The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 21, 1927, Page 10

pargo in Looking-Glass Land — A Revolution does queer things to a certain type of parlor radical. It whirls him around, makes him dizzy, reverses his sense of direction as a mag- netic storm may de with a compass. North becomes South and East becomes West. The whole world becomes topsy-turvy; wrong becomes right and right becomes wrong; tyranny becomes free- dom and freedom becomes tyranny. Like Alice, he finds himself in Loeoking-glass Land, with the whole world on the other side—strange, removed, and inaccessible, ‘ Like Alice, Spargo finds life in Looking-Glass and to be nothing but an insane chess game. Gone is the logic of economics, of the struggle of classes. {Tht pieces move with the suddenness and incoher- ence of a dream. Gone is the conscious effort of millions to free themselves from oppression. A “Great Man” makes a nation Fascist or Bolshevist at will, Pawns are moved and are captured. A few big pieces dominate the scene. Into such a madman’s picture of the world has John Spzrgo transposed himself as a result of his panic at his first glimpse of open class warfare and workingclass victory. “Wherein,” asks John Spargo, “lies the genius of Mussolini? “In his stupendous commonpfaceness” is the answer. Because Mussolini consists of “com- monplaces intensified to a degree rarely attained.” Is not this an answer over which all the inhabitants of Looking-glass Land, the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle, the March Hare and the Dormouse would nod with grave approval? For Spargo, Lenin and Mussolini are Tweedle- dum and Tweedledee. Only since this is Looking- glass Land, it is Lenin who is the romanticist while Mussolini is the realist! “In Dante’s land a young romantic descended to hell by way of the World War. He came back to a-world of stern and stark realism. Somewhere on the way to his Inferno, or in it, his romanticism -dropped away and he became a realist. . .From a romanticism that was as dull as time-worn tinsel he . leaped-to a realism so thorough that it dazzled the eyes by its brightness.” In such epic strains the poet Spargo sings of his hero Mussolini—the little traitor sings of his hero, the big traiter. Let us translate: ‘ “In Haly where the misery of the workers has always been very great, a young socialist-romanticist Gaeeame after the manner of his kind, a social patriot eng went to the war. While enjoying a major’s com- taission with its modicum of power and authority, he found thrills and romance such as the bitter, mono-» tonous, daily struggles of the workers had névér i him, and not having a real scientific under- standing of the basis of socialism, the cause of social- ‘ism became tasteless in his mouth and he came back a greater romanticist than ever, agog for greater thrills and greater power. From the age-old sober realism of the struggle of an oppressed class against its oppressors, he leaped to the tinsel romanticism cf » inflammatory nationalism, to the heights of Chief Bully of a dictatorship with its satiation of blood- lust and its Coney Islamd thrills.” Is not this the true story of Mussolini as it would appear to anyone except Spargo-through-the-loeking- glass? Let us quote some more of Spargo’s Leoking-glass language. Once you have the key it is easy to under- stand. Reverse everything and you have the truth. “Mussolini the romanticist would have seen in the spread of Bolshevist propaganda. . .the rosy dawn of a new era of internationalism. Mussolini the real- ist saw in it the threat of death to the one reality = supreme consequence, Italian nationality and un- ity. And now let us ask Spargo, the looking-glass real- ist: when “the one reality of supreme consequence —Italian nationalism” conflicts with “the one reality of supreme consequence”’—Jugoslay nationalism, when “the one reality” of French nationalism conflicts with “the one reality” of German nationalism, when ‘American nationalism conflicts with British nation- alism, then what happens? Is Man supposed to go back to barbarism and find his “one reality of su- preme consequence” in the form of a few shellfish on the shore or a few roots grubbed out of the woods? “Mussolini’s primary object was to save Italian nationality by ridding it of its worst foes. It was a discovery in the midst of the struggle that the con- ditions of modern life makes the nation dependent upon its economic mechanism far more than upon its armaments.” Alas for “the sterile romanticism of the Marxian fornmwlaries!” Alas for poor Karl _ Marx, the sterile, the romantic! Had he been a real- ist of the Spargo-Mussolini type, he too might have discovered that “the conditions of modern life make a nation dependent upon its economic mechanism” far more than upon anythng else. “What Lenin represented in the leadership of the destructive forces, Mussolini became in the leader- ship of the conserving and constructive forces.” Again the ——s of the looking-glass. “History will place Mussolimi higher than Lenin because he ranged himself on the side of the defense * of the present reality.” Just as, in Looking-glass Land, George III is placed higher than Washington, Louis XVI is placed higher than Marat, the Emperor of China is placed higher than Sun Yat Sen, and the Kaiser is placed higher than Liebknecht. To Spargo, Lenin and Mussolini are Tweedledum and Tweedledee. The sole grounds for this tabloid comparison are that both were once comparatively unknown and both “rose to power” and headed dic- tatorships. Yet as soon as even these apparent re- semblances are examined they crumble to pieces, From almost the beginning of his activity Lenin was known and recognized as the leader of the Rus- sian revolutionary movement, while Mussolini was a vacillating, uninspired, and timorous socialist, The dictatorship headed by Lenin was (and still is) the dictatorship of the party of the workingclass — a party built up through years of struggle by thou- sands of devoted workers. The dictatorship of Mus- solini is a personal dictatorship, a dictatorship based on a patched-up alliance between the petty-bour- geoisie and big business, a dictatorship against the workers, carried on by a “party” submissive te the Duce’s slightest gesture, a party developed overnight, without a history or a theory, with no record of class struggle save hooliganism and punitive expeditions against the workers. Lenin “rose to power” as a natural consequence of his inspired leadership and loyalty to the cause of the workers.. Mussolini rose to power as a result of his despicable treachery. And yet of these two (who resemble each other no more than the lion resembles the wild pig) Spargo dubs Lenin the romanticist, and Mussolini the realist. Lenin, studying, organizing, patiently building—the romanticist; Mussolini, making bombastic speeches in his socialist days and pestering the comrades for protection against. plots—the realist. Lenin fight- ing against the illusions of the war—the roman-’ ticist; Mussolini, putting on a uniform “for the REVISIONISM WINS A RECRUIT (Continued from page 4) Dr. Walsh, brilliant thinker that he is, is positive that it is the earth that moves, and not the sun. In passing, it is pleasant to imagine how enjoyable it would be if this were the fourteenth century; for if the doctor had heid the same opinion then, he would have an opportunity to stand on trial with Galileo before the Inquisition, and be punished on that body’s rack, a martyr to science. Perish the thought! Were Dr. Walsh living then, instead of avowing belief in an unwelcome scientific theory, he would be writing polemics against it. Of such stuff are christian “martyrs” made. To avoid controversy, the catholic revisionists would have to consult archaeology and straighten out. many of the errors made by the ignorant writers of the Old Testament, which furnish much amuse- ment for modern freethinkers. There are many, kings, battles, cities and invasions incorrectly men- tioned, that furnish much proof that the Biblical writings were created many centuries after the dates their authors inserted in the manuscripts. These, of necessity, must be expurgated. Once they come to the period covered by the New Testament, the cross-bedecked scholars will be on slightly easier ground. They may find it best, of course, to eliminate those quotations attributed to Jesus that make him appear, in the light of the newer psychology, to be a sex-obsessed prophet of doom. For chastity and asceticism are no longer considered the prime virtues. And, unfortunately for the early disciples, the world never came to an end as Jesus is quoted as predicting, and probably will not for some time to come. Perhaps, on the récommendation of the editor of “The Catholic World,” who dotes on striking scholar- ly poses that are obviously better mimicry than scholasticism, the story of the loaves and fishes will be made more plausible. But these are minor matters. ‘ de One portion of scriptural history that Mr. Belloc will have some trouble rewriting, is the part used atheists proving that of all the apostles who or are said, to have seen Jesus, only a few accorded that doubtful honor. Many other gospels of Peter and Paul will have 3 trine, other than that the Messiah had come, and that com 6 ae ° By N. SPARKS Fatherland’—the realist, Lenin assuring free de- velopment for all peoples, Mussolini demanding that everyone else clear out of the Mediterranean. | founding a new society, Mussolini trying to patch up the old. Lenin founding the Communist Interna- tional to carry on the struggle and prevent future wars, Mussolini standing over Europe’s powder magazine and making bravura gestures with a light- ed cigarette. Lenin with his self-effacing enuncia- tion of the tactics for victory, Mussolini with his paranoic proclamations bristling with “I"s. Lenin inspiring the greatest love in the hearts of millions, Mussolini inspiring only the horror felt in a night- - mare, And of these two, Spargo tells us that Lenin is the romanticist and Mussolini the realist, Is this not Looking-glass language? Spargo the little trritor worships Mussolini the big traitor. Spargo the little madman worships Mus- solini the big madman. Spargo the erstwhile roman- tic socialist worships. the fimest flower of all the romantic socialists. Certainly the panic engendered in Spargo by the first glimpse of the reality of what was for him al- ways a romance—the class struggle—has transposed him into Looking-glass Land where black is white and white is black, Romance is Reality and Reality is Romance. From Looking-glass Land the real world is incomprehensible and inaccessible. The workers will march on and will achieve their vie- tory; they will. accomplish their emancipation through the methods of Lenin—the Great Realist. Spargo will neither see nor understand. There he sits in I#oking-glass Land, carefully inspecting Tweedledum and Tweedledee. And what character in the dream is Spargo himself? Is he the mad March Hare or the equally mad Hatter? Or is he merely Humpty-Dumpty who had a great fall? Go hang yourself, John Spargo, for never in life will you regain therworld of reality. the kingdom of god was at hand for the lord’s an- nointed, Perhaps, too, the jabbering about the poor inherit- ing the kingdom of heaven will be toned down a bit; in these days of social unrest, when the mes- sage of Communism is spreading like wildfire, and the laws of historical progression are beginning to show that the poor will eventually inherit the earth, - the capitalist backers of the holy hop-houses will demand the removal of the benediction on inherit- ance by the poor. But perhaps this will depend upon the minuteness with which the monkish quib- blers survey the documents in question. The more recent the researches become, the more trouble the historical forgers will “have, for his- tory becomes less exact with age; and the more re- cent it is, the more capable of verification. The in- quisition, the disputes about certain books of the bible, the schismatic wars, the “holy” wars, the history of the popes, the Galileo case, the St. Bartho- lemew’s Day Massacre, the sale of Ireland to Eng- land at a penny a head—these, and many other in- cidents in the history of the world will necessitate either explanation er downright lying. In the present era, the papal assistance to Mus- solini in the domination of Italy, the clerical, re- volt against the Mexican labor government, the ac- tivities of the missionaries in China in opposition to the Nationalist movement: all will occupy the brilliant imaginations, the facile minds, and the treacherous pens of the skull-capped “revisionists” of history. I could continue writing paragraph after para- graph, citing instance after instance in history that would require much unscrupulous ingenuity to ex- plain away, or apologize for. But they are historical facts, and catholic apologists can wrangle over them until Thomas Paine is canonized like Bocaccio’s sinner who became saint; they will remain indelibly in the musty records of man’s progress through the ages, undismissable indictments against the tyran- nous Roman Catholic Church, One more quotation, and I will cast Belloc’s essay in the wastebasket where it belongs. I cannot resist the temptation to include it here, for it gives us valuable insight into the workings of the catholic mind, : “I doubt whether the greater part of the small catholic body in England,” he says, “even those of them who have paid special attention to his*orical study, have realized in how high a degree the whole story of European civilization, including the story of England and Ireland, is presented to them through the medium of violently. anti-catholie propaganda.” The majority of catholics—those who have a right to the name, I mean—are educated in the parochial . schools, where their whole outlook on life is colored by catholic teaching. If all those years of narcotiz~ ing have no effect, I cannot have much respect for bed mental capacities of the average church-mem- e. The class-conscious worker, who usually reads several capitalist newspapers and magazines in ad- dition to his own radical publications, is able to sift without much trouble the wheat of truth from the chaff of vicious, lecherous capitalist propaganda. But perhaps I am straining a comparison, contrast- ing. the intelligent, open-minded class-conscious pew with the bigoted, much “educated” church member. «