Anno 1922 and 1928—and Down—Down —Still Going Down

In spite of the terrible conditions in Europe and the United States, the political and social unrest, as well as moral declension, the optimism of evolution prevailed, and the nice little saying of a certain Dr. Coue, who fooled himself and others—"Better and better every day and in every way," was in blind faith accepted by many. Yet others saw the drift of things. We have preserved a paragraph from an address given by the late Dr. Hibben, President of Princeton University, who said in 1921, what was most true:  

"We had hoped that the results of the war would be wholly beneficent, and that in the new world, so dearly bought, it would be easier for one to do that which was right, and that every circumstance and condition of life would be conducive to a nobler mode of living, to a glorified view of duty and of opportunity, and to a wider scope for a manifestation of that which is highest in man.  

"Instead of the fulfilment of this dream, we have come to feel the deadening effect of a violent reaction. We have allowed ourselves to sink to lower levels of aspiration and endeavor. About us is a world of confusion and turmoil, and under the spell of a general moral laxity we are groping in the dark for the ray of light which we have not yet discovered. In the industrial world there are under production, restles discontent, and unscrupulous profiteering. The high cost of living is not combated by thrift, but rather by reckless extravagance."  

We go back to the World War. Russia entered into separate peace negotiations with Germany. In 1917 Russia became, after several previous revolutions and internal disturbances, a Republic. The abdication of the Czar marked the complete passing of the old regime. He was a weakling and oscillated between the pro-German and the patriotic groups. It was said that his wife controlled him completely. Still greater was the baneful influence of an immoral monk by name of Rasputin, whom he, and the equally deluded Czarina, worshipped. For a time it was heralded, that the dethronement of the Autocrat was a great triumph for democracy, that now the world would be made safe by democracy. We quote an editorial from the American Hebrew to show the hopeful expectations from the side of the Jews.  

"Until now there were two Russias, two entirely different Russias, with different hopes, aspirations, achievements, and claims to the attention of the world. There was the Russia that made treaties with other nations, that sent diplomats abroad and received diplomats at home, that employed the Army to crush the people, that built prisons instead of schools, that banished the best sons and daughters of Russia to Siberia, and that incited, organized, and participated in massacres of Jews and other oppressed nationalities within the Russian Empire.  

"That Russia has now been overturned by the other Russia, which gave to the world Tolstoy, Turgenef, Metchnikoff, Antokolski, Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky, Solovyov, and countless other great Liberals, such as Milyukov, Petrunkevitch, Vinaver, Roditzchev, which produced martyrs, which wanted schools instead of prisons, which fought for liberty, for the opportunity of development and independence, which sent real ambassadors to the other nations through the literature, the art, and the spirit of liberty created within the Russian people . . .  

"The Liberals saved the Russian Government from a revolution earlier in the war, in the hope that a united Russia would be victorious and that reforms would then be introduced leading to emancipation. The Liberals and the Revolutionists saved the Government from a general strike which was threatened as a protest against the incompetence and corruption of the Government about a year ago.  

"The reactionary Russian Government was so short-sighted that it failed to appreciate this spirit on the part of the real patriots of Russia. Instead of turning toward the road of reform, the Russian Government resolved to throttle the will of the people in the Duma, to crush the Liberal tendencies which swept the Russian Empire, and extreme measures were met by extreme measures on the part of the people . . .  

"Freedom for the Russian people must lead to the emancipation of the Jews. The Jewish question is intimately interwoven with all phases of the political, social, and industrial life of the Russian people, and without the emancipation of the Jews the rejuvenation of Russia is inconceivable."  

But these hopes soon vanished for poor Russia fell into the hands of the godless Bolsheviks and a reign of terror followed, unquestionably the most awful revolution recorded in the pages of all history. Our readers will find a description of this revolution of all revolutions, its beginning, its leadership and its horrors in our Conflict of the Ages. Not thousands, nor tens of thousands, nor hundreds of thousands, but millions were murdered. The London Times contained the following report of what was going on in the beginning of this horror, but only the beginning, for it increased a hundred fold.  

"The situation in Moscow is described as ghastly. All shops except those maintained by the Soviet are closed and nothing is obtainable without cards, only those associated with the Bolsheviki being able to obtain cards. People who stand aloof from the Bolsheviki suffer indescribable hardships.  

"It is impossible to estimate how many are dying of starvation, but everybody coming from Russia declares that the Bolsheviki are deliberately endeavoring to exterminate the educated classes. Prices in Moscow are fabulous, and the sledge-drivers decline to budge under 200 rubles, where they would previously have been content with 40 copecks (100 copecks make 1 ruble). Bread costs 100 rubles (nominally £10) a pound, and clothes are unprocurable at any price whatever.  

"Many churches in Moscow have been turned into theaters, and the famous and sacred Strastnoi Monastery has been transformed into a dancing hall where harlots and profligates hold high revel nightly.  

"The nationalization of women, though tried in many places, has proved a failure owing to the feeling aroused, but there is little doubt that women belonging to the better class undergo hideous treatment at the hands of the inhuman monsters who constitute the Bolshevik regime.  

"In Moscow a special battalion of Chinese, composed of laborers originally imported to work on the Murman Railway, is maintained for carrying out executions. The executions have been so numerous that it is futile to estimate the numbers of the killed. The population of Petrograd is now reduced to 700,000; it formerly exceeded 2,000,000. The soldiers receive 800 rubles monthly, plus 10 daily as field allowance, with special bonuses for fighting and the capture of towns. In addition they are usually allowed three days to sack occupied towns.  

"Only one-tenth of the Red Army is really Bolshevik, the remainder being forced to fight because otherwise they and all belonging to them would be exterminated. If an officer or soldier deserts the whole of his family are shot. The Bolsheviki are stated to realize that the game will be a losing one unless the whole of Europe is forced into revolution."  

Attempts had been made to crush the Bolsheviks, to arrest their lawless progress, to save the one hundred and sixty million Russians. But these attempts ended in failure. Kolchak, Denikine, Yudenitch all went the same way. Frank H. Simonds, the eminent writer on European affairs, wrote in 1920. "There is a certain exquisite irony in the fact that at the precise moment when the 'League of Nations' was assembling in Geneva, to formulate the plans for world peace, Bolshevism should have won one more of those victories which demonstrate how unstable and incomplete are all the arrangements so far made from the Peace of Paris to the treaty of Rapallo."  

The Soviet Terrorism continued. They succeeded in enslaving millions of people, forcing them to submit to the terrible bondage. They continued in torturing, killing thousands upon thousands. Countless thousands were banished to the worst parts of Northern Siberia to be starved to death. Then they reached out after other lands. World Revolution was announced as their goal; it is so still. More than that, this sinister movement, which seems to lead to the culmination of the mystery of lawlessness, is recording success throughout the five continents of our globe. During 1922 they entered every European country to sow the seed of revolution. Germany was especially threatened. Communist leaders appeared and urged the workmen to side with Communism. All Europe began to tremble as Sovietism became more rooted and grounded and its emissaries appeared not only in Germany, Italy, England, France and other European countries, but also across the seas in America, and Asia and began their diabolical work in the Far East, especially in China.  

One of the prominent leaders of Sovietism is Litvinoff. He is still the loud-mouth, lying representative of the Reds. As his name and his activities will be from now on frequently mentioned in our pages we give his pedigree gathered from the police records of different nations, and other sources:  

"Meyer Genoch Moisevitch Wallach, sometimes known as Maxim Litvinov, or Maximovitch, who had at various times adopted the other revolutionary aliases of Gustave Graf, Finkelstein, Buchmann, and Harrison is a Jew of the artisan class, born in 1876. His revolutionary career began in 1901, after which he was continuously under police supervision and arrested on several occasions * * *. In 1908 he was arrested in Paris in connection with the robbery of 250,000 roubles of Government money in Tiflis in the preceding year.  

"He was merely deported from France * * *. Early in the War Litvinov, for some unexplained reason, was admitted to England, 'as a sort of irregular Russian representative,' and was later reported to be in touch with various German agents, and also to be actively employed in the circulation of seditious literature brought to him by a Jewish emissary from Moscow named Holtzmann. Litvinov had as secretary another Jew, named Joseph Fineberg, who saw to the distribution of his propaganda leaflets and articles. At the Leeds Conference, 3 June, 1917 (to hail the Russian Revolution, to organize British Democracy to follow Russia, and establish Soviets to replace our Government), Litvinov was represented by Fineberg. In December of the same year, just after the Bolshevist Government came into power, he applied for a permit to Russia, and was granted a special 'No Return Permit.' He was back again, however, a month later, and this time as 'Bolshevist Ambassador' to Great Britain.  

"But 'his intrigues were so desperate' (as Lord Curzon said) that he was finally turned out of the country * * *. Mr. Lloyd George now delivered his famous discourse referring to the 'bulging corn-bins of Russia,' Feb. 10, 1920. Two months later he announced to the House that although at the Conference of Premiers and High Ministers in London, the Allies had decided that they could not enter into diplomatic relations with the Soviet Government until they were assured that 'Bolshevik horrors' had come to an end, they now saw no objection to trade with it * * *. Krassin was now invited to come to London. The Bolsheviks readily accepted the invitation, suggesting M. Litvinoff should accompany him. But even Lloyd George drew the line at Litvinoff * * *. Accordingly the Russian Trade Delegation arrived in London headed by Krassin, but excluding Litvinoff."  

An intimate friend of Krassin was George A. Solomon, whose arresting book, exposing the viciousness and criminality of these leaders, including Litvinoff, is published by the author, who edited the translation.1  

In 1925 the Soviets appeared before the session of "The League of Nations" in Geneva and presented a document proposing the immediate disarmament of all land, sea and air forces and also the abandonment of military training and chemical warfare. They challenged the whole world to face the issue, and if not "to perish in war." As President Wilson had done, they had their "fourteen points."  

The Soviet Government suggests the following measures for the realization of this proposal:  

A. The dissolution of all land, sea and air forces and the non-admittance of their existence in any concealed form whatsoever.  

B. The destruction of all weapons, military supplies, means of chemical warfare and all other forms of armament and the means of destruction in possession of troops or military of general stores.  

C. The scrapping of all warships and military air vessels.  

D. The discontinuance of calling citizens for military training, either in armies or public bodies.  

E. Legislation for the abolition of military service, either compulsory, voluntary or recruited.  

F. Legislation prohibiting the calling up of trained reserves.  

G. The destruction of fortresses and naval and air bases.  

H. The scrapping of military plants, factories and war industry plants in the general industrial world.  

I. The discontinuance of assigning funds for military purposes, both state budgets and those of public bodies.  

K. The abolition of military, naval and air ministries, the dissolution of general staffs and all kinds of military administrations, departments and institutions.  

L. The legislative prohibition of military propaganda, the military training of populations and military education both by state and public bodies.  

M. The legislative prohibition of patenting of all kinds of armaments and means of destruction with a view to the removal of the incentive to the invention of the same.  

N. Legislation making the infringement of any of the above stipulations a grave crime against the state.  

O. The withdrawal or corresponding alteration of all legislative acts, both a national and an international scope, infringing the above stipulations.  

The text accompanying these suggestions revealed a sinister purpose. The delegates saw through the cleverly concocted scheme to make all Europe defenceless in order to accomplish their "world-revolution." While their lying lips talked peace they were building the most remarkable air force, consisting of new types of bombing planes, training millions of men and women for military service and keeping their ammunition factories going day and night. A government whose leaders are atheists, liars and murderers, who have waded through streams of blood to gain their end, who are continuing in this program of hell, cannot be trusted.

We shall follow in later pages the trend of Sovietism and its increasing propaganda for world revolution.  

Just a few years had passed since the end of the world war, yet what was done in the first ten years of our century was done again. Preparations for war continued.  

In spite of new disarmament plans, naval pacts, and many conferences, European disarmament was out of sight. Hatred continued. During the summer of 1922 the League gathered statistics which proved that there was not the slightest hope of any disarmament for years to come. In fact the whole situation appeared hopeless. The report showed that there were in 1922 one million more men under arms in Europe than in 1913 and this figure takes into account the wiping out of the German Army. Russia started raising its gigantic army. Factories in Tuba and Dwjek turned out 20,000 rifles every month and 50 million cartridges. France, England and Italy were rushing onward in these preparations. Treaties were made to scrap warships and reduce armies. Our country showed its goodwill and some fine battleships were scrapped. But since then we have substituted better and more costly ships, and built a greater navy. All other nations ignored the treaty. The greatest paradox of modern times is found in the fact that the great European nations, though ranging from financial depression to the verge of bankruptcy, are preparing to spend billions on armies and navies. France in 1923 owed 316,984,988,953 francs at home and abroad, of which 40,893,234,000 francs constitutes her debt to the United States. Nevertheless the military budget voted for 1923 was 3,661,201,325 francs for the army and 1,121,714,351 francs for the navy. Great Britain's total debt in the same year was £1,090,482,000 of which she owes to the United States the sum of £920,490,000. Yet Great Britain's military budget in 1923 was the enormous sum of £127,183,700. The same conditions prevailed in almost bankrupt Italy, which also created an increased military outlay. What then has become of the two pet sayings of the war— "It takes a great war to end war?" and "We are making the world safe for Democracy?"  

Let us turn to France. What has become of that nice polite saying "France has recovered her soul?" No sign of it! Prime Minister, Lloyd George, in 1922 had to speak out denouncing in the Genoa conference the ugly spirit manifested by France. A press representative stated the case in the following words:  

"Lloyd George is visibly impatient with French Tactics of dilatory objections at Genoa. And with good reasons. He tried to conform to the French viewpoint. But Barthou and his cabinet continued to maintain their role as captious critics. They have nothing constructive to offer, but merely seek to interpose difficulties in the way of everything brought forward by others. They are specially sensitive on the subject of any proposal which may calculate to improve conditions in Germany or Russia. And such improvement is really the work of the conference."  

In other words she tried to keep down the defeated nations. Lloyd George then spoke up and rebuked France. "We will have nothing to do with a policy of this kind. We are not afraid of a German or Russian menace, but will do our utmost to prevent Europe being made a shambles."  

But worse things happened which showed France as the great European trouble-maker. In 1923 she disregarded entirely the Versailles treaty and almost wrecked it by her wilful invasion of Germany, taking possession of the Ruhr district. England, always fair and square, stood aghast, and statesmen everywhere denounced France. We may well listen to some of our most able Senators, and what they had to say.  

Senator Borah of Idaho said:  

"In my opinion it would be difficult to estimate the evil consequences which are almost certain to follow the action of France. In the first place, it is in utter disregard of the spirit, if not the letter of the Versailles treaty. It makes a wreck of it. Secondly, it sows anew the seeds of turmoil and hate in an already harassed and sorely wounded world. It cannot be defended even upon the logic of material gain."  

Here are the words of T. H. Caraway of Arkansas, another able Senator:  

"By the use of force to collect reparation, France puts her interests above those of humanity. She thus admits that if her own ends are served, the sufferings of others make no appeal to her. The real spirit which controlled France since 1918 stands revealed. She is, militarily speaking, as mad as in the days of Napoleon I."  

T. J. Walsh of Montana said in the Senate:  

"I have no hesitancy in saying the invasion of the Ruhr by France, relying upon a strained construction of the Versailles treaty, claiming a voluntary default by Germany, has met with grave apprehension in America, and will be in my judgment, condemned by enlightened world opinion. The movement will be justly regarded as a resumption of the war, which, though bloodshed may not follow, must result in further impoverishment of both countries involved."  

A few years later she led the other debtor nations of Europe by brazenly refusing to meet her just financial obligations to the United States. Since that time she has revealed her selfish spirit. On the very day we write this the press announces a sensible and most commendable agreement between Great Britain and Germany, which looks like a faint gleam of hope. Germany agreed not to exceed her naval strength above 35% of the English navy. This has stirred up the anger of France, now allied with the Red Republic of the Soviets. But there was given another evidence that France had not recovered her soul. In 1926 came the Locarno Conference and treaty. It brought a rift in the ominous clouds which hung over all Europe since Armistice day. France, Belgium and Germany almost gave promise not to fight again. Several treaties were signed. It seemed to restore Germany to her rightful place and provided for her entrance into the League of Nations. A certain publicist made the statement: "The treaties formed at Locarno may become the frame work of an economic United States of Europe."  

France had signed the treaty. The ink was hardly dry when something happened. While the right hand of France was signing the Locarno agreements, her left hand was committing ruthless butchery in Syria. As a member of the much lauded "League of Nations," she intervened in the Greek troubles and committed the awful crime of bombarding Damascus. We quote from the Literary Digest, published at the close of October 1926.  

"The screaming and bursting shells that spattered the streets of Damascus with the blood of innocent men, women and children sent a thrill of horror through the civilized world—a horror not lessened by the fact that the shells were fired from the guns of a Christian (?!) nation. And the work of the artillery was supplemented by bombing airplanes and by tanks that spit machine-gun fire as they lumbered through the historic streets of what is said to be the world's oldest inhabited city. This exhibition of 'frightfulness' began Sunday night, October 18—two days after the initiating of the European security pacts at Locarno—and continued till late Tuesday afternoon. An eye-witness quoted in an Associated Press dispatch describes the bombardment as one of 'unforgettable horror,' tells of hundreds of dead bodies lying in the streets, and estimates that 'at least 2,000 were buried in the debris of the wrecked buildings in Damascus.'"  

The act of France was condemned everywhere. Many branded the whole affair as cold blooded murder. The Richmond Times Dispatch, (Va.) said rightly, "In one brief rain of bullets France has done more harm than a thousand peace pacts or missionaries can repair in a hundred years." What can the world expect from such a nation, as well as others, who commit such acts of barbarism?  

And what about Italy? Like all the other nations it had suffered greatly through the world war and half a million of her sons had been sacrificed on the battlefields. Her condition was most deplorable. Her internal enemies Bolshevists, Anarchists, Socialists and others did their utmost to wreck Italy. Lenin, the beastly head of the Reds, said openly, that if he conquered Italy to establish Communism there he would make it the base of his operations to attack other European nations and England and America would have to follow. And so he did what was done elsewhere. He sent his agents supplied with immense sums of money to spread communism. Soldiers and officers returning from the battlefields, instead of being honored were through the red agitators jeered and insulted. The Italian flag was torn down from public buildings and the Red Rag put in its place. In industrial centers like Turin and Milan factories were taken over by the Reds. In the country the peasants were incited to seize the land of the owners, and to appropriate the crops. Then the Reds held the municipalities, collected the taxes and used all collected funds for themselves. It went from bad to worse till it seemed that Lenin with his devilish plan was succeeding. The government with its notorious head, Nitti, looked on complacently and even encouraged these conditions. Some spoke boldly of the coming "Communistic Republic." The songs of the Reds were heard everywhere. Thousands of newborn baby boys were named after Lenin and Lenin's name was heralded throughout Italy as the great Savior.  

Then was heard the voice of one Mussolini. Through the paper Popolo D'ltalia he violently attacked the red agitations, the enemies of Italy and its weak government. The Reds attempted to kill him more than once. The Reds had planted machine guns at the entrances of all public buildings making ready for the revolution. Mussolini felt he must act to save his country and to stop the red advance. He effected a military organization. He thought of the ancient Roman fasces, the bundle of rods with the axe head, which the lictors carried. He proposed to call his organization Fascismo—Fascism, and to adopt the fasces as its emblem of law and justice. He earned nothing but ridicule as he published his plans in the Po-polo D'ltalia. But the organization grew. Owing to his indomitable will and indefatigable propaganda, groups of Fascists were founded and formed in all leading cities. Ex-officers and ex-soldiers flocked to it, eager to stand by Mussolini, and to redeem their country from the terrible menace. The movement spread to the villages. Soon they began to act. He set out to recapture the municipal buildings which the Communists had taken. The red guards were overcome and driven out. They destroyed the nests of the Communists, the "Communist Clubs" and burned them to the ground. Lenin sent reinforcements. Some thirty Russians arrived in Rome with a great number of heavy trunks. They said they were delegates and when their trunks were to be examined they claimed exemption. Mussolini had them forced open and it was found they contained revolvers and scores of bags filled with gold and precious stones. Then came the famous March on Rome in the fall of 1922. Three hundred thousand were led onward by the strong Mussolini to end Communism in Italy. Italy was saved. Mussolini became its prime minister and dictator. It would be interesting to follow this fascinating story, which we cannot do. The hand of God was seen once more in history. Mussolini was the instrument through which Italy was saved from the fate of Russia. It was a supreme crisis not only for Italy, but for Europe. If the Reds had succeeded, as then seemed inevitable, France, England and Germany would have turned the same way. Mussolini has become an outstanding figure in European politics. His ambition to revive the glory of the Roman Empire is well known.  

In the United States the Communistic agitations against the Government became increasingly pronounced. In the great strikes of 1922, Communism made a definite attempt through its Moscow directed and paid agents to overthrow the government. These agitations increased year after year. An attempt was made in 1923, as it had been made before, to have the Red Republic recognized. Sad to say that this persistent effort came from certain "clergymen" and educators who had visited Russia, where they had seen just a fraction of the country without being permitted to look on the misery of the starving millions. Most ludicrous was the statement of a Bishop Blake of the Methodist Church, who said that the whole nation was being managed on Christian principles, when it was a known fact that Lenin and Trotzky were trying to destroy every bit of Christianity. Our excellent Secretary of State in 1923 Mr. Charles E. Hughes published a letter in which he announced the positive refusal of our country to have anything to do with the Soviet government, because it aims at the destruction of every well ordered government and also Christianity. Among other things Mr. Hughes said: "the question of recognition by our government of the authorities at Moscow cannot be determined by mere economic considerations or by the establishment in some degree of a more prosperous condition." The New York Herald commenting on the Secretary's excellent letter said: "There is no excuse for the American Government to recognize a Bussian Government which has attained its apparent stability only through the official murder of millions of the most intelligent citizens, which has brazenly repudiated its international debts, which has choked freedom of speech and press, which has adopted a constitution without a bill of rights, which enslaved even the working people whom it pretended to free, and which has tried to poison other nations with its criminal philosophy." That was twelve years ago. And now our country, as we shall learn later, after fully recognizing that vicious Government is reaping the results of this act brought about through our administration.  

As to the moral conditions in the United States, beginning with 1922 and the five or six years following, they became not better, but went from bad to worse. Yet the religious leaders spoke in those years of "a spiritual leadership" which America must assume. It was well answered by an excellent editorial in the Manufacturer's Record, (Baltimore, Md.).  

"We constantly hear that the world is looking to America for spiritual leadership. This is not true, but if it were the world would look in vain until America ceased to be pharasaical as to its own righteousness and realize that sin and crime and irreligion are rampant throughout the land.  

"Until America has a new baptism of righteousness, until the professing Christians of the land realize their own shortcomings, and consecrate their lives, their time, their talents of brain and money to the service of God and man, until politicians and business men, employers and employees, producers and consumers alike, give full heed to the Divine command to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself and do unto others as they would that they should do unto them, there will be no righteousness of a nation fit to lead the spiritual forces of the world to higher ground.  

"There is spreading over our land the accursed atheistic teachings of German philosophy, more powerful for evil than were all Germany's armies and navies, and if America does not give heed to this menace its downfall will be as certain as was Germany's. The life of the nation, its every business interest, in the bank, in the factory or on the farm, is staked upon a new and all-powerful call to righteous living and Christian service. When moral rottenness exists unblushingly in places of great financial power, as recently shown in New York, without loss of caste, when men lie and cheat in business, when men seek to wreck others for their own personal gain or aggrandizement, or power, when men murder others because they are willing to work without the domination of alien radical labor leaders, and go unpunished for their crimes and are commended by their fellow members; when a great government institution year after year seeks by blackmailing or bulldozing to force others into its power or else destroy them, and no national protest is made, and thousands of business men stand by, either from cowardice or indifference, and refuse to fight against this immorality; when the voluptuous dances that would have disgraced even corrupt Rome and Ephesus at their worst sweep over the land; when men of position and influence proclaim that some laws cannot be enforced because the criminal power is greater than the Government's, and that the criminal element must therefore be given full sway, by repealing the laws the criminals do not like, what right has our country to claim the spiritual power to lead the world?"  

Others also saw the trend of things and raised warnings. Mr. Roger W. Babson, financial, commercial and industrial publicist was one of them. He spoke in 1923 especially of the Colleges and Schools saying, "There is altogether too much materialism in them". He pointed the finger of accusation at infidel professors and educators who were leading our youth astray. He said, "Conditions are getting so bad that they must be checked. It would be far better for the country if some colleges were closed altogether than to have them continue to teach the materialistic economic doctrines that they are teaching today. * * * The great need of the hour is more sane religion. Education, unless guided by a religious purpose, is a very dangerous possession. Giving wrong economic teaching to the average man is like giving a gun to a maniac."  

Have these things been changed? They have remained unchanged and more than that, socialism and communism have found a most promising soil in our institutions of learning.  

The onward march of crime continued. Statistics show that in 1912 the loss through embezzlement in the U. S. was $1,396,081 and the burglary losses amounted to $886,045. Ten years later the embezzlement losses were $8,270,000. The losses through burglary had mounted up to $11,500,000. Does this prove that our age is becoming more law-abiding and more righteous? Take the city of Chicago. According to the official report there were committed in December 1924, just in one month, 214 robberies and 267 burglaries in which the criminals took almost $3,000,000. Besides this there were many murders, assaults, crimes of immorality and scores of young girls disappeared, kidnaped for immoral purposes. In 1923 there were stolen in Chicago 2,843 automobiles; in 1924 the stolen autos amounted to 5,313. This increase in crime has continued, it is still on the increase. Listen to this: Ten years later during 19341935 according to J. Edgar Hoover, crime costs the United States just about fifteen billion dollars ($15,000,000,000). No crime investigation, no crime curb, nothing what man does seems to stop it. The earth is filled with violence, as it was in the days of Noah. Yet the false evolution prophets continue in their proclamation of progress. Statistics also prove that over 60% of the criminals were under twentyfive years of age.  

Religious conditions did not improve. Liberalism gained ground year after year. The prayed for and ardently expected world-revival of religion did not materialize. The modernistic leaders of America became more outspoken. In the fall of 1926 Dr. Harry E. Fosdick, according to a report in the N. Y. Times, addressing the students of Harvard University, said-'T do not believe in Christianity. I believe in the Spirit of Christ, not in the vast snowball which has been gathering size and momentum for twenty centuries, and which has gathered much rot as well as pure snow. Ninety per cent of it is pagan". We suppose the ninety per cent which is pagan, is, according to this leader the supernatural birth of our Lord, His miracles, His atoning death and especially His supernatural survival through His physical resurrection. In the same year another ultra modernist said in a sermon: "The Christian God is passing out. He no longer commands the honest respect of men and women. Christians traditionally believe in God as a Creator, the maker of heaven and earth, as the ruler of the Universe and as a great philanthropist. But science has demolished these ideas. Miracles, for instance, have no place in the modern world, and the same is true of prayer". While these utterances are from the most outspoken modernists the deadly leaven of the Sadduccees, rationalism, permeated during all these years the leading denominations of a dying Protestantism.  

At the same time there is recorded an enormous increase of wealth. At the close of 1925 the nation spent that year ten billion dollars upon the purchase and maintenance of automobiles and motor trucks. In 1904 the estimated wealth of the country was one hundred and seven billion dollars. In 1922 it was three hundred and twenty billions and up to 1929 it increased tremendously. This national prosperity blinded the eyes of many and strengthened still more , the delusion of "Peace and Safety".  

In Europe unrest continued: Italy, Spain, Poland, Greece and Portugal saw their salvation in dictatorships. Germany struggled on with its next to unsolvable problems. England in 1926, barely saved from debacle, became a caldron of unrest, with a stubborn coal strike paralyzing her industrial ganglia. Religious riots spilled blood in the streets of Calcutta. France tottered towards bankruptcy and repudiation. Revolutions in Mexico and elsewhere continued unabated. Peace in sight? "Well," said a leading military authority of Great Britain, General Sir F. Maurice-"Despite the League of Nations and the Locarno pact the world in general and Europe in particular is in a very disturbed state. Arming and building of battleships continues in spite of the demanded restrictions of the different disarmament and other plans." Huge sums were spent during the years of 1922 to 1928 for military purposes. It led to the economic ills which became increasingly prominent. In 1927 the newly created Republic Czecho-slovakia, with a population of thirteen million had a standing army of 150,000 with 500 airplanes, 160 tanks, and 33 batteries; Jugo-Slavia with a population of 12,000,000 had an army of 115,000 and possessed 270 airplanes, and 128 batteries; Roumania with a population of 19,000,000 had in the same year an army of 143,000, 250 airplanes and 90 tanks; Poland with 27,000,000 population, nearly half of whom are not Poles, had an army of 306,000 and 510 airplanes, 220 tanks and 441 batteries. And these are only the smaller nations. France and England constantly increased their military budgets.  

Mussolini came more and more to the front. To Viscount Rothermere he said in a reported interview in the Daily Mail—"I need peace. Italy has a hard struggle of economic development still ahead of her. Foreign complications are the last things that I could afford. I have given proof of my pacific intention. I have concluded and ratified a treaty of friendship with Jugoslavia, Italy's former rival." He handled well the Austrian, Hungarian and Tyrolian difficulties which assumed at times threatening proportions. And yet at the same time he spoke of the formidable scheme of North African colonization and began building a great war machine. A few years after this declaration of peace all became changed. In 1928 when 80,000 young men of eighteen years of age became full members of the Fascist party, militarism was much in the foreground and these young men as the "Avant Guardisti" swore allegiance to Mussolini. And now in 1935 he is a world menace.  

Year after year from 1922 on, in every way, things became darker. Now and then hope revived. Once more political and modernistic enthusiasts claimed that war was now outlawed for sure, because the Briand-Kellogg peace treaty had been launched. Yet all Europe became more restless, fearing the outbreak of another war. In the closing months of 1928 the Paris correspondent of the Herald-Tribune gave the following report:  

"At no time in many months, if in years, has a series of events demonstrated with such irrefutable force the pitiful frailty of Europe's armistice. The signing of the Briand-Kellogg treaty, instead of perceptibly swelling the Old World's small measure of peace, has been followed by developments throwing in bold relief the stark fact that Europe has no peace.  

"After ten years—after Versailles, the birth of the League of Nations, Locarno and the pact of Paris—it has been difficult indeed, this last week, to see that any great progress away from international jealousies, distrusts and fears has been made.  

"At Geneva, M. Briand, the man of peace, 'speaks with the voice of Poincare,' charging that Germany is still armed. In Berlin the Nationalist press and a large section of the Moderates reciprocally vent their wrath upon the French Minister for 'destroying the olive tree of Locarno.' Meanwhile, in the Rhineland—as if to demonstrate that the Kellogg pact was purely a moral gesture—60,000 French troops are indulging in wholesale war maneuvers.  

"The Red Army utilizes all the skill in modern warfare gleaned from the recent conflict to repel the invading Blue Army, which is, in theory, recognized as nothing less than another Germanic horde. And the closing days of this week witnessed 400 airplanes in a mimic battle above Paris. "

Such is the 'new era of peace,' as it exists in Europe today. It was no more promising, in fact, in the days preceding the signing of the treaty renouncing war. The atmosphere for that ceremony three weeks ago was thus prepared: By the British, with a stupendous aerial attack on London. By Italy, with massive army maneuvers in Piedmont where, significantly enough, the Red, or invading, army came from the north—ostensibly a French force—while across the Alps, near Modane, Marshal Petain superintended a similar military by-play on behalf of France."  

And others looked deeper and saw that the much exalted Democracy which was to save the world, or make the world safe, was heading for a great collapse. Mr. Frank H. Simonds wrote in 1926 in the Review of Reviews on the coming collapse of Democracy:  

"Looking at Europe with any objectivity at the present moment, one cannot fail to have some vague appreciation of the fact that a whole political conception, a whole ideal and reality of political life, is breaking down or has broken down. Secure in our own prosperous and isolated world, removed from the conditions which are operating on the other side of the Atlantic, we continue to speak of democracy in the traditional voice of Fourth of July orations. But it is none the less true that, outside of the United States, that democracy which existed before 1914, and that conception toward which the world was still driving when the greatest of all wars came, has received a blow which may be fatal.  

"Temporarily, perhaps permanently, representative democracy has broken down. The system and the method are no longer producing the men or the measures which are adequate to deal with contemporary problems. Grave as are these problems, none of them is in itself insoluble; the labor troubles of Britain, the financial ills of France, both have remedies which are not only patent but have been proven in past time to be sufficing. Yet neither the French nor the British democracy has been able to solve these problems, to apply these remedies; while Italy, like many other smaller countries, has in despair rather than with initial enthusiasm turned to some form of dictatorship as the sole alternative to progressive anarchy.  

"I remember that last winter, when I was in Budapest, it was explained to me that the Bela Kun (Cohn) revolution of 1919, which did such fatal injury to Hungary, could have been prevented by one resolute lieutenant and a single file of soldiers. But both were lacking, and as a consequence one of the oldest and proudest States in Europe was broken into economic and political fragments. Whether one examines the question of reorganizing the coal industry of Britain or stabilizing the franc in France, it is plain that either problem could of itself be solved with complete efficiency if only imponderable elements did not interfere.  

"We are seeing a political revolution following an armed upheaval. From Madrid to Moscow, and from London to Angora, men are wrestling with issues and problems of incalculable magnitude; but in some countries the adherence to traditional methods has brought no solution, while in others rash or sweeping experiments with new methods have so far brought confusion rather than relief. In America, the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our own undertaking of the democratic experiment finds us contented and still convinced of the perfection of the system. But with equal unanimity one will find from one end of Europe to the other the conviction that democracy has failed and that the alternative, now, is between some drastic transformation and the frank recognition that, like monarchy in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries, it must now be abandoned because it is inapplicable to new conditions.  

"There is, then, a rather amazing thing taking place. We in America, who have long felt ourselves with some justice to be pioneers on the road toward the realization of a democracy which had universal application, are now finding ourselves anchored to an institution and an idea which Europe is beginning to discard generally. We in our own minds have watched Europe from afar, waiting the day when it would come to the republican form of government. But on how many sides was it said to me in Europe last winter: 'Democracy has broken down everywhere. It is doomed. Even in America fatal signs are visible.'"  

In our next chapter we shall show how this collapse is now staring us in the face.  

Nor must we forget the staggering debt which the allied nations in Europe owed in 1925 to the United States. Figuring in the unpaid interest it was the enormous sum of 13,166,932,750 dollars.  

We turn our eyes to the Far East of Asia. While Europe is drifting towards another war, in China four hundred million people were in a state of chaotic civil war and India was seething in a spirit of unrest. The giant Asia is awakening. In 1927 the entire army in Kiangsi province was directly financed by the Soviets. An anti-Christian movement was started, but did not originate with the Chinese, but was fostered by the godless agents of Moscow. For a time it seemed as if poor China might become a great Red Republic.  

By 1926,1927 and 1928 the constantly increasing red propaganda was acknowledged as a real menace. Both Americas suffered under it. Disorders of a revolutionary character appeared among many nations.  

The conditions in China grew worse and worse. As mentioned above the great upheavals were directly the result of the Soviet propaganda. The Nationalist army in 1927 was guided by a notorious Red by name of Borodin. But far worse the "National Council of Christian Churches" sided at that time with the Soviets. The modernistic leaders, still calling themselves "missionaries" approved the agitations of the Reds, thinking that Communism would lead to the emancipation of China. In 1928 wholesale killings of the propertied classes were taking place in the Kwangtung province. Disorders occurred in a large number of localities, including Canton, where in December 1927 over a thousand were killed in a Red uprising. Millions of farmers, fishermen and others went Red and established communes, wiping out land titles and confiscating the property of the wealthy. Towns and villages were besieged and often completely destroyed by the forces of Sovietism. Catholic and Protestant Missions were destroyed and missionaries murdered. These agitations continued. Perhaps Japan, which fights communism, may be used to rescue China.  

In 1927 a communistic plot was uncovered by Admiral Kittelle in the Philippine Islands. All was ready to blow up the Cavite Navy Base. The aim was to cut off the supply of American warships in Chinese waters. It would take many pages to mention this increasing propaganda for the program of the Illuminati, abolition of government, abolition of capital, abolition of religion and abolition of the family. The slogan of Karl Marx "Workers of the world arise, you have nothing to lose but your chains, and everything to gain" was heard in scores of languages in five continents. The United States were especially singled out for a great revolution. Instructions came from Moscow, sent to the American Communists, signed by Nicholas Bucharin, Stalin's right hand man. Particular emphasis was laid on the need of fighting the "American Federation of Labor" organization, and the formation of a labor party controlled and guided by Communists. This is still their great aim. Will they be successful?  

Yet God's hand in history is seen again by the defeat of Sovietism in different countries. Italy was saved by Mussolini. Kemal Pasha avoided a Soviet regime by ejecting all communists who came to Turkey, either to teach or to bomb. Bulgaria had been invaded by Russians, led by one Stamboulisky, acted energetically, deported, or imprisoned, all communists. Roumania, pestered in like manner under Bratiano followed a strong-arm course and got rid of them. Spain under General Primo de Rivera silenced the communistic agitations, but did not completely suppress it. The Soviet revolutions failed in Hungary and Austria. Germany had the Spartacus revolution, engineered from Moscow, which ended by the killing of the two Jewish leaders, Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxenbourg. How Adolf Hitler saved at least Germany from a serious attempt to enthrone Communism we reserve for another chapter.  

In these years, towards the close of the second decade of our century, European Peace prospects faded rapidly. It was a great race in armaments which preceded the world war. But another race in armament is on. All Europe, except the Scandinavian countries and some smaller ones, were arming more and more. Hammers clanged and forges glowed in the shipyards where cruisers and submarines are put together. Munition factories worked overtime. And while hundreds of thousands drilled once more, the whirr of hundreds of motors was heard in the air. Laboratories were busy with test tubes containing samples of new explosives and new gases to be used in the next war. France was building a mightier army, closely followed by Italy. Once more the Balkans became restless and new wars threatened.  

England too had its internal troubles. She received warnings not to recognize Sovietism. The warnings, were not heeded. But the break came in 1927. The Reds, after having been granted diplomatic relations with Great Britain, used their foothold in London as a base of widespread revolutionary activities. They aimed at the complete overthrow of the British Empire. The most damaging evidences of their vicious and despicable propaganda was obtained in the raid of the Soviet trade agency in London. What else can be expected of a set of immoral Atheists! But what is England's experience in 1927 in comparison with what we have in America after the foolish recognition of the Reds took place. While the "Universal Peace Delusion" through all kinds and brands of Pacifists from the Red hypocrite, down to misguided politicians, modernistic preachers and rationalistic educators, was going strong, our level headed President Coolidge spoke words which we do well to remember. He said in his address on Memorial Day in 1927 the following: "However much America desires to live in peace, it must not forget that there are evil forces in the world, and that the United States, with its wealth and power, is an object of envy and must be watchful for its own defense. We would no more dispense with our military forces than we could dispense with our police forces. While we are firmly convinced that it is altogether practical and possible by international covenant to limit them in size, to consent to their abolition would be to expose ourselves first to aggression, and finally to destruction."  

And then followed, as it always does, on the heels of religious apostasy, moral declension. Many modernists and educators advocated the system of companionate marriage. The whole system is free love, or as it might be termed "legalized prostitution." It is all patterned after the Red ideal. Let us remind ourselves of the fact that one of the abolitions in the program of the Illuminati(2) is the abolition of the family. In 1927, according to reliable statistics, one hundred thousand wives were abandoned by their husbands in Russia. Thousands asked for support of their offspring. One of the saddest features was the thousands of homeless waifs who were roaming all over Russia. In those years  a person could marry in Russia on a Monday and receive a divorce on Tuesday. And this system, the companionate marriage, was and is endorsed by certain preachers and educators. Connected with it is "birth control." The aim of all is the destruction of family life.  

The same conditions prevailed in England. The Bishop of Durham, Dr. Hensley Henson speaking at a Church Congress in 1928 on "Europe weltering in a chaos of immorality" said:  

"What reason is there for feeling confident that the Christianity of England in 1928 is more firmly fixed in the national acceptance than that of France and Russia on the eve of their revolutions? One feature is equally incontestable and disquieting—the general and increasing ignorance of Christian faith and morals which mark our population. The record of revolution suggests that the two points on which the attack on Christianity is soonest made are sex morality and education. The two pillars on which sex morality hath hitherto rested have been the conception of the marriage union as permanent, by divine law, and the claim of children as the normal product of the marriage union. Both of these have been removed by the licentious theories now largely accepted throughout Europe. Hence, the chaos into which sexual morality hath fallen throughout Western civilization."  

The downgrade of a nation begins with the disintegration of family life. This process is going on now in the United States.  

At the same time there seemed to be nothing but prosperity. By the thousands people rushed to the stock markets. To become rich quick was the obsession of the many deluded thousands. Stocks were going higher and higher. No one seemed to believe that things which go up must come down after a while. And there were plenty of warnings from far-seeing economists and financiers that something would happen, and that very soon. But the delusive idea of greater progress, and greater prosperity, had imbedded itself in millions of minds that the warnings were not heeded. One of the signs that something was fundamentally wrong was the ever increasing army of the unemployed and the great want, as well as discontent connected with it. Government statistics showed that during the summer of 1928 there were in the United States four million men and women without work. But private investigations by newspapers put the number at six million. That vast army did not diminish; it became more numerous month after month. Crime flourished as never before. The old type was a petty thief, a housebreaker, pickpocket or the confidence man. Only a few of the most desperate characters carried guns. In 1926, 1927 and 1928 and after, the criminals were mostly the young who not only carried guns but used them. Murder became a trade. The criminals travelled in gangs, used automobiles driven at a breakneck speed, and they steeled their nerves either by bootleg liquor or by drugs. Crime organized. The gangster came upon the scene as the hold-up man, playing for big stakes in the form of pay-rolls; he became a blackmailer who levied tribute on small industries under the guise of protection, he bootlegged outlawed liquor, hi-jacked the liquor of rival gangs. He began to pay off his own scores in his own way, brought gunmen from other cities to put out of the way those who had not played the game according to the laws and ethics of the under-world. The criminal world of ten and fifteen years before was proscribed and warred against as a common foe. The criminal world of the second decade of our century intermingles with every social order. It boasts of protection, political influence, money, and brains. "Racket" is the new word used in the world of crime.  

Such were world conditions in Europe and the United States from 1922 to 1928. Progress? Yes, in physical things, in inventions and new discoveries. Progress in righteousness, morality, peace on earth and all that is good and noble? No! Increasing lawlessness and crime is what came. The onward march of world revolution kept step with it. Modernism, infidelity, the offspring of rationalism, leading on in the road of Atheism towards world chaos.  

Well did that able Christian scholar of the nineteenth century, Dr. Grattan Guinness, say some forty years ago— "With the progress of rationalism, called modernism, there is and will always be a growth of radicalism, socialism and anarchism. The destruction of religious faith threatens to involve on a more or less extended scale the destruction of civil order and common morality." How well he spoke! The twentieth century goes this awful road. Evolution? Yes, it is evolution downward.  

1 " Among the Red Autocrats."  

2 Read "Conflict of the Ages" as to the origin of the Illuminati.