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parison with which German militarism would have been a blessing," now that at Riga the Eighth German Army has actually co-operated with our troops against the Bolsheviks, there has been a relaxation in our iniquitous blockade against Germany. Just as the Bolsheviks, by undermining German morale, helped to save us from Prussian militarism, so they are now helping to save us from ourselves.
Moreover, they have so frightened Capital that everywhere wages are rising—even in the Army and Navy, hours of work are falling, and the Peace Conference is offering Labour an international charter. The fear of Bolshevism is the beginning of wisdom. Bolshevism may be a curse, but its evil is by no means unmixed.
But is Bolshevism a curse? Well, we must distinguish between Bolshevism in itself and the violence with which it has been established. As a conscientious objector to violence of every species, I do not believe that revolutions can be made only with blood, I believe they can be made with ink, or with electric light. But revolution with blood is not unknown even in English history and violence in Russia is not confined to the Bolsheviks. In recording the court-martialling and shooting of 117 Bolsheviks near Omsk, The Times remarked recently: "These prompt measures have made a good impression." But you cannot in the same breath praise violence and abuse it.
It is impossible to whitewash the Bolsheviks, but I have no doubt that the bloodiness of their régime has been as exaggerated as its bankruptcy. If the possessing classes in England were suddenly deprived by the masses of their lands and factories, and even turned out of their homes, I should not go to them for an impartial view of the situation, nor expect them to recognise that, once things had settled down, Britain as a whole might really be better off. When Mr. Lloyd George was denounced for "robbing hen-roosts," I did not accept that as a complete account of his politics. Lord Milner prates of "the unspeakable horrors of Bolshevik rule," but I was not so ready to believe all that the Boers said about his concentration camps. Quite a number of those murdered by the Bolsheviks seem to pop up again.
But when all is said, it is unquestionable that infinite injustice and brutality have marked the Bolshevik as every other revolution, including the revolution against the Czar, which the British Government endorsed. I do not doubt that the same Russian hooligans who carried out the brutalities of the army in Galicia, or the Jewish pogroms against which the British Government refused to intervene, profited by their new and rich opportunities to carry out those horrors against which the British Government has been so
