Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / June 16, 1921, edition 1 / Page 13
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THE CHARLOTTE NEWS, CHARLOTTE, N. C, THURSDAY AFTERNOON, JUNE 16, 1921 13 peasant Party Proves Itself A Power To Be Recognized i BY DOROTHY THOMPSON, written for International News " Service. Budapest, Hungary, June 16. The . sant has elbowed himself onto the jne so quietly that some statesmen iU think that the great and ubiqui f s bulk is a vision which will short T "vanish into air, into thin air." v ,-ertheless every crisis demonstrates ?p peasant's power anew. Now. for ex ' ,'le that King Karl has gone bacic Switzerland, the most noteworthy ,0 'lt 0f his visit has been to shov rtEpre the peasants stand on the Haps Tllcr ouestion and how firmly thev A ' The older legitimates, like ra, nt pponyi. will tell you that thj Virion man has an almost holy -cT rd for the mystic and historic crown grt Stephen and for him who has '.'n'it. but if the small holder is a. ve of the common man, recent events I vp demonstrated that there is noth- '"'ill H circuit, a4.mjv. i niwi ,i'roya!ist. He is indifferent whether hf can noia un iu me gums wnu:n , . UflS ITlil'JC I'ooi HUTU par gains in lanu- in political pow irand'in control. But he 'is a deadv enemy of the Hapsburgs. In his mind the Hapsburgs are connected with the l ei-man spirit and with militarism,, and ,L peasant hates both. The town workers are much more Germanized. Indeed the first industrial workers i.i Hingaiv were Germans, organization ,aV proceeded along German social, dc-mccrntic lines, and the attitude of .'he ton workers toward the Hans was summed up for me tha ether toy b' a Socialist editor who frA: "Of course, if an attempt is maru in restore the monarchy we protest .ymallv. But really it wouldn't be a haV thing. For one thing it would bring about an amnesty for all the worker still in prisons. At the time pf the Karl putch if the King's visit can he given such a title the peas sntp took an unexpectedly firm stand. Xhoy challenged the government for r rn itting him to' remain in the coun try as long as he did, forced the res :j:.at!cn of the Prime Minister, used tiie occasion to get two valuable posi j'Vns for their party in the Cabinet ,a ticularly that of Secretary for Homr. affairs, an important post in view of irr'pen ling elections and forced the povfrn.nent to take a stand in favcr of the restoration of free speech nd a free press and tne aoontion or the re ou'fitioning of corn. Both in Hungary and Bavaria tha rMsants have forced the recognition tV their local and district "agricultural rh"r!:Krs." called by the opposition -aints' smiets." These councils are .'emciTatically elected bodies made np of an equal representation from asxri cu'tural laborers, small holders, middle holders and the owners of large es tates. They are empowered by the gov-r-nment to divide the estates which, in Hungary, must be sold to the peasants wler the terms of the Land Reform bill and to oversee all legislation af fecting the interests of the land work ers. They send representatives to dis triot, provincial and larger bodies, swl it is possible that in the future the' nr'.y acquire great power in countries where the population Is predominantly cpricuitural. In Jugc-Slavia there is the same ascendancy among the peasants. Bul garia is a peasant state, with an ,n lightened land policy. Rumania is hav ing to make concessions to the peis ;nts in order to temper the unrest smong them. THE END EUROPEAN CULTURE? If the peasant movement pursues 'is Present accelerated pace this whole sec tion of Europe may be rvinr series of purely agricultural states. Pes simists see in this movement the U cline of art, music and culture. These things, they say, are the products of SSUa My COmpl6X 2tptel civilization. The opera of Vienna, th glory of a declining city; the gallerie-- of Budapest; all that civilization of an ancient and sophisticated people, will gradually perish and the pride of the world be given over to land grubbing. Certainly the peasants hate tha towns. They consider them a blot on civilization. . . There is nowhere my tendency among them to greatly cjrp whether . the town industries live or perish. In these unproductive timer, the peasant hoards his money and ?ts along without what he formerly' consid ered essential, or if he must have some article which the town fails to manu facture for him, his tendency is to man ufacture it himself. Thus, in Linz, in Upper Austria, you see the beginning of co-operative factories, for the man ufacture of artificial manure and farna machinery, set up by the peasants themselves. On the other hand,' some optimists believe that a return to the land is the only salvation for Europe and have faith that the peasants will evolve .i new state, anti-militaristic, democratic and productive, with a culture of ia own not inferior to that of the ancient cities given time in which to io it. Certainly here in central Europe re construction' has gone hand 'in hand carefully thought out and intelligently administered, have brought a change for the worse both, as regards produc tion and the spirit of the -people. Trw Banat, for instance, was formerly n the hands of large landowners and with land reform, in Rumania big landowners had been holding the land up until a short time ago; a land re form has only recently been voted. Agricultural laborers have always been treated as a slave class in Rumania and at present are so dissatisfied aid was the .richest corn and cattle land unwmins. iu ' iai ine situation is in all of Hungary. Properly organized really serious particularly in view orlit could supply food to Hungary, Aus a threatened Bolshevik invasion, j tria, Czechoslovakia and even, per Whereaa i m peace times Rumania was haps. Germany. The estates have ben one of the most important exporters divided hastily, however, and without Ul si"" "'"f o,iiu uniy to mis- .a constructive Dolicv. and the whole sia, there is tne possibility that thus year's crop will be insufficient for her own needs. Bulgaria and Serbia have enjoyed the same advantages. There have been no big landowners in these coun tries, and the peasants have led a con tented life, .growing corn and breeding pigs and cattle. The situation in JuJ Slavia as a whole, however, has be come complicated, with the acquisition of new territories and by hasty re forms, which, where they have not ben area is desolate, with production down to one-fourth that of pre-,war times. But with these exceptions the peas ants as a whole are moving forward, and they are the one constructive ele ment in central Europe. They may not offer hopes for a glorious culture for Europe,; but they offer life. SOCIALIST RUSSIA CHECKS PEAS ANT MOVEMENT. If Bolshevism dies of inanition in V Russia, or perishes in a final Armaged-and a northern bloc of town workers entities the ascendancy of the peasant will be assured; But if Bolshevism works itself out into a practical sys tem the economic power of the peas-J ants win be everywhere counterhai anced by the growing political . power of the town workers," and the ensuing situation Will be fraught with mary would face a southern union of agricul tural states two big blocs against each other. - " - CENTRAL EUROPE AND A RUS , SIAN REACTION. But if Bolshevism should be follow ed by an extreme reaction and a re turn-to the monarchy,, the restitution possibilities. The strengthening of the ; of "' - Hohenzollerns and Hapsburgs rule of Lenine would particularly affeqt the minds of the . proletariat of thro countries Italy, Austria and Czecho slovakia. In Italy, there is a healthy peasant movement which would help to maintain equilibrium in any emer gency, but in Czecho-Slovakia and Aus tria there is no peasant movement at all worth mentioning, . whereas the town workers grow more and more radical. Thus, supported by a Social ist Russia, a Socialist wedge might be driven into the heart of central Eu rope. The parties of the left in Ger many would be greatly strengthened. would be almost inevitable. Either Bolshevist or Czarist Russia would b anti-Entente. Bolshevist Russia, would seek an alignment with a Socialist Ger many. Czarist Russia would work for the restoration of a German monarchy. Whereas France would seek the resti tution of Austro-Hungary under the Hapsburgs as a protection against this bloc. Thus it is that all students of the situation . in central Europ watch Russia and regard peasants' councils, Kaslist putches and communist risings as so many events by the way. MUTT AND JEFF IN PLAIN WORDS, DISTANCE LENDS ENCHANTMENT TO HOKEY. By BUD FISHER ; fimx fV old. Home thwjaj'N (rTLcNAe- y &TriiMTmiSe iwaTboRio Ttteifce amT T sPoofiG fusie: IF HokcY's . ruTTTT'ftL is x OU . PAPFP, MUTT: TH HCWS H.tcam CoTConT You? r'M PKoub 0 IT. IT'S. IJ0 me Pr0pL TWTROuBCC U.TH -SvCH A MOMbSftfOu r? fr r Aftf A HANG ! RCAbiMG, eY.CAHFo(VJlA HoSKtKJS ' wLL, t 6oT MW X0(?K BCAT (Nj Ho,ey ) , v0Vi CAA,T PtrV wKY ZotfT T Lu P. AC6 ; i6?F?y V wecktv weWj Mvae. reel 1 Tft tcul xcuTat FoJY TmfFSRCmT tVatM t talk sense V 60 Bac TtetA " ; N . JL flV'i the ways! peoPte cActv ) napolCOai-s vjuHckj we " uue' j Unu-M www I i "C DLbTo.w Uve out The(c- . teAb J . zAx k Aav FPo . i I J-K --s TlAGY'D TAP Anj1 " I 'O . 2 9 ' I ' - "ir S'MATTER POP? HONESTY'S THE BEST POLICY. BY C. M. PAYNE 4U Us a Coi?Ecr iA. Li ifi vt Irs. f 55" I HI ( Rfl ill 1 if 1 itumvjmnimiL- -r-I I T tw r, iji A 1.I ITHt J5UAM-D GH i&' Gl Xfao HL (An nat id I Ten, You? (NUVsl 7-r J i -ni raw ' -uvw 1 a: r-f ' Ltoorrv 1111 1 v-.- j, v r s sfej siapi vA' sill Stf Pill I J f M J 1AW Jf-'n U. S, Light Hsat Corporation 1 ANNOUNCING THE f4 Type aitery Approved and accepted by the Ford engineers and is the Battery that comprises 30 of the equip ment of all Ford cars and trucks that are manufactured Jig EXCHANGE PRICE "GOLDEN RULE SERVICE" North and South Carolina Battens Cornpanyf lnc Phone 4515 - , C. A. MISENHEIMER, JR., Manager. ATTRACTIVE DEALERS' PROPOSITION IN NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA SUBMITTED ON REQUEST 12 WEST FIRST STREET v;-
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
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June 16, 1921, edition 1
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