Are The Victims Of "Capitalist

Misrepresentation." The Attitude Of The Bolshevik Leaders Toward The

Freedom Of The Press Has Been Frankly Stated Editorially In Pravda,  Their

Official Organ,  In The Following Words:

 

    The Press Is A Most Dangerous Weapon In The Hands Of Our Enemies.

    We Will Tear It From Them,  We Will Reduce It To Impotence. It Is

    The Moment For Us To Prepare Battle. We Will Be Inflexible In Our

    Defense Of The Rights Of The Exploited. The Struggle Will Be

    Decisive. We Are Going To Smite The Journals With Fines,  To Shut

Chapter 21 Pg 122

    Them Up,  To Arrest The Editors,  And Hold Them As Hostages.[30]

 

Is It Any Wonder That Paul Axelrod,  Who Was One Of The Representatives Of

Russia On The International Socialist Bureau Prior To The Outbreak Of The

War,  Has Been Forced To Declare That The Bolsheviki Have "Introduced Into

Russia A System Worse Than Czarism,  Suppressing The Constituent Assembly

And The Liberty Of The Press"?[31] Or That The Beloved Veteran Of The

Russian Revolution,  Nicholas Tchaykovsky,  Should Lament That "The

Bolshevik Usurpation Is The Continuation Of The Government By Which Czarism

Held The Country In An Iron Grip"?[32]

 

 

 

 

Iii

 

Lenine,  Trotzky,  Zinoviev,  And Other Bolshevik Leaders Early Found

Themselves So Much At Variance With The Accepted Socialist Position That

They Decided To Change Their Party Name. They Had Been Social Democrats,  A

Part Of The Social Democratic Party Of Russia. Now Ever Since Bronterre

O'brien First Used The Terms "Social Democrat" And "Social Democracy," In

1839,  Their Meaning Has Been Pretty Well Established. A Social Democrat Is

One Who Aims To Base Government And Industry Upon Democracy. Certainly,

This Cannot Be Said To Be An Accurate Description Of The Position Of Men

Who Believe In The Rule Of A Nation Of One Hundred And Eighty Millions By A

Small Party Of Two Hundred Thousand Or Less--Or Even By An Entire Class

Representing Not More Than Six Per Cent. Of The Population--And Lenine And

His Friends,  Recognizing The Fact,  Decided To Change The Name Of Their

Group To The _Communist Party_,  By Which Name They Are Now Known In Russia.

Lenine Frankly Admits That It Would Be A Mistake To Speak Of This Party As

A Party Of Democracy. He Says:

 

    The Word "Democracy" Cannot Be Scientifically Applied To The

    Communist Party. Since March,  1917,  The Word Democracy Is Simply A

    Shackle Fastened Upon The Revolutionary Nation And Preventing It

    From Establishing Boldly,  Freely,  And Regardless Of All Obstacles

    A New Form Of Power; The Council Of Workmen's,  Soldiers' And

    Peasants' Deputies,  Harbinger Of The Abolition Of Every Form Of

    Authority.[33]

 

The Phrase "Harbinger Of The Abolition Of Every Form Of Authority" Would

Seem To Indicate That Lenine's Ideal Is That Of The Old Nihilists--Or Of

Anarchists Of The Bakuninist School. That Is Very Far From The Truth. The

Phrase In Question Is Merely A Rhetorical Flourish. No Man Has More

Caustically Criticized And Ridiculed The Anarchists For Their Dream Of

Organization Without Authority Than Nikolai Lenine. Moreover,  His

Conception Of Soviet Government Provides For A Very Strong Central

Authority. It Is A Newof State,  But A State,  Nevertheless,  And,  As We

Shall Discover,  Far More Powerful Than The Political State With Which We

Chapter 21 Pg 123

Are Familiar,  Exercising Far Greater Control Over The Life Of The

Individual. It Is Not To Be A Democratic State,  But A Very Despotic One,  A

Dictatorship By A Small But Powerful Ruling Class. It Was Not The Word

"Democracy" Which Lenine Felt To Be A "Shackle Upon The Revolutionary

Nation," But Democracy Itself.

 

The Manner In Which They Betrayed The Constituent Assembly Will Prove The

Complete Hostility Of The Bolsheviki To Democratic Government. In Order To

Excuse And Justify The Bolsheviki's Actions In This Regard,  Their

Supporters In This Country Have Assiduously Circulated Two Statements. They

Are,  First,  That The Provisional Government Purposely And With Malicious

Intent Delayed The Convocation Of The Constituent Assembly,  Hoping To Stave

It Off Altogether; Second,  That Such A Long Time Had Elapsed Between The

Elections And The Convocation That When The Latter Date Was Reached The

Delegates No Longer Represented The True Feeling Of The Electorate.

 

With Regard To The First Of These Statements,  Which Is A Repetition Of A

Charge Made By Trotzky Before The Bolshevik Revolt,  It Is To Be Noted That

It Is Offered In Justification Of The Bolshevik _Coup D'état_. If The

Charge Made Were True,  Instead Of False,  As It Can Easily Be Shown To Be,

It Would Only Justify The Counter-Revolution If The Counter-Revolution

Itself Were Made The Instrument For Insuring The Safety Of The Constituent

Assembly. But The Bolsheviki _Suppressed The Constituent Assembly_. By What

Process Of Reasoning Do We Reach The Result That Because The Provisional

Government Delayed The Convocation Of The Constituent Assembly,  Which The

People Desired,  A Counter-Revolutionary Movement To _Suppress It

Altogether_,  By Force Of Arms,  Was Right And Proper?

 

With Regard To The Second Statement,  Which Is A Repetition Of An Argument

Advanced In Russia,  It Should Be Sufficient To Emphasize A Few Dates. The

Bolsheviki Seized The Power Of Government On November 7th And The Elections

For The Constituent Assembly Took Place On November 25th--Nearly Three

Weeks Later. The Date Set By The Kerensky Government For The Opening Of The

Constituent Assembly Was December 12th And On That Date Some Forty-Odd

Members Put In An Appearance. Recognizing That They Could Not Begin

Business Until A Quorum Appeared,  These Decided To Wait Until At Least A

Quorum Should Be Present. They Did Not Attempt To Do Any Work. What

Happened Is Told In The Following Passages From A Signed Statement By 109

Members--All Socialist-Revolutionists.[34]

 

    On The Appointed Day And Hour Of The Opening Of The Session Of The

    Constituent Assembly ... The Delegates To The Constituent Assembly

    Who Had Arrived In Petrograd Gathered At The Tavrichesky Palace.

    The Elected Representatives Of The People Beheld Innumerable

    Banners And Large Crowds Surrounding The Palace. This Was

    Petrograd Greeting The Representatives Of The People. At The Doors