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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (July 18, 1920)
THE OMAHA BEE Vienna's Condition Is Just Punishment for Austria's Sin, Dr. Massaryk Claims "It Is Only the Inevitable Result. of the Unnaturahec:; Of the Hapsburg Empire," He Asserts "It Was An Instance Unique in the History of a Minor ity Ruling a Majority But the War Has Re versed the Anomaly." lly I nivrrl Srrvk'e. Prague. Definite charges having been brought by the Austrian gov ernment against that of Czechoslo vakia, I presented to Mr. Massaryk, president of the Czecho-Slovakian Republic, a list of statements Riven to me in Vienna, and asked him for a reply concerning them. The president received 111 c in an ?p;irtment in the Hradschin, the magnificent old castle of the Kings o? Bohemia which, with the cathedral, occupying the summit of the rocky eminence dominating i'rague, makes so conspicuous and imposing a feature of this ancient city. "Czecho-Slovakia," began the president, "I will admit, is in better case than the countries sursounding it. But that is not because it has greater wealth of natural resources, but because the people have the gov ernment they desire, with the result t hat order is maintained. We have had no general strikes or political disturbances of any kind. "Yet we have our difficulties the sinii as has every other country in the world at the present time. Ours are serious, but we have faith in ourselves and shall overcome them. Money Difficulty Serious. "The most pressing of our trou bles is that of the money question. An' American, for instance, can live here in one of the best hotels in Prague for a week at the cost of no more than a couple of dollars. A dollar was worth five crowns before the war, it is now worth 105 crowns. An American said to me recently: 'Sir, I am ashamed to live in your city for nothing.' "But the Czech currency is im proving. It is now worth three times that of Austria, and our crowns have a higher exchange value than the German mark.' "I am quite aware of the accusa tions made against us in Vienna, but as you will see from the information now being prepared for you, these charges are quite unfounded. Austria Misrepresented. "The coal fields in Bohemia were fully exploited by the former mon archy, while the mines in other farts of the empire were held in 'reserve. The Austrians try to make out that the coal supply of the empire was al most entirely drawn from our mines, whereas, as a matter of fact, im ports of coal into Austria-Hungary in 1913 exceeded exports by nearly 30.000,000 tons. "It is true that from the mines in Czecho-Slovakia coal was exported to Germany, but this was mostly of the inferior soft coal variety. Most of the Bohemian hard coal was used in industries in these regions, other parts of Austria depending on sup plies from upper Silesia. "Misleading statements made by the Austrians have led to a belief that we have a superabundance of coal, and orders have come to us even from Switzerland and Italy. Yet our output last year, though it has improved, is considerably lower than in prewar years. You must take into account the state of our mines, which have suffered severely. To Mislead Allies. "Let us for a moment examine the real coal position in Austria. It is conveniently ignored in Austrian statements that in her present terri tories there are coal mines with a yearly output of nearly 4,000.000 tons. Imports into present Aus trian territory before the war amounted to about 9,000,000 tons a year, Yet -she has stated in her offi cial publication her requirements to be no less than 15,500.000 tons. This over-estimate was made with the unmistakable idea of misleading the Paris allied coal commission to se cure from Czecho-Slovakia a larger allotment of coal than Austria ever had before. "The prewtr requirements of coal In Czecho-Slovakia and they were lower than they are now are satis tied up to about 60 per cent, while , Austria's prewar requirements which were higher than they are now are satisfied up to 55 per cent. Helps At a Sacrifice. "In such circumstances the supply of coal to Austria is a great sac rifice which the Czecho-Slovak re public undertook to assist her neigh bor. Many of our industries are on short hours, several of our factories having had to suspend operations for a time, so that Austria may bene fit. Our people have protested against the export of coal, and work men are demanding that all -coal produced in the state shall be de voted firstly tot home industries, especially as the peace treaty binds Communism Developed in America First According To Socialistic Statistics Over 72 Communes of 8,000 People Now in Existence ifirst Attempt in Virginia in 1612 Proved Failure Others Continue Practice in Present Day Citizens and Producers. Members of Canadian Commune Make Good By FRANK FEDELE. Was Lenine right when he said, "Communism was first developed in America by De Leon, an American radical?" The writer thoroughly agrees with the bolshevik leader "that commun ism was first developed in America," but not by De Leon, to whom Le nine gives the credit, but by the earliest settlers, to whom it is par- ticularly due. De Leon, erstwhile leader of he socialist labor party, first thought of the theory in 1905. ' In the preceding question there is found food for thought in. the shrewd ' us only to export such coal of which we cannot make use. , "Our schools have been closed down, and private citizens get only a mere handful of coal occasion ally." ('resident Massafyk went on to deal with the Austrian plaint that, despite her shortage of rolling stock, the Czechs had annexed locomotives and wagons sent by the Austrians into Bohemia to fetch coal. Ihis statement was declared by the pres ident to be not only absolutely false, but ridiculous. , Cars for Common Use. In a subsequent interview with an official of the ministry of rail ways, it was explained to me that, in accordance with the peace treaty, all railway rolling stock belonging to the states formerly comprising Austria-Hungary was for the com mon use of all of them, the employ ment of it being controlled by spe cial commissions for regulating traffic. Under provisions decided upon Austria still owed Czecho slovakia some 3,000 cars. .More over, Austria is managing her traf fic so badly that the Czechs hfve to supply 5Q0 cars every day to keep up intercourse with Austria as well as provide for trains in Czecho slovakia. After discussing the political and commercial situation in the Danu bian states 1 asked the president if lie thought that trade relations be tween them might not be improved by the introduction of some sort of tariff union. Commercial Agreements. "The situation certainly demands some kind of commercial agree ments," President Massaryk replied, "but we cannot consent to any tariff union, for that would open the way to political union, which is impos sible. We are ready to begin nego tiations as to purely economic re lations, and are anxious to reach a fair understanding. We have shown Austria that we are willing to meet her, and are slill negotiating with the Vienna government. "But in this matter of trade rela tionship with our neighbors we must limit our activities to single treaties with each one .of them. You must understand that our chief difficulty is the unstable character of the gov ernments around us. Take Hun gary, for example, with whom are we to negotiate in that country? Uf all the states formerly com prising the empire, the government of Czecho-Slovakia, is the only one that can offer the guarantee of be ing firmly established. We have our troubles; our disputes with the Poles, for example. But when such -matters as that of the Tescher district are settled we shall be able to go ahead. "Our policy is to keep on good, terms with our neighbors. Wc neecj a peace policy as badly as does the rest of Europe. We are, indeed, do ing everything in. our power to pro mote peace. Austrian Exaggerations. "The Austrians are rather exag gerating the evils of their situation. She is suffering from the same troubles afflicting all her neighbors no coal, no food, no raw material, 110 money. That is, as a matter of fact the situation," in more or less degree, of every country in Europe. "The plight of Vienna is, un doubtedly, worse than any, but arc we to be blamed for that? No sin escapes punishment. Vienna's con dition is the punishment which has befallen it for the sin of Austria Hungary. It is only the inevitable result of the unnaturalness of the Hapsburg empire. It was an in stance unique in the history of a minority ruling a majority. The war has reversed that anomaly, Ignores Others' rights. "Vienna still hankers" after the supported it arrogated to itself in the past, regardless of the fights of other people. Claim is laid upon the districts of so-called German Bohemia. These districts form geo graphically an integral part of Bo hemia. The oldest German settler came in as colonists on the invita tion of our old Bohemian kings. Un der the empire these wealthy re gions were exploited by Austro German capital. The land was taken from the Czechs, whose privileges were unjustly restricted. The Czechs were powerless against this exploitation. Surely such a record cannot justify a claim to possession of the territory. "The Czecho-Slovak republic has an undoubted right to the possession of these regions. To the German inhabitants of them are accorded e'qual privileges and rights with the Czechs, and they are on the best terms with the government." observation of some of our earliest experiments, in communism. It is a bit of mental nourishment which de serves to be brought to the attention of those who are dabbling in com munist experiments. They would be surprised to hear that communism was first tried out hundreds of years ago by the colonials. The first experiment of commun ism was practiced in 1612. 300 year;, ago, iti Virginia in the first settle ment made by the English upon our shores. In Marv Newton's "Standards ot Colonial Virginia" the author relate?! Everything in its life history is like some cameo of life itself. A profound remark of Mr. Fladgate's on the last occasion when he dined at Casuto's restaurant was to the ef ttct that "Life is very different from its purpose." This was no doubt the subcon scious realization of those 22 years during which Mr. Lindemann and himself had dined every Thursday night at the same restaurant in Solio. On the occasion of that pro found remark he was dining alone. But to describe that dinner is like' netting the cameo 'before it is cut. "Life is very different from its purpose" it is with rre keen edge of , that remark that we may cut om cameo out of the solid stone. Casuto's was one of those many little restaurants that have opened in Solid ever since the Italians made it their quarters. They have appeared and disappeared in those bohemian streets like plants transplanted into a strange soil in which some have thrived and some have' withered away, some nave aone ooui anu Casuto's was one of these. Casuto was a waiter. He had seen service in London, Berlin, Paris, Lugano, Lucerne, and finally in Venice, having acquired such lan guage of five countries at his finger's cuds as is needed for the serving and consumption; of food. Seeing how much he conversed by means of gestures of his hands, this is no ex aggerated simile. At his last place at the Hotel Danieli he met one ot his own countrymen, a lew years older than himself; found her to . - possessed of a comfortable dowry, found also that this was an active stimulant to the grandest passion he had ever had in his life; married her and came back to London after an absence of four years, taking those premises in Dean street which bore the name Casuto's for the 20-odd years over which the purpose of this story runs. The premises of Casuto's res taurant in those early days, so far as the public were concerned, were composed of one fair sized room on the ground floor. What lay behind that room in the way of kitchens the public neither cared nor were they asked to see. You liked the food or you did not, and in the latter case perhaps, your mind turning tpward that vague beyond hidden from your gaze by a door that closed auto matically with a suspicious swiftness whenever the waiters passed in and out with their dishes, you left Casu to's with the determination never to return. Bunches of flowers were always on the tables. The table linen had that look of cleanliness which just escaped inquiry. There was a printed notice on the wall, just where the hat stand stood in a corner of. the room, to the effect that the manage ment was not responsible for hats, coats, or umbrellas belonging to the visitors. ' During the whole period of its history there was never a license for :he sale of wine or spirits on the premises of Casuto's restaurant. A waiter took your order and your money and dived with it into the street, returning with your drink and your change in inevitable copper money. Between the tables Casuto him self, in the costume of an 'ordinary gentleman at large, moved up and down with a quick brown Italian eye alive to all possibilities and re quirements, advising his customers in convincing confidence what was best for them to order. lifting his hands and raising his eyebrows to ward the ceiling when he mentioned the name of a dish, as though he had got it down specially that evening from the gates of heaven, instead of its being the creation of a perspir ing cook in those black regions be yond the swing door. The history of Casuto's, as has been intimated, runs parallel with the history of Mr. Fladgate and Mr. Lindeyuann. It is as though the his tory of the one were a complement of the other, as though neither Mr. Fladgate nor Mr. Lindemann would have been capable of the complete expression of their lives without Casuto, and that Casuto's restau rant would never have" established the career it had if deprived of their custom. To describe both these gentlemen is to make but little distinction be tween those many thousands of men who are to be seen every morning between 9 and 10 emerging from St. Pauls station and making their way to business in the neighborhood of Ludgate hill and St. Pauls church yard. Certainly Mr. Fladgate was an Englishman and Mr. Lindemann was a German, but both were mer chants in the same small way in ready made clothing; both therefore had interests in common. They sup plied the trade and those individual customers who were sent with spe cial introduction by card from any of their clients. They talked of ar- to tis that "the colony had been managed on the community plan all sharing the work and such pro visions as were at command." Of course, they were united by the need of overcoming the dangers of a strange land. They had every in centive in the world to stick to gether and labor for a common ad vantage. Did they? We find that the situation became so critical that Sir Thomas Dale, who was then governor "at once al lotted all of the settlers' private gardens, in addition to public ones, and in 1613 gave each man three acres of cleared land to till for him self and his family." Proved a Failure. Governor Dale had good reason for doing this. In the parlance of the old records we read that when the settlers "fed out of the common store and laboured jointly together, glad was he that could slip from his labour or slumber over his tasks, he cared not how, nay the most honest among them would hardly take so much paines in a weeke as now themselves they will doc in a day." Thus we find that the Virginian experiment has proven a failure. Were the Pilgrims communists, too? Yes, says Gov. F. O. Lowden of Illinois, who summarizes the Pil grims experiment in one paragraph in a speech delivered recently at the annual dinner of the "New England society" at-New York. "In part he says: Vlt is doubtful if so small a com- munity, ctc made so. Urge an im- A CAMEO . . ....s.- y- J " He't gone," ihe whiperd. "All mP fnonyvrythins with that girl h tud to go about with." tides of clothing in the gross as we would speak of one. A stocking did not tit a leg with Mr. Fladgate, it had to fit a thousand legs; a silk dressing gown did not look well with the wall paper and bed trap pings on one bedroom in Mr. Linde mann's eye, it looked well with five hundred or it did not look well at all. They made their first appearance at Casuto's when it was first opened, in those days when the sawdust was on the floor and the letters on that notice, regarding the safety of hats, coats and umbrellas, was still fresh with the gloss of new printer's ink. Casuto himself actually waited . at table in those days, and his wife stood behind a counter in the mid dle of the room prepared to sell you anything from the pyramid of fresh fruit that was heaped upon it. It was her voice first of all as you entered that greeted you with good evening; it was her voice last of all as you departed, that wished you good night. She always gave these salutations with an ample smile and a generous flashing of the whitest of teeth. But over her eyes eyes of brown and bramble dew as Stevenson might have described them there was a blue mist in which lurked no sign of pleasure, but when you looked at them as if the fogs of London were lying be tween you and the glittering sun light of Italy and were turning the juice of the grape in her heart to vinegar. As young men 36 and 37 Mr. Fladgate and Mr. Lindemann came first to Casuto's one evening when they were engaged upon such an ad venture as requires an out of the way place for dinner and such an air of bohemianism as contributes to the gayety of these occasions. The young ladies who accom panied them, being attendants in onV of those superior West End shops, where wealthy ladies are convinced they are kept strictly in touch with Tan's, were somewhat overdressed; not unfashionably, but so fashion ably as to attract the attention of the most casual passerby. Casuto's press upon government as have the Pilgrim Fathers. Almost three cen turies have come and gone since they landed at Plymouth Rock. They were free to form such gov ernment as they wished. At first the land and all things were held in common. It was indeed a tiny so cialistic community they founded. If ever, anywhere, all things con spired to make a communistic state a success, it was at Plymouth Rook. But in less than four years the Pil grim Fathers found that this ideal istic form of society was not suited to their work-a-day world." Not All Failures, However, The utter failures of these two early experiments did not seem to have any effect on its future admir ers. Not all of the communist experi ments in America have been fail ures, a large majority of them have been successful. "The Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood, Ltd.," in Canada, whose members are mostly Russians, is one great experiment in communism that has been success ful. They own a 320,000-acre farm in Saskatchewan and Alberta and another of 10,000 acres in British Columbia. It is run on a co-operative prin ciple. N6' one receives wages or asks for them. Rather all share in work, in expense and in profit. The profits are not taken by them, but are all turned into a common treas ury of each village (about 30 to 50 people in a village) drawing as lit- ltle from it as possible, sc. (hat . was the very place to bring them, h was out. of the way. For young mai ried men, engaged upon an adven ture so harmless, yet so capable of being misunderstood, it seemed to have the very reason of its being. They drank sparkling Asti, be cause to young women of this classJ it is not only impressive by reason ot its likeness to champagne both in the bottle and the glass, but it is sweeter and, so far as the man who orders it is concerned, it is cheaper. They drank sparkling Asti, and they ate the contents of those dishes which M. Casuto indicated with his eyes had come straight down ffoni the gates of an Italian heaven a culinary heaven- of which we ; Eng lish are as -bewildering-ly ignorant." Midway through the meal, Mr. Fladgate looked across at Mr. Lin demann with the remark that '.he cooking was jolly good and calling M. Casuto, he asked in French if he could have some more of that same dish. To persist in the faithfulness of this story, it must be reported that he said, "encore le menie chess.'' The two girls ceased from the height of their laughter at that mo ment, feeling that somehow it was cut of place. They asked Mr. Flad gate if he knew France well, which, as a question, is a large order for a man who has been no further than to Boulogne on a pleasure 'steamei from the pier at Hastings. It cast a wet blanket over the feast of the evening, but could not take "Sway from the fact that the food was good. . This was the beginning of that association between Mr. Fladgate and Mr. Lindemann and Casuto's restaurant. It became the meeting place for their little Bohemian ad ventures and wTiether because they talked of it themselves or because others saw them coming out and going in, 4he popularity of the res taurant increased. Young men need ing a quiet place to dine, took their young women there until there came a time when Casuto secured the serv ices of two more men and dropped ihe waiter's livery himself for the costume of a gentleman at large. At .this period, Mme. Casuto was huge balance remains to be put back into the farm, either for more land or for the purchase of up-to-date farm machinery, new steam tractors, threshers, new grain elevators, new stock, or perhaps new copper boil ers for the huge jam factory or for the constantly growing fruit or chard. There are about 11,000 of them, all Russians, who do not know the meaning of bolshevism and who have "never heard of Lenine and Trotsky. No Interest in Politics. They take no interest in politics. They do not vote nor do they wish to. They live in a world all their own, attending strictly and entirely to co-operafive farming and living an ideally, simple pastoral life. -In a way these people are the "wards", of the Canadian government. "They; are vegetarians. They are a people whom Canada considers such ex cellent farmers and so desirable to have about, that she would be sofry to ksc them if Russia should be suddenly restored to law-and-or-der and they should take it into their heads to return to the old country to take up their old farms. This modern Utopia was estab lished 20 years ago by Peter Varigin, who is still their active leader. Communism as defined by Charles Nordhoff, author of ; the "Commu nistic Societies in the United States," is a mutiny against society. Whether the communist will rebel against so ciety with a torch or a bomb, or whether it will be manifested in a plow and'- church, -(depends, pn By E. Temple to be seen in a black satin dress, with flowers in her bosom, no longer inviting any one to buy from the ever increasing proportions of that pyramid of fresh fruit, but saying "pood evening" and "good night" with just the same smile and just the same blue mist about her eyes. So it was Casuto's came to be recognized generally as a place of good. cooking and the haunt of the Bohemian world, and every Thurs day night came Mr. Fladgate and darkness of the street outside, to eat those Italian dishes vhich Casuto still conjured down with his eyes from the gates- of heaven. At was., one' Thursday evening Vb&ut -sc"veii. "years after Casuto had opened his restaurant in Dean street that there appeared out of the street, opening the door somewhat tenta tively and entering the room with no little uncertainty, a lady and gentle man in evening dress. Mr. Fladgate looked at Mr. Lindemann as Casuto hurried forward and Mme. Casuto rearranged the flowers in the bosom of her dress. Was this Casuto's? The little Italian's elbows turned in toward his ribs and his hands shot out. What else could it be? Could they get a little dinner for two quickly before the theater? Could they get a little dinner for twenty before the theater? Could they get a little supper for twenty after the theater? The next moment the lady was seated and the gentleman was hang ing his coat over the back of his chair and placing his opera hat be neath it. Mr. Fladgate leaned acros the table and said to Mr. Lindemann, "By the way, I'm not going to bring that girl next Thursday night." "Why not?" asked Mr. Linde mann. "O I don't know. No fun." It was about a fortnight later that both Mrs. Fladgate and Mrs. Linde mann met at Casuto's restaurant, entertained there by their husbands, when the notice about customer's property had disappeared from the wall beside the hat stand, and the period of respectability in the life whether he has faith in God, wheth er he is or is not a religious man." Oldest Society in America. The oldest communist societies in the United States are the "Shak ers." They were founded by Ann Lee, an illiterate' English woman, who, with her husband and a few followers came to these shores in 1774 and settled at Watcrvliet, N. Y. Her husband deserted her for another woman, and she soon be gan to have spiritualistic trances and visions, during which .she shook from the power of the emotions she was laboring under, hence the name "Shaking Quakers," or, iiT shorter from, "Shakers," was adopted for the sect, which under Ann Lee's proselyting, began to increase. In 1792 the Shaker colony at Mt. Lebanon, N. Y., was founded, and other "settlements soon sprang up in various states, until in 1874 Nord hoff was able to count 58 communi ties with 2.415 members tilling a total of about 120,000 acres, of which nearly 50,000 acres are em braced in their own home farms. The sexes are very carefully sep arated in all their living and work ing arrangements, hut a touch of domesticity is seen in the fact that every sister is assigned to look after the wearing apparel of some brother and see that he keeps himself neat and presentable in appearance. No Servants Among Shakers. There arc ii() servants in the shak er family, all being servants of each other in the true Christian sense. They are of course, obliged to hire more or, Jess Jabo .to yofjc - their Thurston of Casuto, no less than of Mr. Flad gate and Mr. kindemann, had be gun. This period of respectability in Casuto's lasted in increasing pro portion and prosperity for 15 years, ami every Thursday evening Mr. Fladgate and Mr. Lindemann, with likewise Increasing prosperous re spectability, partook of dinner at the table ' always allotted to them, shared their bottle of champagne, and solemnly went through their four courses toward . that coffee which Casuto made better than any one in London. For about five of those IS years they had frequently brought their respective wives on these occasions who, year by year, as their figures settled down into that adipose con dition of respectability, were seen less and less often and finally not at all. The date of their first appearance might be reckoned with the period when Mine. Casuto was looking in her prime, a tine Latin type, daring, yet subdued, imprisoned by those fogs and smoke of London, as a tigress is caged beyond the unyield ing bars of her home in the zoo logical gardens. The occasion of their last appearance would seem to have coincided with the moment when Mme. Casuto had admittedly passed her prime. That smile of hers seemed' more and more to be wanting in amplitude, less and less generosity there was in the flashing of her teeth, and behind that blue mist before her eyes there was a sullenness which told of the acidity which had lost its sting and was re verting to a mere mawkish condition &f tired submission. This period then disposed of Mrs. Fladgate and Mrs. Lindemann, but it was by no means the climax of Casuto's popularity. The place was full every night, and every Thursday you might have seen those two middle aged gentlemen at their table, growing a little grayer about the head, a little more particular and appreciative about their food, a little less talkative except upon matters cf health as the weeks went by. The only person who seemed to retain an imperviousness against the advancing years was Casuto himself. More and more as the years went by he became the gentleman at large; more and more he seemed to detach himself from his customers, only speaking to and advising those upon' the various dished who were well known to him, and, last of all, pnly those such as well known actors and actresses-t-who, when once the restaurant as known, had contributed ho largely to the still further increase of its popularity. His manner indeed, with those whose faces were unfamiliar to him, became almost brusque and abrupt, and often when he spoke sharply to his waiters it could be seen that his lip curled like a dog's that is dis turbed with a bone, when in the old days he could utter the most terri ble Italian oaths with the most charming of smiles and a gracious ness of manner which to the public concealed the awful threat beneath. Mr. Fladgate and Mr. Lindemann, as might well be supposed, being in such close touch with the life and de velopment. of Casuto's, noticed, none cf these things. They had, more over, at about the period of their wives' disappearance from those Thursday dinners, become partners in their separate businesses, and. the amalgamation was leading to the happiest of results. Everything in relation to Casuto's restaurant-'-and this is the main sub stance, if not the purport of this his tory seemed to be leading to the conclusion that prosperity is the complement of respectability. From the day on which that notice in refer ence to customers' hats, coats, and umbrellas was removed from the wall and Mr. Fladgate and Mr. Lin demann gave up their adventures with young ladies of little regard for propriety with whom they made casual acquaintance after business hours, events seemed to combine in their efforts to create an atmos phere of respectability in the midst of prosperous achievement. Only Mme. Casuto, with the growing sullenness in her dark brown eyes and the decreasing gen erosity of her smile, would appear to have been an indication that the true balance was wanting in this little scheme of life. Ten years went by, notwithstand ing, before the balance was upset; and the ultimate completion, with its obscure meaning, made itself ap parent to Mr. Fladgate. During those ten years Mr. Lindemann, with his trade connections in Germany, brought much in addition to the business that was valuable' in its way. He secured goods at marvel ously low price, while Mr. Fladgate secured clients who bought them at such" a price as to secure excep tionally large profits. There was a mutual trust and un derstanding between the two which Mr. Lindemann, accompanied or un accompanied, for their little weekly farms, particulary as the members grow old thus making it bard to endure hard labor in the fields. The shakers do not believe, in the half-baked fantastic theories of the present day Reds. The teachings of Jesus constitute their code. They are industrious, charitiable, honest in their dealings and devoid- of the selfish and greedy instincts that rule men in the business world. Another communist cult who are extolling their theories in this coun try are the "Separatists of Zbar, O.," which is composed entirely of Ger mans who arrived in this country in 1817 from Vurtemburg, Germany, to avoid prosecution. This com munity is made up of religious dis senters. At first they did not prac tice communism, but later in 1819 they put it into practice. They own 7,000 acres of land, a woolen mill, machine shop, hotel, dye house, planing mill, tannery and a general store. About 50 nomiiembers are employed as laborers besides rent ers, who manage their farms en shares. In 1874 the v had 3,000 mem bers and were worth over $1,0.10,000. Is No Compulsion. Their leader was Joseph. Bauin elcr, and he appointed three trustees to share in the management of the colony. The "Aurora Commune," whose members are also Germa::s, was es tablished in 1856 at Aurora. Ore., by Dr. George Kiel. They ovi 8,000 ;.cres of land, shops, milk stations rnd stores. There are 800 of them. They abhor all religions, but cele brate .the J-ordi. Supper casioB. dinner, to drink the Chiatlti which. the waiter still brought out of the made the silence at those Thursday dinners seem comfortable interludes between their remarks about food or the business. Mr. Fladgate knew that Mr. Lindemann was thinking how he would have to take a dose of bicarbonate of soda as soon as he got home, and likewise Mr. Lindemann Jsnew that Mr. Fladgate was wondering whether his Sandow exercises were really good for him or not. And then at the end of those ter vears came the announcement to stupefied world of the Scrajcvo mur ders. Mr. .Maiigate ana xur. l.mac nianu discussed the possibilities of war all through the beginning of July, and always Mr. Lindemann assured him that Germany knew where her bread was made and would not think of going to war. On Thursday, July 23, Mr. Flad gate. who had been in the country on business, returned to town by arrangement in time for his dinner with Mr. Lindemann at Casuto's. It had always been agreed that they should wait ten minutes for each other before beginning the meal. Mr. Fladgate waited ten. He waited 12, and then he ordered the first course. It was not uutil he had be gun this- indeed, tasted the first mouthful and found it extraordi narily badly cooked, that he looked round the room and became con scious of the absence of M. Casuto. He called the waiter. "Tell M. Casuto I want him," said he. In place of the proprietor came his aife. There was no smile on her iins. The blue mist before her eyes had disappeared and left them cold, as stone, like little brown pebbles that were dry and hard. "Where's Casuto?" asked Mr. Fladgate. "This dish is shocking." She sat clown in Mr. Lindemann's vacant chair, an action which so surprised Mr. Fladgate he could say nothing in criticism of its fa iniliaritv, and she leaned across the table. "He's gone," she whispered. "All my money everything with that girl he used to go about with." Mr. Fladgate did not know in the slightest anything iibout any girl. He had gone. So far as that was concerned, one girl was a good or J as bad as another. He had gone. with all her money and- Mme. Casuto had to carry on the business alone. It was as if a flash of light ning had struck the premises of Casuto and leveled them to the ground. This was the end. The only thought that flashed through Mr. Fladgate's mind, and not for any want of sympathy, was, "I wonder u'hprp T.inHpmann anH T will rfinft on Thursday night?" She told him no more than this. IAectly she had imparted her in formation she rose from the chair and disappeared out of the room through the swing door into the kitchen. Mr. Fladgate went on with his dinner, more and more conscious with the arrival of each course that this was the end of Casuto's. When he came to the savory and was just paying the waiter for . his glass of port the door from the street opened and his wife looked into the room his wife, whom he pictured seated at home in Brixton with her knitting in her lap. Directly she saw him, she hurried across the room and seated herself in the chair which Mme. Casuto had vacated. So obviously had some terrible thing happened that Mr. Fladgate could not bring himself to .ask loer what it was, and there they sat opposite each other in silence while she regained her breath. "It's because there's going to be war," she said at last, "I know it's because of that." "What is?" he asked, bewildered. "Well he's a German," said she. "Who Lindemann?" "Yes." , "Why, what's happened to him?" "Haven't you been to the office?" "No came traight here from St. Pancras." "He's gone." "Gone where?" "Nobody knows. He's iust gone." "Margate perhaps," said Mr. Flad gate, who knew all Mr. Lindemann's past and had reason to associate it with the attraction of that seaside town. t "No gone I" repeated Mrs. Flad gate "and drawn a check at the bank that II simply stagger you." Mr. Fladgate could just say, "How . much?" and Mrs. Fladgate had jus ill nnu'ir -tty A mn-A , 1 1 1!M i in a, lung, iuiis nine nir. naugaie , . 1 i r - t?tj.. , sai JOOKing across tne table at thtj place which his partner had occupied , for 20 years in his company, while the fortunes of Casuto's restaurant, now wrecked and broken, had grown up beside their own, and then, after that tremendous pause it was, that he delivered the profundity of his statement. "Life is very different from its purpose," said Mr. Fladgate. ally. They marry young, use to bacco and wine moderately. They i-lso have their own musicians, who play at regular times. A board of ' trustees is in charge of the colony's affairs, but the bond that binds them together is very loose. There is no compulsion. They can leave if they like, but most of them seem to be content with life. In his investigation of com munistic communities in the United States, which Charles Nordhoff made in 1874 and reported in his volume. "Communistic Societies in the United States," he treats of 72 communes with a total population of about 8,000, and an aggregate area under cultivation of 180,000 to 190,000 acres. He makes no men tion of the new communistic com munities, which have sprung up in America since the publication of his book. (Editor's Note: In the above ar ticle Mr. Fedele does not mention the Mennonitcs, of which there arc colonies in Iowa and Illinois, prob ably because this cult originated in Switzerland in the sixteenth ren- tury. spreading to Germany and Russia, and somewhat into Holland. Tli tirtt cMtimnt in ih ITn,4 IIV ill.. v ....... .. . ... VIII. States was made in Pennsylvania in 1638, and migrations to settlements . in Towa and Illinois occurred n 1848, when John Oberholtzer with drew to form the New Mnnonites, with nu;ie modern teachings and view s.) English horse racing establish ments employ more than 25.000 pc -
