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

So He Remembered What He Had Come To Tell Gila. Looking Down To

That Exquisite Bit Of Humanity Almost Within His Embrace,  A Great

Tenderness For Her,  And Longing,  Came Over Him,  To Make Her Know Now All

That The Presence Was Becoming To Him.

 

"Gila," He Whispered,  And His Voice Was Full Of Thrill. "Let's Sit Down

Awhile! There Is Something I Want To Tell You!"

 

Instantly She Responded,  Lifting Great Innocent Eyes,  With One Quick

Sweep,  To His Face,  So Moved And Tender; And Gliding Toward The Couch

Where They Might Sit Together,  Settling Down On It,  Almost Nestling To

Him,  Then Remembering And Drawing Away Shyly To More Perfectly Play Her

Part. She Thought She Knew What He Was Going To Say. She Thought She Saw

The Love-Light In His Eyes,  And It Was So Dazzling It Almost Blinded

Her. It Frightened Her A Little,  Too,  Like The Light In No Lover's Eyes

That Had Ever Drawn Her Down To Whisper Love To Her Before. She Wondered

If It Was Because She Really Cared Herself So Much Now That It Seemed So

Different.

 

But He Did Not Take Her In His Arms As She Had Expected He Would Do;

Though He Sat Quite Near,  And Spoke In A Low,  Privileged Tone,  As One

Would Do Who Had The Right. His Arm Was Across The Back Of The Couch

Behind Her; He Sat Sideways,  Turned Toward Her,  And He Still Touched

Reverently The Little Hand He Had Been Holding As They Danced Together.

 

"Gila,  I Have A Story To Tell You," He Said. "Until You Know It You Can

Never Understand Me Fully,  And I Want With All My Heart To Have You

Understand Me. It Is Something That Has Become A Part Of Me."

 

She Sat Quivering,  Wondering,  Half Fearful. A Gleam Of Jealousy Came

Into Her Averted Face. Was He Going To Tell Her About Another Girl? A

Fierce,  Unreasoning Anger Shot Across Her Face. She Would Not Tolerate

The Thought That Any One Had Had Him Before Her. Was It--? It Couldn't

Be That Baby-Faced Pauper In The Hospital? She Drew Her Slim Little Body

Up Tensely And W The Plastic Quality Of Inspired

Imagination. Though There Is Probably No Single Evil Which Exists For Which

Chapter 24 Pg 142

The Perversity Of The Subtle And Mysterious Thing Called Life Is Such That

Many Great And Grave Evils Continue To Challenge,  Perplex,  And Harass Our

Humankind.

 

Yet,  Notwithstanding The Plain Lesson Of History And Experience,  The

Reminder Impressed On Every Page Of Humanity's Record,  That Between The

Glow And The Glamour Of The Vision And Its Actual Realization Stretches A

Long,  Long Road,  There Are Many Simple-Minded Souls To Whom The Vision

Gleamed Is As The Goal Attained. They Do Not Distinguish Between Schemes On

Paper And Ideals Crystallized Into Living Realities. This Type Of Mind Is

Far More Common Than Is Generally Recognized; That Is Why So Many People

Quite Seriously Believe That The Bolsheviki Have Really Established In

Russia A Society Which Conforms To The Generous Ideals Of Social Democracy.

They Have Read The Rhetorical "Decrees" And "Proclamations" In Which The

Shibboleths Of Freedom And Democracy Abound,  And Are Satisfied. Yet It

Ought To Be Plainly Evident To Any Intelligent Person That,  Even If The

Decrees And Proclamations Were As Sound As They Are In Fact Unsound,  And As

Definite As They Are In Fact Vague,  They Would Afford No Real Basis For

Judging Bolshevism As An Actual Experiment In Social Polity. There Is,  In

Ultimate Analysis,  Only One Test To Apply To Bolshevism--Namely,  The Test

Of Reality. We Must Ask What The Bolsheviki Did,  Not What They Professed;

What Was The Performance,  Not What Was The Promise.

 

Of Course,  This Does Not Mean That We Are To Judge Result Wholly Without

Regard To Aim. Admirable Intention Is Still Admirable As Intention,  Even

When Untoward Circumstance Defeats It And Brings Deplorable Results.

Bolshevism Is Not Merely A Body Of Belief And Speculation. When The

Bolsheviki Seized The Government Of Russia And Began To Attempt To Carry

Out Their Ideas,  Bolshevism Became A Living Movement In A World Of Reality

And Subject To The Acid Test Of Pragmatic Criteria. It Must Be Judged By

Such A Matter-Of-Fact Standard As The Extent To Which It Has Enlarged Or

Diminished The Happiness,  Health,  Comfort,  Freedom,  Well-Being,

Satisfaction,  And Efficiency Of The Greatest Number Of Individuals. Unless

The Test Shows That It Has Increased The Sum Of Good Available For The

Mass,  Bolshevism Cannot Be Regarded As A Gain. If,  On The Contrary,  The

Test Shows That It Has Resulted In Sensibly Diminishing The Sum Of Good

Available To The Greatest Number Of People,  Bolshevism Must Be Counted As A

Move In The Wrong Direction,  As So Much Effort Lost. Nothing That Can Be

Urged On Philosophical Or Moral Grounds For Or Against The Moral Or

Intellectual Impulses That Prompted It Can Fundamentally Change The

Verdict. Yet,  For All That,  It Is Well To Examine The Theory Which Inspires

The Practice; Well To Know The Manner And Method Of Thinking,  And The View

Of Life,  From Which Bolshevism As A Movement Of Masses Of Men And Women

Proceeds.

Chapter 24 Pg 143

Philosophy Or The Program Of Socialism. Certain Persons Have Established A

Working Relation Between Socialism,  A Program,  And Bolshevism,  A Method.

The Connection Is Not Inherently Logical,  But,  On The Contrary,  Wholly

Adventitious. As A Matter Of Fact,  Bolshevism Can Only Be Linked To The

Program Of Socialism By Violently And Disastrously Weakening The Latter And

Destroying Its Fundamental Character. We Shall Do Well To Remember This; To

Remember That The Method Of Action,  And,  Back Of The Method,  The Philosophy

On Which It Rests And From Which It Springs,  Are Separate And Distinct From

Socialism. They Are Incalculably Older And They Have Been Associated With

Vastly Different Programs. All That Is New In Bolshevism Is That A Very Old

Method Of Action,  And A Very Old Philosophy Of Action,  Have Been Seized

Upon By A New Class Which Attempts To Unite The Program.

 

That Is All That Is Implied In The "Dictatorship Of The Proletariat."

Dictatorship By Small Minorities Is Not A New Political Phenomenon. All

That Is New When The Minority Attempting To Establish Its Dictatorship Is

Composed Of Poor,  Propertyless People,  Is The Fact Of Their Economic

Condition And Status. That Is The Only Difference Between The Dictatorship

Of Russia By The Romanov Dynasty And The Dictatorship Of Russia By A Small

Minority Of Determined,  Class-Conscious Working-People. It Is Not Only The

Precise Forms Of Oppressive Power Used By Them That Are Identically

Characteristic Of Czarism And Bolshevism,  But Their Underlying Philosophy.

Both Forms Of Dictatorship Rest Upon The Philosophy Of Might As The Only

Valid Right. Militarism,  Especially As It Was Developed Under Prussian

Leadership,  Has Exactly The Same Philosophy And Aims At The Same General

Result,  Namely,  To Establish The Domination And Control Of Society By A

Minority Class. The Bolsheviki Have Simply Inverted Czarism And Militarism.

 

What Really Shocks The Majority Of People Is Not,  After All,  The Methods Or

The Philosophy Of Bolshevism,  But The Fact That The Bolsheviki,  Belonging

To A Subject Class,  Have Seized Upon The Methods And Philosophy Of The Most

Powerful Ruling Classes And Turned Them To Their Own Account. There Is A

Class Morality And A Class Psychology The Subtle Influences Of Which Few

Perceive As A Matter Of Habit,  Which,  However,  To A Great Extent Shape Our

Judgments,  Our Sympathies,  And Our Antipathies. Men Who Never Were Shocked

When A Czar,  Speaking The Language Of Piety And Religion,  Indulged In 

Chapter 24 Pg 144

Most Infamous Methods And Deeds Of Terror And Oppression,  Are Shocked

Beyond All Power Of Adequate Expression When Former Subjects Of That Same

Czar,  Speaking The Language Of The Religion Of Democracy And Freedom,

Resort To The Same Infamous Methods Of Terror And Oppression.

 

 

 

 

Ii

 

The Idea That A Revolting Proletarian Minority Might By Force Impose Its

Rule Upon Society Runs Through The History Of The Modern Working Class,  A

Note Of Impatient,  Desperate,  Menacing Despair. The Bolsheviki Say That

They Are Marxian Socialists; That Marx Believed In And Advocated The

Setting Up,  During The Transitory Period Of Social Revolution,  Of The

"Dictatorship Of The Proletariat." They Are Not Quite Honest In This Claim,

However; They Are Indulging In Verbal Tricks. It Is True That Marx Taught

That The Proletarian Dominion Of Society,  As A Preliminary To The Abolition

Of All Class Rule Of Every Kind,  Must Be Regarded As Certain And

Inevitable. But It Is Not Honest To Claim The Sanction Of His Teaching For

The Seizure Of Political Power By A Small Class,  Consisting Of About 6 Per

Cent. Of The Population,  And The Imposition By Force Of Its Rule Upon The

Majority Of The Population That Is Either Unwilling Or Passive. That Is The

Negation Of Marxian Socialism. _It Is The Essence Of Marx's Teaching That

The Social Revolution Must Come As A Historical Necessity When The

Proletariat Itself Comprises An Overwhelming Majority Of The People_.

 

Let Us Summarize The Theory As It Appears In The _Communist Manifesto_:

Marx Begins By Setting Forth The Fact That Class Conflict Is As Old As

Civilization Itself,  That History Is Very Largely The Record Of Conflicts

Between Contending Social Classes. In Our Epoch,  He Argues,  Class Conflict

Is Greatly Simplified; There Is Really Only One Division,  That Which

Divides The Bourgeoisie And The Proletariat: "Society As A Whole Is More

And More Splitting Up Into Great Hostile Camps,  Into Two Great Classes

Directly Facing Each Other,  Bourgeoisie And Proletariat." ... "With The

Development Of Industry The Proletariat Not Only Increases In Numbers; It

Becomes Concentrated In Great Masses,  Its Strength Grows,  And It Feels That

Strength More." ... "The Proletarian Movement Is The _Self-Conscious,

Independent Movement Of The Immense Majority In The Interests Of The

Immense Majority_." It Is This "Immense Majority" That Is To Establish Its

Dominion. Marx Expe-Workers! Work Energetically And Unite Your Efforts,  And

    In This Way Help Us In Our Last Fight For Universal Peace For

    Nations! By Strengthening The Front You Will Strengthen Freedom!

 

    3. Fellow-Citizens Of The Capitalist Class! Follow The Historic

    Example Of Minin! Even As He,  Open Your Treasuries And Quickly

    Bring Your Money To The Aid Of Russia!